Former New York Red Bulls, RB Salzburg, and RB Leipzig head coach Jesse Marsch is in line to replace the recently-sacked Marcelo Bielsa at the relegation-threatened Premier League club, Leeds United, reports Sky.
Bielsa left the Whites following their 4-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League, with the team dangling perilously close to the relegation zone and in a constant downward spiral.
Having led Leeds to promotion to the Premier League, the Spaniard then guided the Whites to a top ten finish in their first season back. However, injuries to key personnel derailed the Argentinian and his squad’s second season in the top flight; in all, they had won just five games, lost 13, and conceded a league-high 60 goals after 27 matches – a record which the Leeds hierarchy decided wasn’t matched by their ambitions.
With Bielsa gone, free agent Marsch is the favorite to take over. Marsch was himself sacked earlier this season by Bundesliga outfit RB Leipzig, which he had joined in the summer from sister club RB Salzburg following Julian Nagelsmann’s departure to Bayern Munich.
With a record of eight wins, nine losses, and four draws in 21 games, and Leipzig languishing mid-table and knocked out of the UEFA Champions League, the RB supremos decided to call a premature end to the American’s first full-time stint in German football.
A former footballer himself, like Bielsa, Marsch won the Supporters’ Shield in the United States as both a player and a coach before flying out to Salzburg. The American tactician completed a league and cup double during both his seasons as the RB Salzburg coach while also marshaling the Austrian outfit to commendable performances in Europe.
His immediate concern though, should he be appointed the Leeds coach as is expected, is to guide the Whites to Premier League safety. The team is in danger of being caught by the in-form Burnley, who are currently 18th in the table, a point behind Leeds with two games in hand.
