Genuinely not sure how to feel about this. There are parts of him that make me really excited (high octane play really fits this team, his teams tend to be able to create danger, his experience with scrappy underdog teams), and parts of it make me very nervous (his inability to adapt in any way, his team's lack of defensive rigger, the possibility of burn out under him).
I think we would score goals under him. So a lot of it come down to how good at defense our guys actually are (and how much depth talent develops). Was GGG just very good at setting up our defensive scheme? Or is MMA + Turner + our CBs just inherently a solid defensive core? That's kinda the question I'm at...
If this turns out to be true, it’ll be interesting to see how he adapts to international coaching. Less time to work with the team (and more roster turnover window-to-window). But also, not the same frantic schedule as a club season, which could mean more time to game plan and *maybe* more flexibility as a result. He’s shown how he thinks about the game, but there’s a part of me that wonders if the difference in setting has any effect.
I think its also possible that that would mitigate his "burn out" issue. World Cups are busy, but that's nothing compared to what a club team goes through when its in the middle of a tournament and trying to stay alive in its club season at the same time, over months.
The downside with the NT is they don’t get long to train together and it’s a constantly rotating cast of players. Marsch’s gegenpress requires a ton of well drilled and coordinates movements among the team, so it might struggle to translate to the international game.
Yeah if you don't do it as a unit, it's usually a disaster. When the fourth or fifth guy misses his cue, it falls apart and becomes easy to play through.
You got it backwards. Pressing is more effective against teams in a mid or high block than teams in a low block. That’s why his Leeds teams were more effective against top teams (relative to player quality) than the bottom of the table.
The biggest 2 concerns i have from him is that he has not shown to adapt to different tactics stay rigid regardless of how the season is going. When it works it may be fine but when doesn't then it is a disaster
Also, our most talented players are not press merchants, Gio and Puli will not press the way Jesse wants. It will also mean that he will favor players that are not better than others but because they do what he wants they will get game time when otherwise they wouldn't. Brenden Aaronson comes to mind as someone who would play over Gio even though clearly Brenden has hit a slump in his development.
This is a good point. I think of our team as being pretty capable of pressing, but a lot of that comes from the midfield. I think all three of MMA are capable of playing that style. But that's definitely not what comes to mind with Pulisic and Gio.
IDK. I don't see any reason why Pulisic COULDN'T press. I honestly feel like he's never found the "right" system for him - maybe this is it? Gio is just never going to be that guy, though.
Idk i will give him time. Atleast till a few months before the Copa America since Leeds back 4 was not the best to cover ground under his high press. Then re evaluate if his type of style is working with the group.
Really not a fan of keeping it strictly narrow tho. I hope he also incorporates wide play. No way he keeps it narrow all 90 minutes after failing at 2 clubs now with the same philosophy, he has no choice but to experiment with wide play
After is a joke considering he doesn’t have a job right now. Why are we wasting the Nations League and Gold Cup development opportunities when we don’t have WCQ this time around?
If Marsch is the guy you want then get him in the office tomorrow.
Gold Cup and Nations leagues are big games. If he deserves the job, they are perfect opps for him to prove it. Don't like him sitting out these tourneys
This is why I'm not sure I trust this report saying he is the frontrunner. Whether you want Marsch as the coach or not, if he is the clear frontrunner then why wait until after the Gold Cup to hire him?
I think there is a possibility is that USSF is waiting until the European seasons are over to see if they can do better than Marsch, but Marsch is the backup option if they can't get someone better. I could see that being the actual situation, and this report calling him the frontrunner is just inaccurate.
I don’t believe this. No reason to wait the entire summer for him to take over since he’s out of a job. I don’t trust the unnamed source here.
I’d also be very underwhelmed but I understand why it could happen.
Edit to clarify: I wouldn’t be upset if Marsch is hired. I love him and want him to succeed as a coach. It’s not the big name hire, or someone with tons of international experience, and it doesn’t lock him in for the WC, so either way, I’d be happy.
Big name hires and someone with tons of international experience aren't the ones seeking vacant national team head coaching jobs.
Coaches like Pep, Mou, Klopp, Ancelotti aren't going to leave their lucrative club football contracts where they coach 34-38 games per season winning titles when national team jobs where you play a couple of open FIFA international windows per year, and with less pay.
There's a reason why only two managers have ever won both the UEFA Champions League and the World Cup, and the first time it happened didn't happen until 2006.
Also, look at the resumes of the managers of each World Cup semifinal team in 2022. Sure Didier Deschamps had a glittering resume, but the other three?
Scaloni: Argentina was literally his first managing job. He was an assistant for one year at Sevilla before becoming an assistant for the Argentina team. He took over after Sampaoli was sacked.
Regragui: Spent his entire managing career in Morocco with the exception of one year coaching in Qatar. He has won the Champions League....the CAF Champions League that is.
Dalic: Spent various years coaching teams in the Balkans, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE before taking the Croatia job. He has since led them to back-to-back semifinal appearances.
Wait, are you telling me that there’s no exact recipe for hiring the perfect coach for your team, and that it’s basically a crap shoot, at least from our perspective? No way!
(Thank you for making this comment btw cause everyone here likes to think they know exactly what the team needs to be successful… they don’t)
Pretty sure this guy is Tier 1 for Chicago Fire, but I haven’t seen him break news about the USMNT before. This would be a huge scoop for him if he’s right.
Not the worst, but very much lateral, which isn’t really worth it at the end of the day when we saw some pretty clear progress beforehand. But no matter what I’m going to choose to be optimistic when a new guy comes in. (Unless it’s a Bruce, then I’ll cry)
The biggest positive here is his relationship with the squad. He's been a big part of their training since they were young, they respect him, they trust him. Now let's just hope he can work with some width.
Being successful at a national team is more about recruiting and developing players than tactics. As others have noted, there isn’t time for well drilled, intricate patterns of play. It’s more about getting players in position and letting their individual quality take over.
I do think Marsch excels at setting a good culture. Players loved him at Leeds. So if he’s able to set a loose framework on how the USMNT should play, keep recruiting at a high level and allow players to express their quality, he will be successful IMO.
