Following Marcelo Bielsa’s departure from the club, Leeds announced 48-year-old North American Jesse Marsch as the club’s new head coach.
The club announced that his contract will run until June 2025, with his first game scheduled on the road against other Premier League strugglers Leicester City.
Jesse Marsch becomes the third American to coach a Premier League club after Bob Bradley had a stint with Swansea City in 2016 and David Wagner with Huddersfield Town from 2015 until 2019.
Marsch’s most recent club, RB Leipzig and him, parted ways in December, failing to impress fans and the board. Marsch had a success rate of 38.10%, winning only eight games out of 21 in charge of the German side.
With 12 games in the current Premier League season, Marsch has possibly his most challenging task as a manager: save Leeds from relegation. The club currently sits two points above the relegation zone.
"I want to help take the torch to the next phase. I just want to try to do everything I can to to help take the the the club into the next phase of our history.I think my style of play, my aggressiveness, the desire I have for teams to be intensive and to run and to make things difficult for the opponent fits with what has been done here the last three and a half years, so it will be a big challenge to do it in a short period of time."
Welcome @jessemarsch! pic.twitter.com/3ih4vcpR7y
— Leeds United (@LUFC) February 28, 2022
The young American coach must overcome Leicester City, Aston Villa, Norwich, Wolves, Southhampton, and Watford with a challenging task in hand before facing against top sides like Chelsea, Manchester City, and Arsenal in late April and early May.
Jesse Marsch also reflected on how fans would tolerate his appointment after Bielsa’s departure:
"I have a lot to prove to our fan base that I’m the right guy to follow such a hero like Marcelo Bielsa.I think the key is that when they see the team play right and if the team plays with passion and they play with heart, and they give everything they have and they show that they’re also intelligent and clear with the playing model and they’re aggressive, then I think, normally the fans will tolerate the coach. (Via: leedsunited.com)"
Getting as many points in the first couple of matches could give the fans a bit of hope of salvation. It is unclear how Marsch will do in his first stint in the Premier League.
His term in Austria saw him win four titles with a young squad. A combination of experience and youth Marsch will have to work with and get the results the club desperately needs.
The 48-year-old American coach will need all the luck in the world to gain early positive results with this Leeds side.