CHAMPIONS LEAGUE | COACHES
Jesse Marsch
(Salzburg)A
t a time when USA are the world’s
number one women’s team and
increasing numbers of American
males are making good on the
European club scene, it’s fitting that this
Wisconsin native is about to become the first
US-born coach to test himself in the Champions
League. And it has been a fast-track progress
for an individual who has only been operating
outside the United States for 14 months, working
as an assistant at RB Leipzig last term and then
handed the Salzburg reins in June.
Some will inevitably argue that the 45-
year-old has had it all too easy, that a career
within the Red Bull football network has been
conveniently mapped out for him: a journeycomprising three-and-a-half seasons as head
coach of MLS side New York Red Bulls, number
two role in Leipzig and now at the Salzburg
branch office.
His record at New York Red Bulls was
excellent, featuring a club record victory tally
(58), the conquest of the 2015 Supporters
Shield, a US Open Cup Final appearance in
2017, a semi-final berth in the 2018 CONCACAF
Champions League, three trips to the MLS play-
offs and the national coach of the year award for- A member of Bob Bradley’s USA coaching
staff at the 2010 World Cup finals, he has paid
his Stateside dues.
Nor did he take the soft option when crossing
the Atlantic to serve as Ralf Rangnick’s lieutenant
at RB Leipzig, where he had to get to grips with
a new language and football culture. He also had
a taste of the Europa League and helped the
team to finish third in the Bundesliga and reach
the German Cup Final.
Replacing Marco Rose, who quit Salzburg this
summer for Borussia Monchengladbach, Marsch
was not, it has to be said, a popular choice with
the club’s fans. A large proportion of Salzburg
supporters simply cannot abide RB Leipzig, who
in the past have snapped up such promising
Salzburger as midfielders Naby Keita and Marcel
Sabitzer plus centre-back Dayot Upamecano.
Fortunately, he now has the Salzburg public
eating out of his hand. Despite losing half a
dozen key players over the summer, his rebuilt
Austrian champions won their first five league
games of the new season. Playing with style and
scoring at will, Marsch has a brilliant crop of
youngsters at his disposal, including Norwegian
striker Erling Haaland (who is the son of the
ex-Leeds defender Alf-Inge), South Korean
front-runner Hwan Hee-chan and Paris Saint-
Germain academy graduate Antoine Bernede.