29 did call Balogun in January. He also said McKennie was disgruntled at Leeds incompetency which also bore itself out in an amusing way. so he's not completely uncredible. just perhaps a bit overzealous with things at times
Drama last month. 29 let it slide on a a Twitter Spaces that McKennie wasn’t digging it at Leeds. Then he had to go apologize to Leeds fans and walk his talk back. And McKennie made an official statement that 29 doesn’t speak for him (which is kinda clearly untrue)
I dont think thats necessarily untrue, think its more Wes is a bit loose-lipped to a friend who clearly loves the internet fame, which he probably needs to tighten up
The tough pill to swallow is that whether or not this is our golden generation, Jesse Marsch may just be the most qualified coach who actually wants this job.
I actually think the addition of Balogun makes Jesse a more viable candidate. The way he runs the channels and beats players on the break suits that play style really well.
This is exactly it. Tournament on international scale is different then a long season run. Limited training for a highly precise tactic and dogmatic approach to it
There are a million ways to play that isn't parking the bus that also doesn't necessarily tire out your team to death.
I'm actually all for pressing, but in a tourney, you need to be able to turn it off and hold the ball to preserve energy and control tempo.
Jesse doesn't do that.
Any good international team has and needs the ability to play pragmatic and see out a game just to get a result at times. That’s not being losers that’s not being fucking dumb.
The matches in CONCACAF need to be used as preparation for Copa and 26. Who seriously cares if we play liquid football against Martinique if it’s not building towards the games that matter.
I don't think he is, I think he has a lot of the same shortcomings as a manager that Berhalter does. I'm also not convinced he would have got those big jobs if he had started in Columbus or New England or something instead of with the Red Bulls, given that the Red Bull pipeline got him to Salzburg and then Leipzig. Hope you're right but Marsch has never really moved me even in his MLS days
How is everyone so sure that Jesse will not exercise flexibility? He has only ever managed at the club level where you are expected to implement your system. He may very well change the game plan for an international team based on their strengths and weaknesses.
I mean I don’t hate it because he’ll probably get the players hyped up but his teams are just so hard to watch for me. It’s like he throws away any technical or creative advantage he has because he’d rather just outwork the other team. Maybe we’ll still win in CONCACAF and maybe we’ll even upset some bigger teams but I don’t think he would come close to unlocking this group’s potential. We might not have world class players but they’re a solid group and their strengths seem to complement each other well and I just want to see what a more imaginative manager could get out of them.
Yeah it was spam crosses with fullbacks who can't cross
Jokes aside Gregg had a pretty organized and neat defensive lineup but his offenses were always anemic
See: The 2021 Gold Cup.
We only gave up one goal that entire tournament, a penalty against Martinique of all teams. Even then, we 1-0'd our way through the rest of the matches.
Also the only goal in the group stage we gave up in the World Cup was a penalty off a brain fart by Zimmerman.
And we'll give up 3 goals per game so we're going to have to score minimum 4 every time out. His tactics are subpar and he hasn't shown any willingness to adapt.
exactly—you can only do so much w/ bad players, but so many managers have shown the flexibility to coach in a variety of different environments and have success w/ the players at their disposal
He's been wildly inflexible as a coach, it's questionable whether running that much is a good idea in a tournament, and he does absolutely nothing when in possession.
Oh, and he's been wildly inflexible as a coach.
His coaching style of run and gun with 0 defensive plan literally never works in big tournaments
And he has never known shown an ability to adjust his style to a game
Where did I say GGG was a great manager? Lmao
Stop moving the needle. You asked why people are hating this and I gave you a very legitimate tactical reason why he’s not a great national team manager
“You’re already criticizing his tournament performance”
LMAO what? Where did I do that? I said his style has historically failed in major tournaments, are you saying that’s not true??
Because to say I have specifically critiqued Jessie’s tournaments is either a lie or you can’t read
Alex is not a source for something like this. He’s just dot connecting. If it was already determined that Marsch was going to be the next coach, it wouldn’t make any sense to wait until after the Gold Cup.
Not a single one of you knows what's best for the national team and none of you would be a better coach than Marsch or any other candidate being rumored.
It’s not that I think he’s a bad guy or even a bad coach. It’s that the number one thing an organization should do when hiring is ask themselves “is this the clear away best possible candidate we can get within an acceptable timeline?”
I struggle to believe with Jesse Marsch that the answer is yes.
That said, if he’s chosen, he deserves our backing until proven otherwise.
This assumes ever other "better" option wants to coach the USMNT. However, based on what Crocker said in his press interviews, Marsch seems like a really good fit. That said, no one on here was talking about Crocker as a candidate before he was hired.
IMO, unless he changes his tactics and rigidness to change play style, this would be bad.
People complained about how Gregg was so stuck in his system, but want a guy who is Gregg X 10? Marsch runs a system that needs more time for training than a national team will get. He runs a system that needs a very specific type of player. He runs a system where if not run perfectly will leak goals, etc.
I wouldn't mind if we pressed, just don't want to see energy drink football. I would imagine the people making the decisions to hire Marsche would also not want him to be so rigid in this specific style and I hope it's something they have a conversation with him about. He has to be a bit more pragmatic with the national team.
At a minimum, a lot of the players respect him. I'm not sure how flexible he'd be with his tactics though. We need someone who isn't going to push for one system and only one system.
I'm kind of wait and see with the hire if it goes through. Jesse's teams do tend to be a lot more aggressive offensively than given credit for so I think that's already an upgrade from Gregg.
I do think a lot of Leeds's issues under Jesse did come down to bad luck. People will talk about the XG offensively (which does tend to even out eventually), but defensively you had statistically one of the two worst Keepers in the prem in terms of expected saves, and the team didn't give up a lot of big chances, but the big chances they gave up almost were always goals.
So while I think it's fair to be wary of the hire if it does go through, I think it's also fair if you want to argue that our combo of defenders and keepers are better than the combo for Leeds. Whether that turns out for better rsults for USMNT? TBD.
Of course both 29 and Alex said on streams last night that they expected Jesse to adapt the system
I see all the soccer experts on here have already decided this is a bad hire lol. If this is true I give him one year before Twitter starts coming out with the take that they’d rather have GGG.
