Jesse Marsch pushing boundaries and blazing trail for American coaches

Jesse Marsch’s Red Bull Salzburg side didn’t advance in the Champions League, but after being praised by Jurgen Klopp it’s clear he’s earning new respect for American coaches in the world’s game.

For soccer players, it must have been a fairly typical scene, but for those not often afforded such an insight it was extremely revealing. Down 3-0 to Liverpool at half time, Red Bull Salzburg’s downbeat players sat slumped around Anfield’s away dressing room while their American manager, Jesse Marsch, gave them a rousing talking to. It was mostly in German, albeit with occasional English accentuation.

The clip of the American’s speech, made with real gusto and enthusiasm, went viral after being shared by Salzburg’s Twitter account. Most notably, though, Marsch’s words worked. The Austrian side mounted an astonishing fightback against the European champions, scoring three second half goals to get level for a time at 3-3. Liverpool scored a fourth to ultimately claim the victory, but Salzburg and their American head coach had already made their mark.

The two teams met again this week with the Austrians presented with the chance to knock out Jurgen Klopp’s side from this season’s Champions League. Once again, the Reds prevailed, this time 2-0, but Salzburg impressed.

“I couldn’t have more respect for what Salzburg are doing here, the way they play football. … Salzburg were unbelievably strong, especially in the first half, but we were too. … We should have scored more goals,” Klopp explained after Liverpool’s hard-fought win in Austria on Tuesday. “Massive respect for Jesse and what they did.”

High praise indeed for a manager now considered one of the very brightest in the European game. This season Marsch became the first American coach to win a Champions League group stage game, taking Salzburg to within one result of making the competition’s last 16 with home and away wins over Genk and a draw against Napoli.

Of course, American coaches have found it tough making a mark on the other side of the Atlantic. While US soccer players have slowly found respect through the success of figures like Clint Dempsey, Tim Howard and now Christian Pulisic, US soccer managers still suffer from lazy stereotyping and prejudice.

Compare the way Marsch – who was coaching in MLS as recently as 2018 – has been embraced at Salzburg to the way Bob Bradley – who had coached at a World Cup and with multiple national teams – was treated during his short stint as Swansea City manager. From the moment he walked through the door at the Liberty Stadium, Bradley was a figure of derision. It didn’t matter that he had succeeded in pretty much every job he’d held up until that point, his nationality was a sticking point for many.

To this day, Sky Sports’ Saturday morning show ‘Soccer AM’ run sketches about an American coach called “Brad Bobley,” poking fun at him with use of ridiculous terms like “scoop-de-loop volleys” and “reverse megnuts.” It provides an illustration of how American coaches still aren’t taken seriously in England and in the rest of Europe.

Bradley flopped at Swansea, lasting just 85 days and 11 games at the Welsh club, but minds were made about him before he’d even sat in a Premier League dugout. At Salzburg, though, Marsch says he is “not treated like an American coach.” He believes the year spent in the Bundesliga as an assistant under Ralf Rangnick at RB Leipzig has helped in this regard, but maybe he is the example that breakthrough might have been made.

This isn’t to say that there will now be a flood of American coaches heading to Europe, but Marsch may well be the coaching trailblazer the US game has waited generations for. The precedent he is setting in Austria could inspire a new generation of American managers emboldened by the possibility they won’t be mocked purely for where they come from.

Marsch can’t concern himself with all this, though. It would be overwhelming to place such significance on one’s shoulders. Instead, he must focus on cultivating a promising career that could take him even closer to the top.

It’s not hyperbolic to suggest Marsch is one of soccer’s next best managers. And he’s American. Even if his German in the dressing room is still a little broken.