Following Marcelo Bielsa's departure, Leeds United needed to move quickly to find a replacement as they hope to avoid the drop at the end of the season. They've now turned to Jesse Marsch, who was sacked last December following a downturn in results for RB Leipzig, and less than three months later, he's back on the tactician's bench.
Marsch's appointment now puts him in a very elite club, as he's just one of three Americans to take charge of a team in English football's top flight, following in the footsteps of Bob Bradley and David Wagner. Of course, Marsch will hope to have a better ending than either of his predecessors, who were sacked by Swansea and Huddersfield respectively; in Wagner's case, this was despite successfully helping Huddersfield achieve promotion in 2017 as by the time he left in January 2019, Huddersfield had won two of their last 22 games and were sitting bottom of the table.
So, it's safe to say that American managers haven't had the best luck so far in England, but Marsch will naturally be looking to buck that trend.
There will be no orientation really for Marsch, who will be expected to roll up his sleeves and get right to work. As things stand, Leeds have lost four on the trot and sit rather precariously in 16th spot, just two points away from the drop zone. They haven't won a match since January 16th, when they beat West Ham 3-2 on the road, and there will be a lot of work needed to be done if they want to achieve safety for another season.
Marsch's first game in charge of his new club comes pretty soon, as Leeds are due to take on Leicester City on Saturday, March 5th in an away clash.
