Jesse Marsch was expected to become the manager of the United States Men’s National Team for a long time following his Leeds United exit, but on Saturday night he ended up facing them instead.
Marsch’s name is not well-liked among the terraces at Elland Road these days, after the American played a large role in the club’s relegation to the Championship during the 2022-23 Premier League campaign.
Having kept Leeds up in 2021-22 on the final day, though largely thanks to Raphinha, Marsch and Leeds spent a fortune that summer and it is still proving costly to Leeds now with many signings struggling.
One signing Marsch made that is looking to get back to his best is Brenden Aaronson. The £25m capture was Marsch’s first signing as Leeds manager, but he of course failed to impress under Marsch at Leeds.
Marsch enjoys surprise win as Brenden Aaronson embarrassed
Marsch has since taken over the role of Canada manager. Following his Leeds exit, he was linked with a number of roles including Premier League and English jobs like Southampton, Leicester and Birmingham.
Regularly linked with the USA job, he faced USA on Saturday night in Kansas. USA are set to announce Mauricio Pochettino soon, but it was Marsch that picked up a 2-1 win as Canada secured victory.
Aaronson was handed a start by Pochettino and lasted 77 minutes, but he could not prevent Marsch’s Canada from securing victory thanks to goals in each half from Jacob Shaffelburg and Jonathan David.
A game that given Pochettino’s impending arrival as USA manager, home advantage and a squad with plenty of big-name plays including Aaronson, USA should have won. But instead, embarrassed by Marsch.
Marsch starring in role as Canada manager since taking job
The Premier League was a step too far, but Marsch is excelling in his role as Canada boss. He took Canada to the Copa America semi-finals, before losing to Marcelo Bielsa’s Uruguay in the third-placed play-off.
For Aaronson, it was a good night despite failing to win or score. It was only his second start for USA since the summer of 2023, proving to him that he an resurrect his stalling international career at Leeds.
He has made a superb return to life at Leeds even though he knows there is a long way to go before he receives the support of the entire Leeds fanbase again, after jumping ship to join Union Berlin on loan.
Receive a digest of our best Leeds content each week direct to your mailbox
