Jesse Marsch to leave at RB Leipzig: American coach fired in poor first season

American coach Jesse Marsch has parted ways with RB Leipzig, the Bundesliga side confirmed on Sunday. Three consecutive league defeats proved too much for the Leipzig board to continue backing Marsch, who took over as head coach that was vacated in the summer following Julian Nagelsmann’s move to Bayern Munich. Highly regarded in the Red Bull system, the 48-year-old previously coached the New York Red Bulls and Red Bull Salzburg before moving to the top of the club team.

However, Marsch departs with Leipzig for an 11th time in the Bundesliga after six wins and five losses with the club also needing to beat Manchester City in the Champions League on Tuesday (live on Twitter). Supreme +) just to secure a place in the Europa League. Marsch’s assistant Achim Beierlorzer will be on the Red Bull Arena for that game with a permanent successor to be announced “in the near future”.

Leipzig chief executive Oliver Mintzlaff said: “It was not easy for us to part with Jesse Marsch, because I appreciate Jesse as a person and as a coach. “Unfortunately, things didn’t go as we expected with this setup and this step has now become necessary. Unfortunately, the growth we expected and the results needed to achieve our goals. Our goals for the season were not achieved.

“We are currently falling short of our own expectations and with this decision we want to create a new dynamic. However, regardless of this, I see our players as duty and I expect our team, which is so athletically strong, to show its potential and quality on the field more consistently than it has recently.”

Marsch may feel that the Leipzig job comes at the wrong time for him after the huge success in his previous managerial role. Nagelsmann and star centre-back Dayot Upamecano left Bayern at the start of the summer while the Bundesliga champions scouted midfielder Marcel Sabitzer on the August deadline day. While significant sums have been invested in the likes of Andre Silva, Mohamed Simakan and Ilaix Moriba, it seems inevitable that some of the teams that finished second in Germany last season were eliminated.

Marsch, a Wisconsin native, can also point to fundamental figures that suggest cause for optimism in Leipzig, the team with the second-most-anticipated goals in the Bundesliga even if the picture at the other end isn’t all that great. bright. They also have impressive results, most notably a 2-1 win over Borussia Dortmund last month and a 4-0 thrashing of Stuttgart earlier in the season.

Ultimately, a five-point gap to fourth place and Champions League place forced Mintzlaff to act. “Until the end, I still hope that after a difficult start to the season and inconsistent performances, we will find more cohesion and stability as a team,” Marsch said. and turn your luck.

“Unfortunately we were not able to do that – after discussion with Oliver Mintzlaff, we came to the joint decision to make a change of coach position.”