Marsch, Rose, Nagelsmann? Who could replace Favre at Borussia Dortmund?

Carlo Garganese

• Updated: 19 May 2021 07:39 CDT
• 3 min read

Borussia Dortmund announced on Sunday the news that everyone had been expecting; they had sacked head coach Lucien Favre.

The Swiss boss was given his marching orders following a humiliating 5-1 home defeat to Stuttgart on Saturday which meant BVB had won just one of their previous five games in all competitions.

Assistant coach Edin Terzic has been appointed as interim manager until the end of the season, at which point Dortmund will then hire a permanent successor.

Next Borussia Dortmund manager: The candidates

Jesse Marsch

Considered the favourite among some experts to permanently replace Favre. Marsch has seen his stock rise considerably after taking over as manager of RB Salzburg in 2019.

Last season, he led the club to a domestic double – coping admirably despite losing star players Erling Braut Haaland and Takumi Minamino in January.

His attacking philosophy and ability to work with younger players is attractive to the Dortmund hierarchy, while he has already coached Dortmund star man Haaland.

Marco Rose

Along with Marsch, perhaps the most likely successor for the Dortmund hotseat. Indeed, European transfer expert Gianluca Di Marzio claims Rose is BVB’s preferred candidate.

Rose has long been linked with the Dortmund job, ever since he took the Europa League by storm by reaching the semi-finals with RB Salzburg in 2018, a team he won successive league titles with.

Since moving to Borussia Monchengladbach in 2019, