Jesse Marsch Background

Jesse Marsch was in his kitchen, feeling unwell with COVID-19, when he knew his spell as RB Leipzig coach should come to an end.

Anyone who has suffered from the virus, even mild symptoms, as in this case, won’t regard it as a pleasant experience and Marsch is no different. But being made to self-isolate from the team in his house for two weeks proved a blessing in disguise.

“I was away from the side and could see they weren’t playing the way I wanted,” Marsch tells The Athletic. “I had had the feeling for a while, but being at home gave me more distance.

“As a coach, what I like is being close with the team, the relationships, being with the guys. But I was in the kitchen watching training sessions. I’m holding video sessions there, preparation sessions. I’m coaching games from the kitchen. It was a horrible experience.

“But I think being separated gave me more clarity, to go with my gut. I was fighting so many things in Leipzig to try to get it where I wanted it to be. In the process, the team wasn’t being rewarded, I wasn’t being rewarded. The fit didn’t seem right.

“I was totally fine with the notion of thinking about something else, to go coach a team how I want it to be.”

Normally when a club announces they have “mutually agreed to part ways” with a manager, as Leipzig did early last month, it is regarded by many as just a more polite way of saying the fella has been sacked. But in this case, club and coach truly concurred that a change was the best outcome for both parties.

“When I reflect on it, I’m obviously saddened,” Marsch says. “But it was a decision we all made together, that it was best for the club to go in another direction. I am thankful for the opportunity, and everything I had at Red Bull. It was a life-changing moment in my career – I wouldn’t be managing in Europe without them.”

It is still the first major setback of the American’s coaching career, which had been on an upward curve for over a decade.

But as we meet to reflect on what went wrong and discuss happier times involving encounters with Fabio Capello, Jose Mourinho, Ralf Rangnick and Erling Haaland, it is clear the 48-year-old is already in the mood to get back on the bike.

June 12, 2010 is not a date England football fans will ever regard fondly.

It was supposed to be an occasion where the nation gave the USA a football lesson in front of a global audience.

The two countries were playing their opening group game against each other at the World Cup in South Africa and England followers expected a comfortable victory. Instead, the USA were the better team in a 1-1 draw and as assistant head coach to Bob Bradley, Marsch had a key role in frustrating Capello’s side.

“One of my tasks was to scout the England team, and I went to watch them beat a local team called Platinum Stars 3-0 just five days before the USA game,” he recalls. “They were so bad. You could see Capello wasn’t happy. David Beckham was acting more like an assistant on the sidelines or something.

“Obviously we prepared for the match against them knowing it would be different. There was a lot of talk beforehand about USA’s win against England at the 1950 World Cup, but it was a team full of superstars that we respected.

“Still, it wasn’t the best time for England. We knew, in general, they were reeling a little bit. They couldn’t get the best combination with Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard in midfield. Plus there was a debate about who they were going to play up front with Wayne Rooney. There were a lot of questions over what they were going to do.

“We had a team that was very clear in its identity, our tactics, how we wanted to play. But there were things we hadn’t accounted for — like being delayed getting to the game because there were elephants in the road blocking the bus. We had to wait 15 minutes for the elephants to clear.

“In the end, we should have won that game. Jozy Altidore hit the post in the second half and we were pushing at the end. I didn’t have much interaction with Capello that day, but you could tell he was upset.”

Fast forward five years and it was Mourinho’s turn to get tense next to Marsch on the sideline.

Having already benefited from a year’s experience in charge of Montreal Impact, Marsch was now making a name for himself as manager of fellow MLS side New York Red Bulls in 2015.

He was named MLS coach of the year in his first season, having secured a club-record 18 league victories. Marsch then got to test himself against the Special One as part of Chelsea’s pre-season preparations for the 2015-16 campaign.

Chelsea were understandably strong favourites. Not only had they won the Premier League just a few months before, but Marsch had to field a weakened side because his first team had been in MLS action less than 48 hours earlier.

