Former US national team manager Bob Bradley believes the Montreal Impact made “an excellent choice” by hiring Jesse Marsch as their head coach on Wednesday ahead of the club’s MLS expansion season in 2012.
Marsch served as an assistant for Bradley at the helm of the USMNT after retiring February 2010 following a 14-year MLS career. He was one of Bradley’s right-hand man during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa as well as the run to the final of the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
“Throughout his career as both a player and a coach, Jesse has demonstrated excellent leadership ability and knowledge of the game,” Bradley said in a statement on Wednesday.
The careers of Bradley and Marsch have intertwined ever since their days at Princeton University in the early 1990s, when Bradley served as head coach. As an assistant at D.C. United, Bradley ensured Marsch was drafted by the club and then took the midfielder to Chicago when he assumed the coaching reins of the Fire.
Although Marsch did not accompany Bradley for his stint in New York, the duo were reunited again at Chivas USA before becoming coaching colleagues on the US national team.
The stint as US assistant represents Marsch’s only experience in the coaching ranks before taking on the head job in Montreal.
“Over the past year-and-a-half, he played an instrumental role in the US national team coaching staff,” Bradley said. “Montreal has made an excellent choice with his appointment.”