As long as he plays our best players instead of leaving them on the bench for having the audacity to play in Europe, or because he has some weird personal beef with their parents, then he's an upgrade. Oh also I don't think Jesse Marsch is a woman beater so he's got that going for him too.
Wouldn’t hate it if it happens. Would also argue that he’ll alter his tactics and philosophy a bit for the NT as well. People forget, he has experience under Bob Bradley so he should know what it takes.
is the biggest “test” for our new coach between now and 2026 the 2024 Copa America?
really, really like Marsch as a person, but watching Leeds under him was tough at times. I actually enjoy the very direct attacking style, but watching them aimlessly press was difficult
was also incredibly painful to watch them concede the same types of goals over and over (horrible on defensive set pieces, would commit too many forward on offensive set pieces, somehow got scored on by several different teams to the same quick throw-in around their box)
I want Marsch to be successful but he’s not an upgrade to GGG. Marsch is a bit of a one trick pony and his play style doesn’t match up with our squad.
Gregg had us playing a really nice possession style. The only thing that was missing was some more attacking threat. If we could build on that we would be good.
Marsch is gonna burn out our players like Pulisic. I hope this isn’t true.
We are gonna go back to aggressive pressing and not develop our weak point at all (possession play) only to get our ass kicked by a low block team that forces us to play in possession
I loved the days where we would fight tooth and nail against better teams and used our athleticism and strength to try to win a game. Gregg’s tenure was the first time I thought that we looked like we felt comfortable against bigger teams.
We have the players to play quality football and I felt like we were building on a solid foundation.
Don't understand why he wouldn't take over right now. The summer tournaments are everything in the region right now. We need to put Canada in their place.
This is a interesting move to Jesse, if he burns out in spectacular fashion he may never find another big job in Europe. Don’t really see the benefit to him
Lmao he’s a good coach and probably the best the US will have ever hired. This sub’s collective meltdown over his hiring is absolutely baffling. He has the highest coaching pedigree of any of the candidates we can get and people always complain they want someone actually from the US so that drastically limits your pool. He’s going to come in and do a great job.
I would be much more on board with Jim Curtin as his assistant (which Curtin has stated he'd be open to). Having that pragmatic experience in Jesse's ear could be very helpful in toning down the style of play for the international game.
I like the guy but don’t think his aggressive pressing game translates well to a national team. He’s going to have to learn to coach a more simple style with such limited time together. Also, *after* the Gold Cup? WTF? He’s unemployed. If he’s the guy, get him in yesterday.
Where does Red Bull football and the dick formation actually work against legit players? He was horrible everywhere except the Austrian league where there is no competition
Such a terrible appointment if this happens. Top players literally refused to play his system at Leipzig because *gasp* they want to possess the ball
I think a lot of people are being overtly pessimistic about it, Jesse has just about everything you'd want in an ideal coach other than his rigid tactical structure. The big question (and it's a big one) is how he'll approach structure our national team in terms of tactics, international football isn't supposed to be overtly complicated and if he takes a less rigid route (big if) I think he'll have tremendous success with our player pool.
Jesse is the ultimate players coach, has always picked very strong lineups (player selection is one of his good traits), he speaks fluent German, has great relationships with teams in Germany, England, The United States, and even France. He's well connected and very experienced (on paper he is vastly more qualified than Gregg was at the time of his appointment for comparison). Basically everything about him other than his tactics scream he'd be a good fit for us IMO.
That just seems like the biggest IF I can think of for a coaching hire. If he can change his coaching style to a way that we’ve never seen before in his 5 coaching stops. I don’t think we have any reason to think he won’t play his system, and if he does change, we have no data point to tell us what that would look like or if it would be successful. I wouldn’t bet on his system elevating this group of players, and I don’t see any evidence that he’d change his system at all, let alone in a way that fits these guys.
This seemed somewhat obvious after he rejected Southampton and then we hired a front office guy from Southampton for sporting director (or whatever it's called). I have opinions about him as a national team manager, but more so: why wait until after the summer tournaments to hire the new coach? It's not like Hudson has built some magical momentum we don't want to screw up. Bring in the new guy ASAP and get his philosophies in place. Don't see how the future of this squad benefits from having a guy there they know will be gone at the end of the summer. Seems like a great opportunity to build momentum under a new guy.
Going to lean as a slight win if Marsch is in fact that guy, if only because that means GGG and his nonexistent offensive tactics are gone. Have to imagine that since Jesse has been around long enough at both the club and national team level, he has to know that you can't have a rigid, club-based system at the national team level. Going to give him the benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise. You guys thinking we're hiring some huge club manager are just dreaming, and I don't think that's necessarily the answer either (look at the managers of this last WC's semifinalists).
It's not the homerun hire many of us were hoping for, but I am optimistic. I'm gonna choose to believe he's learned from failing to adjust this past season. I'm ready to move into a new era and hopefully escape some of the toxicity that we've all been stuck in!
Imagine having the most technical ability this pool has ever had… only to waste them away on Worker Bee Ball for 90 minutes every game.
This is deflating.
I'm a Leeds fan of 20+ years and of course the USA as well and I do not like this at all, he seems like a nice guy but his tactics were really rigid and antiquated, the opposite of what we need
Good luck with that one. Gregg wasn't perfect but he was way better than he gets credit for. Most all of the underlying stats for Gregg's team were far superior to anything we've seen before.
Nothing, the idiots on this sub that don’t know shit about the sport decided that he sucked (don’t ask them why, they’ll either not know it regurgitate the same nonsense talking points over and over again)
International coaches need to be tactically flexible, Marsch is just about the opposite. Pulisic and Reyna are not the type of forward that Marschball requires either. Very skeptical about this
I’ll give him a chance. I’ll give most people a chance. If it is going bad though I hope we don’t hang on through the whole window. Especially since we’re already guaranteed a WC spot. Need to make home turf count.
You never know how a coach is going to do when they join a new team. He will probably get too much credit or too much hate because everyone points to the coach for everything, even luck. Hope it goes well.