But in front of their home crowd, New York Red Bulls secured a remarkable 4-2 victory with Franklin Castellanos, Sean Davis (with two goals) and Tyler Adams all getting on the scoresheet. It was a result that exposed how all was not well within the Chelsea camp and, five months later, with the defending champions just a point above the relegation places, Mourinho was fired.

“Every goal we scored was from pressing, that was how we played,” Marsch continues. “The average age of our team was something like 18, 19. Before the game I told them what the game would feel like and what to expect. It played out almost exactly as I said and the guys were fearless.

“I’d met Jose a few times before. He knew Bob Bradley for one and he also loves to go to UCLA (university) in Los Angeles for pre-season with his teams. That day we only spoke briefly though. He was so pissed after the game. He was furious during it. I could tell. I was like, ‘Oh shit!’.

“But I wasn’t carried away. You’re excited for the young lads to have a chance to play in a game like that and build confidence. It’s a big moment for young players to go up against top guys and feel like they can hold their own. But you also knew it was just pre-season for Chelsea.”

The former midfielder, who won two USA caps, was getting noticed.

Ralf Rangnick first invited him to become his assistant at RB Leipzig in that same year of 2015. It took another three years for them to work together at the Bundesliga club because Marsch opted to stay with New York Red Bulls to further his education. He used the time wisely though, studying German and also travelling to Scotland to take his UEFA Pro Licence course.

Such was his reputation, he was offered the chance to coach RB Leipzig for the 2018-19 season. But with Hoffenheim coach Julian Nagelsmann already signed to take over the following year, Marsch didn’t want to just be a stop-gap for somebody else, so spent 12 months learning from Rangnick as he did the main job instead. Their relationship has been strong ever since.

One of the purposes of Marsch’s current visit to the UK is to catch up with Rangnick, his mentor and friend.

He has watched with interest as the 63-year-old tackles the tough task of reviving Manchester United.

Since being appointed as interim manager in late November following Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s sacking, Rangnick has a creditable record of five wins, three draws and just one defeat (which was against Wolves). However, the German has come in for a lot of criticism over the quality of their performances and there has been talk of unrest in the dressing room about his methods.

Given their connection, Marsch is inevitably supportive of what Rangnick has done in two months. He is mystified at the rush to judgement and is convinced United have the right man in place.

“What’s been said so far is harsh,” he says. “Manchester United have been in this phase where the club is having a hard time getting on track — for years, not just the last six weeks. It’s natural to hope for an immediate response and in some ways they’ve had a response. Hopefully in the next few games it will click, there will be a moment where it all comes together. You will start to see his idea coming together.

”I have seen signs of it. For example, the second goal in the draw with Aston Villa (last weekend) came from a really good press to win the ball and they played on the transition. They’re looking more organised against the ball — we say that phrase rather than just ‘defensively’. They are getting better and better at counter-pressing. So yes, I think it’s coming together.

“It’s tricky. There is no doubt he wants to play the way he believes in, but he has to also find a way to get the most out of that group and get the results to have as much time as possible.”

A lack of major trophies — Rangnick’s most notable silverware as a manager was the German equivalent of the FA Cup with Schalke 11 years ago — has been used by critics as a reason why he shouldn’t be in the post to begin with.

But, as has been well documented, Rangnick’s football philosophy has had a huge influence on some of the sport’s best coaches, including Jurgen Klopp, Thomas Tuchel and Nagelsmann.

Marsch is another of the veteran’s disciples and knows more than most what he can bring to the players at Old Trafford.

He adds: “Ralf is incredibly detailed. He has obviously built this playing model over years and has a very specific way. His ability to understand what he wants from his teams and players, to communicate that very clearly, is what makes him so good.

“The detail, the vocabulary, the specificness of what he does helps players understand what their roles are on the pitch. However, individual habits and the qualities needed to play his type of football will take time.

