ESPN's lead Bundesliga commentator Derek Rae breaks down a trying start to the season for RB Leipzig under their American coach Jesse Marsch. What are the challenges he faces, and can he fix them in time?
The mood was a lot lighter on Saturday evening at RB Leipzig's Red Bull Arena after a 6-0 thrashing of the club's favourite opponents: Hertha Berlin. Jesse Marsch was jovial, particularly when asked by ZDF-TV how a man from Wisconsin would describe such a dominant performance. With a big smile enveloping his face, Marsch replied self-effacingly as he might have done growing up in Racine in the 1970s and '80s: "Good job, eh?"
Marsch is the personification of what many would say is "Wisconsin nice;" polite, respectful, relentlessly upbeat and by inclination, rarely likely to dwell on the negative. His players clearly like and admire him as a human being, but when results deteriorate and questions about performances get ever sterner, it is difficult to credibly remain positive and keep telling the world you believe in everything you and the squad are doing.
Marsch adopted a markedly different tone after Tuesday's home defeat against Club Brugge in the Champions League, describing the first 45 minutes as the worst half under his stewardship so far, bemoaning the fact that the players didn't deliver in such a big home game and even suggesting that the match plan wasn't always adhered to.
There can be no sugarcoating Leipzig's first few weeks this season. For a club of lofty ambition, for whom the only way has been up since they came into existence in 2009, the start has been unacceptable.
Leipzig CEO Oliver Mintzlaff made it clear when it was announced Julian Nagelsmann would be leaving for Bayern Munich that there could be no slip in standards and that "Julian should feel our presence." In the end it came down to Marsch or Oliver Glasner, then of VfL Wolfsburg, as the choice for Nagelsmann's successor. Mintzlaff and his staff opted for the American, a highly rated coach and known quantity having worked his way through the Red Bull system, yet the commitment to him was only on a two-year basis.
I've observed in commentating on the Bundesliga that American fans really want Marsch to succeed, almost as though he is the visible extension of them and their passion. I admit I want him to do well, too, and there is still time.
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But we must first demolish the revisionism that I see a lot on social media, namely that this was always going to be a next-to-impossible season for Leipzig and Marsch given that they've lost Dayot Upamecano, Ibrahima Konate and Marcel Sabitzer to other clubs, in addition to Nagelsmann. That's merely coming up with a convenient excuse after the fact. We knew about three of the four departures prior to a ball being kicked this season, yet I saw no one say at that point that Leipzig would do well to just reach Europe generally, or the Champions League in particular.
Leipzig do succession planning perhaps better than anyone. Remember when first Naby Keita and then Timo Werner left? There was no drop off in performance because of a deep commitment to efficient squad construction over a number of years carried out by Ralf Rangnick and then Markus Krosche.
They had their plan in place for the loss of Upamecano months in advance with the signings of Mohamed Simakan and Josko Gvardiol. Konate had played little these past two years, and in any case, the squad is chock-full of experienced defenders -- Willi Orban, Nordi Mukiele, Lukas Klostermann, Marcel Halstenberg (injured recently, granted) -- who previously had to be rotated in and out.
Then you look at the attacking talent, and it truly is an embarrassment of riches, from established Leipzig mainstays like Emil Forsberg and Yussuf Poulsen to the newer guard embodied by the explosive Christopher Nkunku and Dani Olmo, to future prospects such as Ilaix Moriba and Brian Brobbey, names we'll be hearing about a lot more very soon. Plus, they spent €23 million to sign a proven Bundesliga finisher in Andre Silva. Arguably, RB are better equipped in an attacking sense then they were before Marsch's arrival in the summer.
Marsch himself said earlier in the campaign that they probably have the deepest squad in the entire Bundesliga, and that assessment still holds valid.
The transition has been more stylistic in nature than to do with personnel. Under Nagelsmann, Leipzig evolved from their previous Gegenpressing ways to a slower, precise possession game that helped them, especially against deep-sitting opponents. Marsch is synonymous with the older vogelwild (crazy, all-action) style from the days of Rangnick and Ralph Hasenhuttl, and while this suits the long-serving Forsberg and Poulsen, it may not be the same for the newer recruits, at least not initially.
Former Germany international Stefan Effenberg recently remarked on the Sport1 Doppelpass show, a weekly German TV institution, that Marsch clearly likes to try to win games 5-3. Instead, Effenberg called for a return to basic stability.
Again, some will say the central defenders are not good enough in the absence of Upamecano. To me, it's not the centre-backs as individuals, but rather the Restverteidigung (an oft-used German word referring to defensive structure after the ball is lost) that's off key. Everything is too hectic and imprecise and far too many mistakes are stemming from a general lack of calmness and authority. That ultimately falls at the door of the coach and his staff.
On Saturday, there is a chance for Marsch and his squad to get back on track against last season's 2. Bundesliga champions Bochum (12.30 p.m. ET, stream live on ESPN+) and they will be favourites to do so. But matches against Bochum, Hertha and VfB Stuttgart, who they beat 4-0 on Matchday 2, are not the measuring stick.
Leipzig have so far fallen short in their games against direct rivals with smaller budgets in two different competitions -- Wolfsburg and Club Brugge -- while coming off second best against Bayern and Manchester City, conceding 10 goals in the process. One point from two Bundesliga games against overachieving Mainz and FC Cologne is not good enough. The Champions League group they're in is exacting but even a Europa League parachute looks flimsy at this stage.
Mintzlaff last week told Kicker magazine that "we are more than convinced by the coach. There are no question marks. Only an emphatic exclamation mark.''
It's a ringing endorsement of a man they have nurtured and believe in, but as we know, football is fickle and remains the ultimate results-oriented business. Marsch is not coaching Mainz or Cologne, but a well-funded club that have risen quickly through the ranks, where failure to maintain standards will not be tolerated indefinitely.
When I watch Leipzig media conferences, I often think Marsch would be better served having an experienced German sporting-director-type alongside him to take some of the heat off. But there is a void in Leipzig; there is no Max Eberl, Fredi Bobic or Simon Rolfes to help out on public occasions.
It's far too early to be thinking about a change, and big German clubs generally will have an obvious successor available to them before they take that course of action anyway. Long term (and they always think long term) Leipzig will be considering Bo Svensson at Mainz, who ironically was behind Marsch in the Red Bull pecking order when Marsch was at FC Salzburg and Svensson at their feeder club, FC Liefering.
For now, though, the Wisconsinite has the opportunity to turn things around and he must. I've no doubt that Marsch is a fine coach and person. The real question is: Is he the right coach for RB Leipzig at this point in their story?
An autumn laced with trips to SC Freiburg, Paris Saint-Germain, Eintracht Frankfurt and Brugge, as well as difficult home games against the likes of Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen, will help inform us.