Today’s guest is Jesse Marsch, head coach of Red Bull Salzburg. The 47-year-old is an American original, having started his collegiate career at Princeton University under Bob Bradley with whom he would reunite multiple times during his illustrious playing career, which saw him win three MLS titles and four US Open cups. After putting an end to the 14-year-old run as one of the league’s originals, alongside Jaime Moreno and Steve Ralston, Jesse would dive into the world of coaching. He began as an assistant coach for the USMNT during the 2010 World Cup - witnessing THAT Landon Donovan goal against Algeria - before taking over at expansion side Montreal Impact as head coach. After a cathartic family sabbatical which included multiple soccer stops along the way and a brief return to Princeton, Jesse found success at Red Bull New York, becoming the club’s all-time winningest coach. Having become part of the RB family, a move to RB Leipzig followed, working with Ralf Rangnick, whom, as he discloses to us in the podcast, he came to meet years earlier. Since July of 2019, he has enjoyed enormous success at Salzburg, winning everything on the domestic level while also breaking an 11-year drought of not qualifying into the Champions League group stages. 

Despite the busy schedule of a head coach in preseason, amidst preparations to defend their league title as well as facing Villarreal in the Europa League next month, he took time out for a refreshingly candid conversation. We began by talking about the winter break before moving onto the challenges of an American coach in Europe. In addition to giving us unparalleled insight on the cultural and environmental differences, Jesse also speaks with enormous honesty about his career as a coach, his fit inside the Red Bull empire and what his future holds. Don’t miss this special chance to hear from one of Europe’s top coaches discuss his outlook on the game!

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Episode 4 with Jesse Marsch

Constantin Eckner and Abel Meszaros sit down with some of the most interesting people in football, from players to coaches, journalists to directors giving you insight into the wonderful and colourful world of football.  So if you are interested in meaningful, long-form conversations with people who shape the landscape of football on or off the pitch, The Football Pod is for you!