“If you look at his career, he’s been more of an architect. He’s brought up teams from the lower divisions in Germany to the top division. He has created this version of football. So when people talk about Tuchel and Klopp, they’ve almost taken his playing model and applied it to two of the best clubs in the world at Liverpool and Chelsea and modified it for the star player.

“This is what Ralf is tasked with, to take his own model. It’s his chance to apply it to the biggest players and the biggest club. His dream, I know, has always been to come to the Premier League. His name has been linked with a number of clubs but I always felt he had an eye on Manchester United.

“He has always been supportive to me. I’m really happy for him that he has this opportunity.

“I’m almost watching it as a fan because I want him to do well. He has worked so hard in his life to get to this point and I would love to see him institute his idea at this club.”

Marsch doesn’t hesitate for a second and replies with an emphatic “yes”.

He has just been asked if Erling Haaland is the best player he has ever coached and the level of admiration is evident.

Of all the subjects raised as we chat for over an hour in a west London hotel, nothing makes Marsch’s eyes light up more than discussing the attributes of the Borussia Dortmund and Norway striker.

“Erling is a force of nature,” Marsch insists. “If you just take his talent, it puts him in the top one per cent in the world because he is so gifted. But what makes him so special is his personality, his mentality, his relentlessness, his desire to do whatever it takes to be the best. Erling is fearless, an incredibly hard worker. He cares about all the right things.

“He is the perfect combination of mentality and talent.”

He only got to work with Haaland for six months at Red Bull Salzburg, the Austrian club who appointed Marsch as their manager in 2019. By making that decision, he became the first American to coach a side in the Champions League.

Marsch’s tenure was a great success. He led Salzburg to successive league and cup doubles. In his first season, they broke the record for most goals scored in Austria’s top division (110 in their 32 games).

Haaland helped things get off to a good start by finding the net a remarkable 28 times in 22 matches across all competitions. He was only 19 years old at the time and had gone into the season with just three appearances for the club to his name having joined from Norwegian side Molde in January of that year.

Dortmund beat a number of clubs to sign him at the start of 2020 and now he is one of the most sought-after players in the world, with Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea and Bayern Munich among his suitors.

The meteoric rise to fame, plus talk of high wage demands to clubs looking to convince him to leave Dortmund this summer, has led to questions being asked of whether there is a danger of his self-confidence getting out of control. Marsch has no such concerns.

When asked if Haaland could prove to be difficult to manage, Marsch replies: “No chance. No chance! I still communicate with him now and all he talks about is hard work, enjoying the team. Some of the funny things he does, whether it be on Instagram et cetera, it’s never about ego. It’s just about enjoyment.

“He’s a fun guy. He loves his team-mates, he loves the game. He’s an amazing individual.

“I had no problems with him at Salzburg. In fact, he would give penalties (they were awarded) away to other guys in the team. I was encouraging him by saying, ‘Give to the group. The more you give, the more you will get from them’.

“But one of our guys missed a penalty and I said to Erling afterwards, ‘You’ve got to take the ball’. To the group I said, ‘Guys, it’s great we have such togetherness, character, but Erling is now our penalty taker. He is our best and Erling… stop giving the ball away’. Erling was like, ‘OK, Coach’. But he is that kind of guy. He cared more about the team than his own goal tally. He is definitely still like that.

“I would never take credit for any of his success, because it’s about his ability to take information and apply it. He did that very well. We were clear with our tactics, what we wanted from him. When the best player is your hardest worker, it is the easiest thing for the coach. When anyone is not sure or comes to training without the right mentality, you just go, ‘Look at that guy’.

“We used to say that he had one weakness, which was that he wasn’t great at heading the ball. But that was it. We worked on it and you certainly wouldn’t say that now.

“I’d watch him in a small-sided game or doing his finishing exercises and you were just trying not to celebrate every time he did something. He’s phenomenal.

“When I see him now, I see every game matters to him. Sometimes I think that’s why he gets hurt, because he doesn’t know how not to go 100 per cent. He picks up little injuries because he is so committed, so explosive. He will do whatever it takes to help his team win.”

