Today, the last UCL group stage matchday will be played. One of the more significant matches is Liverpool versus Red Bull Salzburg, in a direct battle for qualification.
And the most interesting person on the pitch will be RB Salzburg’s new manager, Jesse Marsch, who is making headlines in his first year in charge. This fact should not be new to those who have heard of him before.
The 46-year-old had an illustrious MLS career as a player, making north of 300 league appearances. He never got a fair shot with the US national team, earning only two caps in a 6-year international career.
His next step was to move to coach. Almost immediately after retiring, legendary US Soccer coach Bob Bradley hired Marsch as an assistant for the USMNT and was there until Bradley’s firing in 2011. Afterwards, he had a year-long stint with MLS side Montreal Impact, where he failed to make the playoffs, but his departure was more ideological, rather than due to lack of quality.
In 2015, his coaching career caught fire. In January, Marsch took over a franchise in upheaval. The New York Red Bulls, (MLS’ perennial underachievers) fired their successful and club legend coach Mike Petke, seemingly out of nowhere. From the second Marsch took over, he thrived. It didn’t take long at all for Marsch to win over the fanbase. In 2015 the club brought home their second Supporters Shield, the MLS award for finishing with the best record in the regular season. He smashed club records and brought home the MLS Coach of the Year Award. His genius was tactical, but also came off the field.
He changed the style of play for the Red Bulls. Marsch demanded his players to press, and then press, and then counter-press. Lose the ball, get it back, and send it forward to Bradley Wright-Phillips, an MLS legend. Over the 3+ years he spent in New York, he made playing against the Red Bulls an impossible task, especially at home.
Off the field, he was a success too. He brought in two key players: Veteran playmaker Sascha Kljestan, and vibrant left-back Kemar Lawrence. Both players contributed significantly to the team for an extended period and became fan-favourites and integral to the squad. In 2016 and 2017, RBNY were a good team which made waves in the playoffs, nearly knocking off eventual MLS CUP winners Toronto FC in 2017.
However, the most impressive aspect of Marsch's tenure was his development of youngsters, such as Sean Davis Alex Muyl, and especially Tyler Adams, who had an absolute breakout year in 2018. He played both as a right-back, and as a defensive midfielder. As an 18-year-older, he was arguably the team’s best player, showing immense technical, tactical ability, as well as composure well beyond his years, and he quickly became one of the country’s best talents overnight.
Everything nearly culminated in 2018. The slick combination of experience with youth made a simply fantastic team. RBNY set the regular-season record for most points. However, Marsch left before the end of the season, to take a massive step in his career. He moved up within the Red Bull system, moving to Germany, becoming an essential assistant at RB Leipzig. With his help, Leipzig finished in the Champions League spots and had an incredible year. Without him, the Red Bulls again collapsed in the postseason.
In summer 2019, he was named the head coach of RB Salzburg, continuing the affiliation with Red Bull. Since then, it has been nothing but success. As of early December, RB Salzburg has dropped only 8 points and has yet to lose in the Austrian Bundesliga, while scoring an incredible 64 goals. Marsch's pressing style and man-management has led to beautiful football and developed some great young players such as Patson Daka, Takumi Minamino, Hwang Hee Chan, and above all - Erling Haland.
However, it is in their Champions League debut campaign where they captured football fans' hearts. Marsch's team have produced high quality, high scoring and entertaining games. They demolished Genk twice, drew once with Napoli and gave Liverpool a massive scare at Anfield, eqaulizing to 3-3 after being 3-0 down. Eventually, Liverpool scored a winner, but the feeling around was of admiration for the fearless Salzburg. After the match, a half-time team talk by Marsch was released via social media and gave fans a chance to see his passion and charisma first hand.
Today, they meet again, and the Austrians must win to go through to the knockout rounds, and eliminate the European Champions. Even if not, they will become one of the Europa League’s new favourites, a competition in which they got to the semi-finals in 2018. However, Salzburg doesn't want to return to Europe's second-best competition, and it is only the Champions League which is on their mind. After Tuesday, we will see where they end up, but either way, we will continue to see the progression and recognition of one of the game’s most intriguing and rising managers.