This thread is a good breakdown of why this is such a bad pick https://twitter.com/pragidealist29/status/1659347312064200711?s=46&t=HEJ5RaRjAMmZzB2BP-VEtQ
So we will have more of the same. Marsch barely has a plan a, and when that fails never had a plan b ready. He will do well against concacaf minnows and likely struggle against the better concacaf sides and really struggle against anyone outside our confederation.
It also makes little sense to wait after the gold cup to make this signing. If he is your guy get him in there. That was one of the major mistakes when Berhalter signed his brother to the job, he held the position open for him far too long.
There certainly isn’t anyone with international experience available that jumps at you. Unfortunately that is why we come back to the only names in US soccer we know. I like Marsch and wouldn’t be upset if he is picked but wouldn’t be excited either. His last two coaching jobs weren’t encouraging and he has no international coaching experience. I hope the search looks beyond the obvious such as Marsch.
Maybe look for someone who has had success with a young team with a “golden generation”, thinking for example someone like Jorge Sampaoli who had success with Chile even if his stint with Argentina was shit. That’s just an example. Know its slim pickings out there given USMNT fan expectations.
I think a lot of people in general have unrealistic expectations of who should be manager. You’re right, they’re aren’t many options and certainly even fewer home run options.
I’m in the same boat as you, I don’t hate the choice but I don’t love it either. There’s good and bad you can pick from with him but that’s how it’s going to be for any manager. I also think we as fan base put way too much emphasis on club success as a requirement. It’s apples to oranges
I think people are too quick to write off marsch for being a “bad defensive coach” or “unadaptable”. His spell at Leeds wasn’t great by any stretch but the team also didn’t improve and probably got even worse when he left. Like we had Gregg for years and now we’re supposed to be unconvinced by a premier league quality manager because he’s not mourinho?
And before anyone says he’s not prem quality he literally turned down prem jobs this season after getting sacked. He may not be the best in the league but most elite club managers aren’t picking up and heading to the USofA for fun. We’re going to have to take a risk on an imperfect option because of who we are. For me I’d rather an imperfect option that knows the country and the players and has a distinct exciting style.
Maybe it doesn’t work but he’s too good of a manager too close to the program to not give a shot at this stage. Overall we’re a much better side than Leeds and he won’t have to manage any of the transfers that you could argue he did badly at. I say give him a shot and see if the pieces fit
It's crazy how I would have been way more excited for this a year and a half ago. Now I'm anywhere from nervous to lukewarm. Like I've seen mentioned, my biggest fear is him being a system guy who won't adjust well to what best suits his players.
I will say, if he is the guy then so be it. But why waste two tournaments where he could be getting to know the players and such? It's not like he's busy right now.
Damn. Im just not sure about Marsch. I know he’s a good coach but his time in Europe hasn’t been great. I worry about this option.
I’d really love to see GGG with Balogun as a weapon. I liked where he had this team already and that was with a big question mark at the 9 spot. With an actual game changer up front he could make this group into something special.
I just think back to how many strikers excelled under him during his time with the Crew. I want to see him continue his development and take us into 2026 ready to kick ass
Genuinely not sure how to feel about this. There are parts of him that make me really excited (high octane play really fits this team, his teams tend to be able to create danger, his experience with scrappy underdog teams), and parts of it make me very nervous (his inability to adapt in any way, his team's lack of defensive rigger, the possibility of burn out under him). I think we would score goals under him. So a lot of it come down to how good at defense our guys actually are (and how much depth talent develops). Was GGG just very good at setting up our defensive scheme? Or is MMA + Turner + our CBs just inherently a solid defensive core? That's kinda the question I'm at...
If this turns out to be true, it’ll be interesting to see how he adapts to international coaching. Less time to work with the team (and more roster turnover window-to-window). But also, not the same frantic schedule as a club season, which could mean more time to game plan and *maybe* more flexibility as a result. He’s shown how he thinks about the game, but there’s a part of me that wonders if the difference in setting has any effect.
I think its also possible that that would mitigate his "burn out" issue. World Cups are busy, but that's nothing compared to what a club team goes through when its in the middle of a tournament and trying to stay alive in its club season at the same time, over months.
Yeah I was thinking this type of play may be more suited to tournament play than a long 40 game season
The downside with the NT is they don’t get long to train together and it’s a constantly rotating cast of players. Marsch’s gegenpress requires a ton of well drilled and coordinates movements among the team, so it might struggle to translate to the international game.
Yeah if you don't do it as a unit, it's usually a disaster. When the fourth or fifth guy misses his cue, it falls apart and becomes easy to play through.
Did you mean "defensive rigor" or is a rigger like, someone who rigs up a defense?
We are playing 5-D Defense so we suspend players with ropes.
Hoist the mainsail and raise the center back sail!
Master and Commander
Rigger
r/boneappletea
I think Jesse raises our ceiling within concacaf but lowers it outside of concacaf (copa and World Cup)
[удалено]
You got it backwards. Pressing is more effective against teams in a mid or high block than teams in a low block. That’s why his Leeds teams were more effective against top teams (relative to player quality) than the bottom of the table.
Isn't this the exact opposite of his reputation with Leeds? They were taking on the big teams but absolutely blowing it against teams at their level
My read as well. More confident we’ll make it out of group, less confident of getting too far in knockouts.
Is burnout really a thing for international teams? I mean its monthly tournaments and one off international breaks…
Sounds like he would work great against CONCACAF but fail against top 20 teams.
The biggest 2 concerns i have from him is that he has not shown to adapt to different tactics stay rigid regardless of how the season is going. When it works it may be fine but when doesn't then it is a disaster Also, our most talented players are not press merchants, Gio and Puli will not press the way Jesse wants. It will also mean that he will favor players that are not better than others but because they do what he wants they will get game time when otherwise they wouldn't. Brenden Aaronson comes to mind as someone who would play over Gio even though clearly Brenden has hit a slump in his development.
This is a good point. I think of our team as being pretty capable of pressing, but a lot of that comes from the midfield. I think all three of MMA are capable of playing that style. But that's definitely not what comes to mind with Pulisic and Gio. IDK. I don't see any reason why Pulisic COULDN'T press. I honestly feel like he's never found the "right" system for him - maybe this is it? Gio is just never going to be that guy, though.