So, given they are still exchanging messages, does Marsch have any insight into where Haaland’s footballing future lies? Unfortunately, he is in the dark, like the rest of us.

“I don’t know where he is going next,” he concedes. “But when he left Salzburg, I said Kylian Mbappe and Erling will be like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo for the next 10, 15 years. I was kind of ridiculed for saying it but I have never been more certain about anything in my life.

“After spending six months with him, I know he is destined for greatness.”

Great things were expected of Marsch too when RB Leipzig decided to make him their new head coach last summer following Nagelsmann’s departure to Bayern Munich.

On paper, it looked like the right move. The former DC United and Chicago Fire player was clearly a coach on the up and knew the German club well having spent the 2018-19 campaign there under Rangnick.

But the squad had changed radically during Nagelsmann’s two years at the helm, both in personnel and tactics. Rather than sticking with the high energy and high press Rangnick employed, Leipzig had become focussed on possession and patience.

“I had some concerns before I went to Leipzig whether it was going to be right,” Marsch admits. “From my previous time there and how the team were now playing, I knew there were going to have to be some adjustments to be made in the mentality of the group and the philosophy of the playing style. The concerns that I had were a self-fulfilling prophecy.

“Julian is an amazing coach. He has very specific training and playing principles that make him unique. But it’s different from what I do. At times when we were trying to get the team to come together the right way, we would sometimes, for the sake of the process, commit more to what Julian had done than what I was hoping to do.

“Maybe that is a lesson I learned — that you have to stick to the things you believe in, from a leadership and training perspective. Everything you do, you have to be fully convinced.

“I felt like I was working three times as hard but accomplishing three times less. You could see in a lot of ways there was an impasse. Of course, there were moments when I thought maybe it was heading in the right direction, but in the end I’m perfectly fine with accepting it just wasn’t the right time and the right fit.

“I would have been better off succeeding Rangnick than Nagelsmann. The roster had also changed. There is incredible talent in the team but some of the players’ ability to play the way I wanted wasn’t as good as playing the way Julian did. Naturally, if their qualities suited his way, then they wanted to play that way more.”

Leipzig won only eight of the 21 games Marsch was in charge of. They were 11th in the Bundesliga when he left and were knocked out of the Champions League at the group stage, although the latter wasn’t that surprising given they were up against Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain, clubs who had got to the last two Champions League finals.

Marsch believes he was able to make a positive impact on some members of the squad. He cites the form of defender Angelino and attacking midfielder Christopher Nkunku, who has scored 17 times this season, as just two examples of players who benefited from his methods.

He would never use it as an excuse for what occurred, but Marsch also had a significant distraction in his personal life to deal with.

“Just before I started at RB Leipzig, my wife Kim was diagnosed with breast cancer,” he says. “We went through a tough time not knowing if it was treatable, how much time she had. But we got lucky. It was operable and didn’t require chemotherapy. If it did, I would have taken time off instead and not gone to Leipzig at all.

“She’s good now. Right before Christmas, just after I left the job, she was given the all-clear. It gave me a lot of perspective. We have come out of it strong and excited for 2022.”

One would understand if Marsch had some worries over whether his reputation has been damaged by what transpired in Leipzig. But reassurance has come promptly and his visit to England over the last few days has offered more encouragement.

He concludes: “I was amazed by the interest which came in the following weeks. I wasn’t sure what the response would be to my failure in RB Leipzig and, in the end, that’s what it is (a failure). I didn’t know how people would take it.

“I want to work with people who are like-minded and have the same process, the same style of leadership, philosophy. I’m now confident, based on some conversations I’ve already had, that I will find that. When it is and where it is, who knows. I want to take some time, I need that. I’m hopeful to get the right kind of project.

“One of the reasons I’m here is to have some meetings. I have had interest from five, six different leagues. I’ve had some from MLS too, but right now I want to stay in Europe. I’d certainly be open to working in England.”

Whatever he decides to do next, it is unlikely Marsch will be out of the game for long.