Leeds United look set to appoint former Borussia Dortmund coach Rene Maric as Jesse Marsch’s assistant, according to the Athletic . Searches for a No.2 have been ongoing following the departure of Frankie Schiemer, who moved into a consultancy role.
Coaching pair Mark Jackson and Cameron Toshack will both keep their roles on the staff, with Maric coming in as Marsch’s right-hand man.
The 29-year-old has taken a modern path into football coaching, working with local youth teams while revolutionising tactics with his online blog, spielverlagerung, which is widely regarded as one of the most in-depth, advanced football tactics blogs in the world.
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Here is all you need to know about Leeds incoming assistant, Rene Maric.
Who is Rene Maric?
The 29-year-old Austrian began his coaching career at TSU Handenberg before moving to RB Salzburg’s youth team as assistant to Marco Rose. After a short but impressive period with the youth side, Rose was appointed as first-team coach and brought Maric with him.
The assistant has since followed Rose, first to Borussia Monchengladbach and then to Borussia Dortmund before Rose was sacked at the end of last season despite finishing second behind Bayern Munich.
What has Rene Maric done?
Maric and Rose first rose to prominence in Europe after winning the 2016/2017 UEFA Youth League with Salzburg, which earned their promotion to the senior side where they won consecutive Austrian Bundesliga titles and an Austrian Cup.
In Maric’s first season with the senior side, he also helped take the Austrian outfit to the semi-finals of the Europa League, toppling the likes of Dortmund and Lazio on the way.
The young coach also co-created spielverlagerung - a revolutionary website covering tactical and statistical analysis in a depth unseen anywhere else online. His analyses on said website forced Thomas Tuchel - then manager at German outfit Mainz - to invite him to the training ground and offer their opinions on his tactics, eventually working on a casual basis for the German.
He has also been tasked with player analysis by Brentford and FC Midtjylland owner Matthew Benham, while several Premier League teams have asked the tactical mind to break down Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp’s pressing game.
What has Jesse Marsch said about Rene Maric?
With the news of Maric’s imminent arrival breaking during Leeds’ 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace, Whites boss Jesse Marsch was sure to be quizzed on the Austrian in the post-game press conference.
When asked, Marsch turned to Leeds' head of communications and asked: "What can I say about that, James?”
He then said: “More on that later this week, but I can confirm I know who Rene Maric is."
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