Montreal bounces rookie coach Marsch
MONTREAL — It took only one season in Major League Soccer for head coach Jesse Marsch and Montreal Impact management to drift apart.
Players, fans and media who cover the team were all surprised when team president Joey Saputo announced Saturday morning that Marsch was out as head coach despite leading the expansion squad to a better-than-expected 12-166 record. Team management had been emphatic at a season-ending news conference this week they were satisfied with Marsch’s work, and he continued to run practices as the squad prepared for its Nov. 5-17 trip to Italy for friendly games against Italian Serie-A clubs Bologna and Fiorentina.
But the team sent out notice Friday night it would make a major announcement. Then they informed the players in their locker-room Saturday morning that Marsch was out.
“We were getting ready for practice and then we saw everybody coming into the room,” said midfielder Patrice Bernier. “We knew there was a press conference, but then they told us the coach wouldn’t be back. It was a surprise and a shock because you don’t expect that.”
Saputo said philosophical differences with Marsch had set in over how the team would be run and so the two sides had agreed to part ways.
“This is not a dismissal or a resignation,” Saputo said.
Marsch, a rookie head coach who turns 39 on Thursday, did most of the work to assemble the team for its entry into MLS.
The Racine, Wisc., native then saw the squad change drastically in personnel and style of play through the season, sparked by management’s recruiting of European veterans like Italian Serie-A stars Marco Di Vaio and Alessandro Nesta.
Saputo declined to go into what differences of opinion existed between them, but admitted that a schism between the European and North American elements on the club “may be one reason.
“I won’t say it’s the only reason. You have to look at the long term process.”
Marsch was guarded at the news conference, but wore the defiant look of someone who wasn’t about to abandon his beliefs to keep a job.
“I’m leaving the club by mutual agreement. I had several discussions with Joey and (sporting director) Nick (De Santis) on how we could make it work and the conclusion was that this amicable split is the best solution for the club going forward.
“Looking ahead, we realized that although we had the same goals, we did not share the same philosophy.”
Marsch, who played 14 seasons in MLS for D.C. United, Chicago and Chivas USA, was signed on Aug. 10, 2011 after working as an assistant coach with the U.S. national team.