What went wrong for Jesse Marsch at RB Leipzig?
Jesse Marsch appeared to be the perfect fit for Leipzig when he arrived in Germany at the start of the season but just five months in the eccentric American has departed the Bundesliga outfit after their worst ever start to a season in the topflight in their admittedly short history.
Having made his name at Red bull Salzburg, with some memorable European nights against Liverpool and Napoli, a move to a more illustrious division was inevitable, but after struggling to find his feet in the initial games of the season, Leipzig quickly tumbled down the league table, suffering on the Betdaq bet exchange in the process.
With their Champions League round of 16 hopes over before the final game, Leipzig pulled the trigger on the American’s time in Saxony.Read on, as we look at how Marsch’sLeizpig downfall and where things started to go wrong.
Recruitment
For a team with such a strong financial backing as Leipzig, their activity over the summer was underwhelming to say the least. Once again, their plans to bring in reinforcements were overshadowed by big departures, particularly at the back, withDayotUpamecano and IbrahimaKonaté departing as well as Marcel Sabitzer, a crucial part of their dynamic midfield. Meanwhile André Silva was the marquee acquisition to provide the goals.
Ultimately, losing three key players before you even kick a ball in the Bundesliga is always going to be problematic. If you can’t assemble the side that you want short term than you pay the price. Silverware and victories are the currency of success in football, and for a Leipzig side as hungry as this one for immediate results in recent years, being bereft of either for so long was never going to be good enough.
Style of play
The way Marsch plays is a complete contrast to that of former coach, Julien Nagelsmann, who opted for a more possession orientated style which is clearly reaping its rewards as his side sit top of the table heading into the winter break.
Marsch’s style is more reflective of former manager Ralf Rangnick — energetic, aggressive and almost chaotic at times, perhaps the reason they have shipped so many goals. It clearly frustrated Leipzig head of football Oliver Mintzlaff, who vented his anger more at the circumstances than Marsch’s individual shortcomings.
“We wanted to return to the core philosophy, classic RB football, but the team were never 100 per cent convinced about his match plans,” Mintzlaff said, referring to the defeat by Union Berlin as “catastrophic”
“We won’t bury our heads in the sand and wait until Christmas, we have to think about things and everything is on the table.”
Inexperience
When all is said and done, Marsch simply doesn’t have enough credibility yet to be a top manager. While he is responsible for developing the likes of PatsonDaka, Takumi Minamino and ErlingHaaland, he needs more longevity at the top to be recognised as a Champions League level manager. You only need to look at the vital video of his passionate halftime team talk at Anfield to see his man management is fantastic. The move looked like a match made in heaven, but the American will learn plenty from his dismissal and after three years in Europe, we think another move lower down the Bundesliga table could be the right fit for a clearly talented coach, but one that needs to fine tune his ambitious philosophy.
