SOCCER
Who is Jesse Marsch? The man replacing Marcelo Bielsa At Leeds United
The American has signed a deal at Elland Road until the summer of 2025 but he won't be looking beyond the end of the current season.
Jesse Marsch was appointed as the new manager of Leeds United on Monday. The 48-year-old will replace fan favourite Marcelo Bielsa, after the Argentine was sacked following a dismal run of form with the Premier League side.
Marsch has a serious job on his hands, with Premier League survival now the club's main objective in 2021/22. The American has signed a deal until the summer of 2025 but he won't be looking beyond the end of the season just yet.
Who is Jesse Marsch?
Marsch grew up in Wisconsin and played collegiate soccer with Princeton University in New Jersey.
A midfielder by trade, he played in the MLS for 13 years, having spells at the D.C. United and Chicago Fire along the way. Marsch's playing career came to an end in 2009. Not long after, he joined the US men's national team setup as an assistant coach to Bob Bradley.
Bradley knew Marsch well, coaching him at college and at all three of his MLS clubs. After over a year with the national team, his first head coaching role came with Montreal Impact. The former player was the club's first-ever manager, but he only lasted one season before eventually moving on.
In 2015, New York Red Bulls hired Marsch to replace Mike Petke at the helm. The hiring was controversial among the club's fanbase, but Marsch went on to turn the Red Bulls into one of the top teams in MLS.
Marsch likes his teams to play with speed and aggression. His tactics have long been based on the Red Bull ideology, which has been greatly influenced by Manchester United manager Ralf Rangnick.
In his spell with the New York Red Bulls, a high-press system was installed, and they forced teams to make mistakes. The opposition's errors would then lead to swift counter-attacks, culminating in the Red Bulls playing in a similar way to the Red Bull clubs in Europe.
Life in Europe
Marsch joined RB Leipzig in 2018. At the German club, he worked as an assistant for Rangnick.
Before the 2019/20 season, Marsch was named head coach of sister club Red Bull Salzburg and enjoyed great success, winning the Austrian Bundesliga and Austrian Cup in consecutive seasons.
He subsequently moved back to RB Leipzig, this time as head coach and left last December after a tricky couple of months in his second spell at the club. He left after 20 games in charge, just 14 of those in the Bundesliga, of which he won seven, lost nine and left the club 11th in the Bundesliga table.
Leeds man
Speaking about the appointment, Leeds United Director of Football Victor Orta said: "We are delighted to welcome Jesse to the club and excited for him to lead us into this new chapter.
"Jesse is someone we identified a number of years ago during his time at Red Bull Salzburg and we believe his philosophy and style of football aligns with that of the club and will suit the players very well.
"We have a long-term plan and firmly believe he can take Leeds United to the next level and are excited for what the future holds."
As a player, Marsch won eight trophies in the MLS, and he's picked up five so far in his relatively short managerial career.