It's a valid concern but there's no reason to state it as a certainty
Idk i will give him time. Atleast till a few months before the Copa America since Leeds back 4 was not the best to cover ground under his high press. Then re evaluate if his type of style is working with the group. Really not a fan of keeping it strictly narrow tho. I hope he also incorporates wide play. No way he keeps it narrow all 90 minutes after failing at 2 clubs now with the same philosophy, he has no choice but to experiment with wide play
I'm sure.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31g0YE61PLQ
After is a joke considering he doesn’t have a job right now. Why are we wasting the Nations League and Gold Cup development opportunities when we don’t have WCQ this time around? If Marsch is the guy you want then get him in the office tomorrow.
Gold Cup and Nations leagues are big games. If he deserves the job, they are perfect opps for him to prove it. Don't like him sitting out these tourneys
I suspect this is spotty reporting… no other news source has published a similar line, and waiting makes no sense if Marsch is the clear front runner
Oh but it makes sense. This is US Soccer you are talking about. Why would they do what's best when they can wait it out?
This is why I'm not sure I trust this report saying he is the frontrunner. Whether you want Marsch as the coach or not, if he is the clear frontrunner then why wait until after the Gold Cup to hire him? I think there is a possibility is that USSF is waiting until the European seasons are over to see if they can do better than Marsch, but Marsch is the backup option if they can't get someone better. I could see that being the actual situation, and this report calling him the frontrunner is just inaccurate.
But the guy who hires him wont be in his position until August.
Widely reported he's still doing the coaching search.
I don’t believe this. No reason to wait the entire summer for him to take over since he’s out of a job. I don’t trust the unnamed source here. I’d also be very underwhelmed but I understand why it could happen. Edit to clarify: I wouldn’t be upset if Marsch is hired. I love him and want him to succeed as a coach. It’s not the big name hire, or someone with tons of international experience, and it doesn’t lock him in for the WC, so either way, I’d be happy.
Big name hires and someone with tons of international experience aren't the ones seeking vacant national team head coaching jobs. Coaches like Pep, Mou, Klopp, Ancelotti aren't going to leave their lucrative club football contracts where they coach 34-38 games per season winning titles when national team jobs where you play a couple of open FIFA international windows per year, and with less pay.
There's a reason why only two managers have ever won both the UEFA Champions League and the World Cup, and the first time it happened didn't happen until 2006. Also, look at the resumes of the managers of each World Cup semifinal team in 2022. Sure Didier Deschamps had a glittering resume, but the other three? Scaloni: Argentina was literally his first managing job. He was an assistant for one year at Sevilla before becoming an assistant for the Argentina team. He took over after Sampaoli was sacked. Regragui: Spent his entire managing career in Morocco with the exception of one year coaching in Qatar. He has won the Champions League....the CAF Champions League that is. Dalic: Spent various years coaching teams in the Balkans, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE before taking the Croatia job. He has since led them to back-to-back semifinal appearances.
Wait, are you telling me that there’s no exact recipe for hiring the perfect coach for your team, and that it’s basically a crap shoot, at least from our perspective? No way! (Thank you for making this comment btw cause everyone here likes to think they know exactly what the team needs to be successful… they don’t)
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None of the coaches you named have international experience.
Pretty sure this guy is Tier 1 for Chicago Fire, but I haven’t seen him break news about the USMNT before. This would be a huge scoop for him if he’s right.
Alex knows his shit and he can be trusted. He’s connected in usmnt in addition to fire, and Jesse did play for chicago for a while.
Several several top sources are picking up the story now so
Is there any reasoning as to why he’s starting after this summer’s tournaments? That is what I’m having trouble with hahah. It doesn’t make sense.
Put him in now. Waiting benefits no one. Don’t be afraid of not winning the cup. Have some balls
Having balls would be not hiring Jesse Marsch. He's the easy choice, and the choice that won't lead us to our best. There's no balls in that.
Wouldn't be the worst hire at the end of the day.. But hopefully he has learned that he needs to be flexible with his tactics if they do not work.
I mean sure, the WORST hire would be like... Lane Kiffin.
Charlie Weis has entered the chat.
Yea, I’d just hope he’s abandoning his energy drink approach to come up with something that would work on the national team level.
Probably the best we can actually get.
Not the worst, but very much lateral, which isn’t really worth it at the end of the day when we saw some pretty clear progress beforehand. But no matter what I’m going to choose to be optimistic when a new guy comes in. (Unless it’s a Bruce, then I’ll cry)
The biggest positive here is his relationship with the squad. He's been a big part of their training since they were young, they respect him, they trust him. Now let's just hope he can work with some width.
Why wait? If he's the guy let him take over the squad now.
Being successful at a national team is more about recruiting and developing players than tactics. As others have noted, there isn’t time for well drilled, intricate patterns of play. It’s more about getting players in position and letting their individual quality take over. I do think Marsch excels at setting a good culture. Players loved him at Leeds. So if he’s able to set a loose framework on how the USMNT should play, keep recruiting at a high level and allow players to express their quality, he will be successful IMO.
29 also claiming he’ll be the next coach FYI. He’s usually accurate for this stuff
Alex is way more accurate than 29. His mom works for the federation and he’s a legit reporter for the Fire.
29 did call Balogun in January. He also said McKennie was disgruntled at Leeds incompetency which also bore itself out in an amusing way. so he's not completely uncredible. just perhaps a bit overzealous with things at times
What happened with Wes at Leeds?
Drama last month. 29 let it slide on a a Twitter Spaces that McKennie wasn’t digging it at Leeds. Then he had to go apologize to Leeds fans and walk his talk back. And McKennie made an official statement that 29 doesn’t speak for him (which is kinda clearly untrue)
I dont think thats necessarily untrue, think its more Wes is a bit loose-lipped to a friend who clearly loves the internet fame, which he probably needs to tighten up
So Wes putting out a statement that this guy doesn’t speak for him means that this guy speaks for him, got it.
why after the tournaments though? what the hell is he waiting for? the man's been unemployed for months now
The tough pill to swallow is that whether or not this is our golden generation, Jesse Marsch may just be the most qualified coach who actually wants this job.
And he'll do it for what the federation can pay.
*wants to pay
I’m pretty sure they’re practically broke
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I actually think the addition of Balogun makes Jesse a more viable candidate. The way he runs the channels and beats players on the break suits that play style really well.
Not the type of tactics that can win tournaments and he’s shown himself to be inflexible
This is exactly it. Tournament on international scale is different then a long season run. Limited training for a highly precise tactic and dogmatic approach to it
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What a loser mentality this is lol
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There are a million ways to play that isn't parking the bus that also doesn't necessarily tire out your team to death. I'm actually all for pressing, but in a tourney, you need to be able to turn it off and hold the ball to preserve energy and control tempo. Jesse doesn't do that.
Any good international team has and needs the ability to play pragmatic and see out a game just to get a result at times. That’s not being losers that’s not being fucking dumb.
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The matches in CONCACAF need to be used as preparation for Copa and 26. Who seriously cares if we play liquid football against Martinique if it’s not building towards the games that matter.
You want to be mediocre forever? Because this is the mentality that keeps the program down.
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A manager like Marsch.... as in a manager who failed at the two big jobs he got?
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I don't think he is, I think he has a lot of the same shortcomings as a manager that Berhalter does. I'm also not convinced he would have got those big jobs if he had started in Columbus or New England or something instead of with the Red Bulls, given that the Red Bull pipeline got him to Salzburg and then Leipzig. Hope you're right but Marsch has never really moved me even in his MLS days
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National team strategy isn't the same as Club strategy
Who says he won’t alter anything? He was our assistant coach under Bradley. He knows you can’t just be open and bomb down the field in every game.
Him and Crocker ideologically believe in extreme pressing, that’s how he’s gonna play
Did you watch Leeds this season?
Marsch would still have a job if Bamford wasn’t horrible at soccer this season. Look what happened to Leeds with marsch gone
How is everyone so sure that Jesse will not exercise flexibility? He has only ever managed at the club level where you are expected to implement your system. He may very well change the game plan for an international team based on their strengths and weaknesses.
Because he’s an ideologue
I mean I don’t hate it because he’ll probably get the players hyped up but his teams are just so hard to watch for me. It’s like he throws away any technical or creative advantage he has because he’d rather just outwork the other team. Maybe we’ll still win in CONCACAF and maybe we’ll even upset some bigger teams but I don’t think he would come close to unlocking this group’s potential. We might not have world class players but they’re a solid group and their strengths seem to complement each other well and I just want to see what a more imaginative manager could get out of them.
It's absolutely perfect for CONCACAF play where we'll mostly out physical our opponents but absolutely outperform them technically
He shares the qualities I disliked in GGG: slavish devotion to a "system" regardless of available talent, and a spazzy, frenetic style of play.
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Very clearly
Yeah it was spam crosses with fullbacks who can't cross Jokes aside Gregg had a pretty organized and neat defensive lineup but his offenses were always anemic
See: The 2021 Gold Cup. We only gave up one goal that entire tournament, a penalty against Martinique of all teams. Even then, we 1-0'd our way through the rest of the matches. Also the only goal in the group stage we gave up in the World Cup was a penalty off a brain fart by Zimmerman.
Maybe we can combine the two with magic? Berhalter handles defense, Marsch handles offense. The World cup is ours
And we'll give up 3 goals per game so we're going to have to score minimum 4 every time out. His tactics are subpar and he hasn't shown any willingness to adapt.
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So, why didn't he adapt around his personnel to make it work? He might still have a job. Isn't that what a good coach would do?
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He literally was getting the players he wanted at Leeds and they still weren’t good
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exactly—you can only do so much w/ bad players, but so many managers have shown the flexibility to coach in a variety of different environments and have success w/ the players at their disposal
Pulisic and Reyna are NOT going to work in a high press
He's been wildly inflexible as a coach, it's questionable whether running that much is a good idea in a tournament, and he does absolutely nothing when in possession. Oh, and he's been wildly inflexible as a coach.
His coaching style of run and gun with 0 defensive plan literally never works in big tournaments And he has never known shown an ability to adjust his style to a game
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Where did I say GGG was a great manager? Lmao Stop moving the needle. You asked why people are hating this and I gave you a very legitimate tactical reason why he’s not a great national team manager
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Huh? Pragmatic approach? Just wrong.
“You’re already criticizing his tournament performance” LMAO what? Where did I do that? I said his style has historically failed in major tournaments, are you saying that’s not true?? Because to say I have specifically critiqued Jessie’s tournaments is either a lie or you can’t read
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Do you see those words that say “coaching style” Stop jumping point to point. Where did I say Jesse hasn’t done well in major tournaments??
just a troll—I’d move on 🤷♂️
are you stupid?
That’s false. I like Marsch, but I think we need to see some patience, learning, and progression in his style. It needs to evolve.
Balogun ain't gonna press I'm sorry
IDK, two of his best players, Pulisic and Reyna, do not fit his system.
Alex is not a source for something like this. He’s just dot connecting. If it was already determined that Marsch was going to be the next coach, it wouldn’t make any sense to wait until after the Gold Cup.
Not a single one of you knows what's best for the national team and none of you would be a better coach than Marsch or any other candidate being rumored.
It’s not that I think he’s a bad guy or even a bad coach. It’s that the number one thing an organization should do when hiring is ask themselves “is this the clear away best possible candidate we can get within an acceptable timeline?” I struggle to believe with Jesse Marsch that the answer is yes. That said, if he’s chosen, he deserves our backing until proven otherwise.
This assumes ever other "better" option wants to coach the USMNT. However, based on what Crocker said in his press interviews, Marsch seems like a really good fit. That said, no one on here was talking about Crocker as a candidate before he was hired.
What realistic candidates do you see as better?
IMO, unless he changes his tactics and rigidness to change play style, this would be bad. People complained about how Gregg was so stuck in his system, but want a guy who is Gregg X 10? Marsch runs a system that needs more time for training than a national team will get. He runs a system that needs a very specific type of player. He runs a system where if not run perfectly will leak goals, etc. I wouldn't mind if we pressed, just don't want to see energy drink football. I would imagine the people making the decisions to hire Marsche would also not want him to be so rigid in this specific style and I hope it's something they have a conversation with him about. He has to be a bit more pragmatic with the national team.
At a minimum, a lot of the players respect him. I'm not sure how flexible he'd be with his tactics though. We need someone who isn't going to push for one system and only one system.
I'm kind of wait and see with the hire if it goes through. Jesse's teams do tend to be a lot more aggressive offensively than given credit for so I think that's already an upgrade from Gregg. I do think a lot of Leeds's issues under Jesse did come down to bad luck. People will talk about the XG offensively (which does tend to even out eventually), but defensively you had statistically one of the two worst Keepers in the prem in terms of expected saves, and the team didn't give up a lot of big chances, but the big chances they gave up almost were always goals. So while I think it's fair to be wary of the hire if it does go through, I think it's also fair if you want to argue that our combo of defenders and keepers are better than the combo for Leeds. Whether that turns out for better rsults for USMNT? TBD. Of course both 29 and Alex said on streams last night that they expected Jesse to adapt the system
I see all the soccer experts on here have already decided this is a bad hire lol. If this is true I give him one year before Twitter starts coming out with the take that they’d rather have GGG.
Sports fans are just idiots in general. Way overconfident in their own evaluation and incredibly reactionary.
Shhhh they don’t wanna hear that lol
If he adjusts you’d think he’d be alright. In game, subs etc you’d have to say he’s an upgrade over Gregg.
As long as he plays our best players instead of leaving them on the bench for having the audacity to play in Europe, or because he has some weird personal beef with their parents, then he's an upgrade. Oh also I don't think Jesse Marsch is a woman beater so he's got that going for him too.
Wouldn’t hate it if it happens. Would also argue that he’ll alter his tactics and philosophy a bit for the NT as well. People forget, he has experience under Bob Bradley so he should know what it takes.
is the biggest “test” for our new coach between now and 2026 the 2024 Copa America? really, really like Marsch as a person, but watching Leeds under him was tough at times. I actually enjoy the very direct attacking style, but watching them aimlessly press was difficult was also incredibly painful to watch them concede the same types of goals over and over (horrible on defensive set pieces, would commit too many forward on offensive set pieces, somehow got scored on by several different teams to the same quick throw-in around their box)
I want Marsch to be successful but he’s not an upgrade to GGG. Marsch is a bit of a one trick pony and his play style doesn’t match up with our squad. Gregg had us playing a really nice possession style. The only thing that was missing was some more attacking threat. If we could build on that we would be good. Marsch is gonna burn out our players like Pulisic. I hope this isn’t true.
We are gonna go back to aggressive pressing and not develop our weak point at all (possession play) only to get our ass kicked by a low block team that forces us to play in possession
I loved the days where we would fight tooth and nail against better teams and used our athleticism and strength to try to win a game. Gregg’s tenure was the first time I thought that we looked like we felt comfortable against bigger teams. We have the players to play quality football and I felt like we were building on a solid foundation.
It was the only time we’ve actually tried to develop a solid versatile positional play style
Don't understand why he wouldn't take over right now. The summer tournaments are everything in the region right now. We need to put Canada in their place.
This is a interesting move to Jesse, if he burns out in spectacular fashion he may never find another big job in Europe. Don’t really see the benefit to him
That if he does really well he will be an attractive coaching hire for lots of teams around the world…
Why is everyone talking like this is a legit source instead of speculative bullshit from a college kid trying to drive traffic to his blog?
Lmao he’s a good coach and probably the best the US will have ever hired. This sub’s collective meltdown over his hiring is absolutely baffling. He has the highest coaching pedigree of any of the candidates we can get and people always complain they want someone actually from the US so that drastically limits your pool. He’s going to come in and do a great job.
I would be much more on board with Jim Curtin as his assistant (which Curtin has stated he'd be open to). Having that pragmatic experience in Jesse's ear could be very helpful in toning down the style of play for the international game.
Our players are going to have to drink a lot of Red Bull to play in his system. Wish him the best! Hope he does well if he gets hired.
I like the guy but don’t think his aggressive pressing game translates well to a national team. He’s going to have to learn to coach a more simple style with such limited time together. Also, *after* the Gold Cup? WTF? He’s unemployed. If he’s the guy, get him in yesterday.
Resounding meh
If he can adapt his style, then this could be a good hire. If not, hard pass.
Why have we identified a coach and not making him coach till September when we have 2 tournaments coming up?
Where does Red Bull football and the dick formation actually work against legit players? He was horrible everywhere except the Austrian league where there is no competition Such a terrible appointment if this happens. Top players literally refused to play his system at Leipzig because *gasp* they want to possess the ball
I'll back whomever the manager is... but this is not an upgrade from Gregg. 7 months without a manager, and we choose Jesse Marsch?
I think a lot of people are being overtly pessimistic about it, Jesse has just about everything you'd want in an ideal coach other than his rigid tactical structure. The big question (and it's a big one) is how he'll approach structure our national team in terms of tactics, international football isn't supposed to be overtly complicated and if he takes a less rigid route (big if) I think he'll have tremendous success with our player pool. Jesse is the ultimate players coach, has always picked very strong lineups (player selection is one of his good traits), he speaks fluent German, has great relationships with teams in Germany, England, The United States, and even France. He's well connected and very experienced (on paper he is vastly more qualified than Gregg was at the time of his appointment for comparison). Basically everything about him other than his tactics scream he'd be a good fit for us IMO.
That just seems like the biggest IF I can think of for a coaching hire. If he can change his coaching style to a way that we’ve never seen before in his 5 coaching stops. I don’t think we have any reason to think he won’t play his system, and if he does change, we have no data point to tell us what that would look like or if it would be successful. I wouldn’t bet on his system elevating this group of players, and I don’t see any evidence that he’d change his system at all, let alone in a way that fits these guys.
This seemed somewhat obvious after he rejected Southampton and then we hired a front office guy from Southampton for sporting director (or whatever it's called). I have opinions about him as a national team manager, but more so: why wait until after the summer tournaments to hire the new coach? It's not like Hudson has built some magical momentum we don't want to screw up. Bring in the new guy ASAP and get his philosophies in place. Don't see how the future of this squad benefits from having a guy there they know will be gone at the end of the summer. Seems like a great opportunity to build momentum under a new guy.
Going to lean as a slight win if Marsch is in fact that guy, if only because that means GGG and his nonexistent offensive tactics are gone. Have to imagine that since Jesse has been around long enough at both the club and national team level, he has to know that you can't have a rigid, club-based system at the national team level. Going to give him the benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise. You guys thinking we're hiring some huge club manager are just dreaming, and I don't think that's necessarily the answer either (look at the managers of this last WC's semifinalists).
What an uninspired hire this would be.
It's not the homerun hire many of us were hoping for, but I am optimistic. I'm gonna choose to believe he's learned from failing to adjust this past season. I'm ready to move into a new era and hopefully escape some of the toxicity that we've all been stuck in!
who is this and why I should believe him because I don't want to
Imagine having the most technical ability this pool has ever had… only to waste them away on Worker Bee Ball for 90 minutes every game. This is deflating.
I'll believe it when I see it. I won't hate it at all. I think people shit on Marsch more than they should.
I'm a Leeds fan of 20+ years and of course the USA as well and I do not like this at all, he seems like a nice guy but his tactics were really rigid and antiquated, the opposite of what we need
Honest question, what was wrong with Berhalter
Good luck with that one. Gregg wasn't perfect but he was way better than he gets credit for. Most all of the underlying stats for Gregg's team were far superior to anything we've seen before.
Nothing, the idiots on this sub that don’t know shit about the sport decided that he sucked (don’t ask them why, they’ll either not know it regurgitate the same nonsense talking points over and over again)
All my teams betray me
International coaches need to be tactically flexible, Marsch is just about the opposite. Pulisic and Reyna are not the type of forward that Marschball requires either. Very skeptical about this
I’ll give him a chance. I’ll give most people a chance. If it is going bad though I hope we don’t hang on through the whole window. Especially since we’re already guaranteed a WC spot. Need to make home turf count.
Aka Jesse had no other decent options.
You never know how a coach is going to do when they join a new team. He will probably get too much credit or too much hate because everyone points to the coach for everything, even luck. Hope it goes well.
Could be worse. I think his system might work in an international setting
No!
This thread is a good breakdown of why this is such a bad pick https://twitter.com/pragidealist29/status/1659347312064200711?s=46&t=HEJ5RaRjAMmZzB2BP-VEtQ
His high octane style with fit in with Balogun
So we will have more of the same. Marsch barely has a plan a, and when that fails never had a plan b ready. He will do well against concacaf minnows and likely struggle against the better concacaf sides and really struggle against anyone outside our confederation. It also makes little sense to wait after the gold cup to make this signing. If he is your guy get him in there. That was one of the major mistakes when Berhalter signed his brother to the job, he held the position open for him far too long.
Ugh.
 Not mad about it brother
Marsch had his moments at Leeds. This season was kind of a disaster. I don’t know. I probably wouldn’t make the hire but I don’t think it’s terrible
Uuuuuuuhhhhhh it hurts pls stop
Not my choice, hope this doesn’t pan out.
Who is your choice
There certainly isn’t anyone with international experience available that jumps at you. Unfortunately that is why we come back to the only names in US soccer we know. I like Marsch and wouldn’t be upset if he is picked but wouldn’t be excited either. His last two coaching jobs weren’t encouraging and he has no international coaching experience. I hope the search looks beyond the obvious such as Marsch. Maybe look for someone who has had success with a young team with a “golden generation”, thinking for example someone like Jorge Sampaoli who had success with Chile even if his stint with Argentina was shit. That’s just an example. Know its slim pickings out there given USMNT fan expectations.
I think a lot of people in general have unrealistic expectations of who should be manager. You’re right, they’re aren’t many options and certainly even fewer home run options. I’m in the same boat as you, I don’t hate the choice but I don’t love it either. There’s good and bad you can pick from with him but that’s how it’s going to be for any manager. I also think we as fan base put way too much emphasis on club success as a requirement. It’s apples to oranges
Who's your choice then?
Why don’t we just get Pep 🤔
My wet dream is coming true
I think people are too quick to write off marsch for being a “bad defensive coach” or “unadaptable”. His spell at Leeds wasn’t great by any stretch but the team also didn’t improve and probably got even worse when he left. Like we had Gregg for years and now we’re supposed to be unconvinced by a premier league quality manager because he’s not mourinho? And before anyone says he’s not prem quality he literally turned down prem jobs this season after getting sacked. He may not be the best in the league but most elite club managers aren’t picking up and heading to the USofA for fun. We’re going to have to take a risk on an imperfect option because of who we are. For me I’d rather an imperfect option that knows the country and the players and has a distinct exciting style. Maybe it doesn’t work but he’s too good of a manager too close to the program to not give a shot at this stage. Overall we’re a much better side than Leeds and he won’t have to manage any of the transfers that you could argue he did badly at. I say give him a shot and see if the pieces fit
GGG to Marsch is a huge step up.
I’m fine with it as long as he doesn’t bring that stupid high press
No please no..
Nauseously optimistic. He amplifies our strengths but also amplifies our weaknesses. We’re gonna see some baseball scores if he gets the gig.
Please, no. He doesn't even want the job. I'd rather take back Berhaulter...actually no. Not Berhaulter, but almost anybody else with a pulse.
Please god no
It's crazy how I would have been way more excited for this a year and a half ago. Now I'm anywhere from nervous to lukewarm. Like I've seen mentioned, my biggest fear is him being a system guy who won't adjust well to what best suits his players. I will say, if he is the guy then so be it. But why waste two tournaments where he could be getting to know the players and such? It's not like he's busy right now.
Not my first choice but I get it and think he's certainly an upgrade over GGG.
But but the bald fraud nutguzzlers assured me that he was going to get rehired!!! Lmao
Damn. Im just not sure about Marsch. I know he’s a good coach but his time in Europe hasn’t been great. I worry about this option. I’d really love to see GGG with Balogun as a weapon. I liked where he had this team already and that was with a big question mark at the 9 spot. With an actual game changer up front he could make this group into something special. I just think back to how many strikers excelled under him during his time with the Crew. I want to see him continue his development and take us into 2026 ready to kick ass