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FC Red Bull Salzburg have announced that former United States Men’s National Team midfielder and assistant coach Jesse Marsch will be the team’s next head coach. Marsch signed a three-year contract and will join Salzburg this summer.
Regarding the hiring of Marsch, Salzburg sporting director Christopher Freund said:
“We are delighted to have found a successor to Marco Rose very quickly, and to have gained clarity for the season ahead in good time. Jesse Marsch is a coach who allows us to determinedly continue the path we have taken. We have followed his career and development very closely in recent years, and we have spoken often. We are completely convinced of him both as a professional and as a person. He knows our philosophy and way of playing football very well.”
Marsch is currently an assistant coach at German Bundesliga side Red Bull Leipzig, which sits third in the league. He has been working under head coach Ralf Rangnick, who will resign and be replaced by current Hoffenheim head coach Julian Nagelsmann prior to the 2019-2020 season.
Marsch is best known for coaching the New York Red Bulls from 2015 through midway in the 2018 season (when he left to join Leipzig as an assistant). He guided the club to the 2015 Supporters’ Shield and also was named 2015 MLS Coach of the Year.
Salzburg’s current head coach, Marco Rose, will leave at the end of the season to take over German Bundesliga side Borussia Mönchengladbach. Salzburg is currently leading the Austrian Bundesliga and is nine points ahead of second place LASK Linz.
The team made it to the 2018-2019 Europa League Europe League Round of 16, but lost 4-3 on aggregate to Serie A side Napoli. Salzburg will face rivals Rapid Vienna in the Austrian Cup Final on May 1. The club is looking to win its sixth consecutive Austrian Bundesliga title and second consecutive Austrian Cup.