According to sources close to US Soccer, Jesse Marsch was the front-runner to land the then vacant United States Men’s National Team managerial job. Sources told The Sports Bank at the time that while the process was still ongoing, but Marsch was then in pole position.
The former manager of Leeds United in the English Premier League and RB Leipzig in the German Bundesliga, Marsch should have replaced Gregg Berhalter, whose contract expired on New Year’s Day 2023.
Now Marsch is leading the Canadian national team to the Copa America quarterfinals, while the USA is eliminated (on Canada Day no less).
Retaining/rehiring Berhalter has proven to be a total disaster and it was all entirely too predictable.
The petty feud between Berhalter and the Reynas served as a PR black eye for US Soccer, as it further spotlighted the egregious nepotism that is currently baked in to the core of the program.
Christian Pulisic himself derided that incident as “extremely childish.”
Marsch, who was capped twice by the USMNT during his playing days, isn’t a US Soccer inner sanctum guy, but he’s far from an outside the box hire. And that is exactly what the federation needs to do now.
They need to go way outside the beltway, and shake things up.
In addition to his gigs with Leeds and RB Leipzig, Marsch has also served as manager of the Montreal Impact and New York Red Bulls of Major League Soccer.
He was sacked by Leeds in January of last year, and replaced by Javi Garcia, who was himself sacked this week and replaced by Sam Allardyce.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to Ravens Wire, part of the USA Today SMG’s NFL Wire Network and the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and the Washington Times. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.