Jesse Marsch ’96 was relieved of his duties as the manager of English Premier League side Leeds United, the club announced Monday morning.
A disappointing loss on Sunday to Nottingham Forest left Leeds sitting at 17th place in the table of 20 total teams, with the same number of points as Everton, who are 18th.
“Leeds United can confirm head coach Jesse Marsch has been relieved of his duties,” the club statement read. “We would like to thank Jesse and his backroom staff for their efforts and wish them well for the future. The process of appointing a new head coach is underway and we will continue to keep supporters up to date throughout the coming days.”
Marsch departs Leeds after being in charge for just under a year. The club had not won a Premier League game since November of 2022 and had picked up a dismal 11 points from the last 51 available.
Marsch helped the club avoid relegation from the Premier League last season, when the team netted a last-second win at Brentford. While wins over top clubs like Liverpool and Chelsea have given some hope for the team’s potential, the inconsistency now means that they face another uphill battle to stay in the League another season. The bottom three teams in the League are relegated.
The game against Nottingham Forest on Sunday afternoon was the final straw for many fans and the Board. Supporters in attendance chanted for Marsch to leave the club at the end of the game.
Marsch leaves the club as the third American and second Princetonian to manage a Premier League side. Former Huddersfield Town manager David Wagner and Bob Bradley ’80, who managed Swansea in 2016, are the other two.
After graduating from Princeton in 1996, he had a successful 14 year professional career, most notably with Major League Soccer (MLS) team Chicago Fire, where he scored 19 goals in 200 appearances. Following his retirement in 2010, he began his coaching career as an assistant coach for the U.S. men’s national team. Shortly after, he began coaching in the MLS having successful stints with Montreal Impact and New York Red Bulls before finally getting a move to European football in 2018.
Marsch was an assistant coach with German side RB Leipzig before moving to sister club Red Bull Salzburg in Austria, where he became the first American manager to win a trophy in a top flight league in Europe. After this successful run, he returned to Leipzig as the manager where he had a short stint with them to begin the 2021–22 season.
Even with a disappointing end to his time at Leeds, Marsch’s managerial career seems to be far from over. With the U.S. men’s national team currently lacking a permanent manager, many fans are already speculating that Marsch could be the one to lead the group of players which some have called the “Golden Generation,” into the 2026 World Cup, which will be hosted in the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
Hayk Yengibaryan is an assistant editor for the Sports section at the ‘Prince.’
Please direct any corrections requests to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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