Jesse Marsch to Leeds United — Desperate Times for both the Peacocks and America
On February 27, 2022, Marcelo Bielsa was released from his duties as manager of Leeds United. Bielsa was largely responsible for Leeds United’s successful campaign during the 2019–2020 season, in which the team managed to win the EFL Championship and secured instant promotion into the Premier League.
His replacement? Jesse Marsch, who is widely considered to be the cream of the crop when it comes to American managers. From a tactical standpoint, Marsch won’t be much different from Bielsa; they’re both firm believers in a high — press, high block system, and they’re also both firm believers that that’s the way soccer should be played. The fact of the matter is, however, that sticking to such a system is probably suicidie.
After all, the reason why Marsch is available to take the Leeds job is because he was sacked months ago in his first season as manager of RB Leipzig. Marsch never adjusted his system in spite of consistently having poor results, and he was arguably singlehandedly responsible for the team’s poor form. It doesn’t help either that since his dismissal, Leipzig has refound its form, and currently sits in 4th place — much higher than they ever were when they were under the guidance of Marsch.
Thus, for Marsch, this job is probably going to make or break his coaching career in the higher echelons of European soccer. If he’s able to prevent the Peacocks from getting relegated, he saves face for his failures in the Bundesliga just a few months prior; but if Leeds does end up getting relegated, not only will he probably get sacked and lose any future job opportunities, but it’ll also be difficult for American managers to find jobs abroad. For all the advances in American soccer, there’s still a certain level of bias towards American managers — just watch an episode of Ted Lasso.
So for the sake of the success of Leeds, himself, and American managers, Marsch will have to do something neither he nor Bielsa has ever done before — adapt. Solely relying on one system in the EPL just doesn’t work unless you have the money or players of bigger clubs like Manchester City or Liverpool, and there’s also the fact that playing a high press system for tens of matches can cause severe physical burn out for the players. In any case, I’m rooting for the guy.
