Jesse Marsch, who was a contender for the US national team and last managed Leeds, said that he now wishes he had accepted the position at Leicester City last spring.
Despite the American’s departure, the club’s decline persisted, and he has still not returned to management duties. The team was relegated nonetheless.
The Whites are in a significantly better position now than they were when they were in the Premier League in 2023, thanks to changes in ownership, management, and the playing staff. In February, Jesse Marsch left the club, which caused a huge upheaval as Victor Orta floundered to find a suitable replacement.
Marsch was contacted for the Southampton position immediately after his surprise dismissal from Leeds in February. The American, however, had become emotionally connected to the club, so the change occurred at the last minute.
A few months later, meanwhile, he had a chance to join Leicester City. He declined, though, since he was worried about getting relegated with Leeds. In retrospect, it’s only a little regret of his.
What did Marsch say about his failed Leicester City move?
Marsch discussed his unexpected dismissal from the English club last winter in an interview with The Telegraph. He also disclosed that he turned down two excellent chances because of the circumstances.
The American went into more detail about his inability to return to management immediately after his dismissal. Yet, in hindsight, the 50-year-old thinks it could have been a poor choice.
“[The] Southampton [offer], it was right after Leeds. Literally days. I was very serious about it. I could see internally they had a few different ideas on the direction they were moving forward … but wonderful people,” he said.
“Leicester I was incredibly close to taking but in the end, I just felt that I wasn’t ready to jump back in. In hindsight I think it’s a wonderful club and a great place and maybe if my mindset had been in a different place I could have – and should – have maybe taken that job.”
Marsch has been heavily courted; earlier this year, both Leicester and Southampton almost signed Marsch. Additionally, he has engaged in “a lot of discussions” with teams around Europe, including those in the Championship.
Rumor has it that certain national teams are also looking at him as well. Even though he gave Saudi Arabia some thought, he has been keeping an eye out for opportunities in England.
What did Marsch say about his Leeds sacking?
Marsch went on to say that Leeds’s upper management has recognized they fired him too soon in 2023. In addition, the American claims that he didn’t jump at the chance to take a new management job because he couldn’t shake the idea that he had disappointed the players.
“I felt bad. That I was letting them down, that I was abandoning them. Time has helped but that was my initial reaction. We [Leeds] went from mid-table in every metric to 20th across the board [after Marsch left]. Every meaningful metric they went dead last.
“The conversations I had with certain people in the leadership group – they were apologetic they abandoned the [Marsch] project. There wasn’t any real dialogue about the decision, it was just – ‘This is the decision.’
“Which they have the right to make … but if we had more time to talk about it and [I could] walk [them] through it, I could have shown more details on how and why this is moving in the right direction. And that abandoning the project at that time was not the right thing to do.”
PHOTOS: IMAGO.
