Who is Jesse Marsch?
On Monday, Leeds United named former RB Leipzig boss Jesse Marsch as their new head coach. The 48-year-old has signed a deal at the Elland Road club until June 2025. Marsch, who has also coached New York Red Bulls and Red Bull Salzburg, left the German club in December last year after five months. The American will succeed Argentine coach Marcelo Bielsa, who was sacked on Sunday, once a work permit is finalised.
Marsch, 48, becomes the third American to coach in England’s top-flight division, with Bob Bradley (Swansea) and David Wagner (Huddersfield) preceding him.
“It’s something I’m really excited about,” Marsch said. “I know what a big club Leeds is, I know ex-players who have played here and I’ve watched this club from afar for many years and I’m really honoured and excited to be here.”
He added: “How [Bielsa] has helped transform Leeds United into a Premier League team is pretty amazing. For me, I just want to help take the torch to the next phase. Everything that has been done has laid an incredible foundation and, coming in at this moment, I want to do everything I can to take the club into the next stage of our history.”
Leeds removed Bielsa after seeing the club slide into a relegation battle following a run of one point from six games. Bielsa’s final match in charge was a 4-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur, which followed a 6-0 humiliation at Liverpool.
“We are delighted to welcome Jesse to the club and excited for him to lead us into this new chapter,” Leeds director of football Victor Orta said in a statement.
Marsch played 14 seasons as a midfielder in Major League Soccer (MLS) with DC United, Chicago Fire, and Chivas USA, winning three league titles and four US Open Cup titles and earning two caps for the United States national team.
In 2010, Marsch retired from his playing career and became a coach, first serving as an assistant with the US national team under Bob Bradley that reached the last 16 of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. He then became the inaugural head coach of the Montreal Impact upon its entry to MLS in 2012.
In 2015, after a year-long stint as the assistant coach for his alma mater, the Princeton Tigers, Marsch was hired as head coach of the New York Red Bulls and stayed in the role through the end of 2018 MLS season. In his first year coaching the team, the Red Bulls won the Supporters’ Shield, and Marsch was named MLS Coach of the Year. Marsch holds the record for most wins by a coach in franchise history.
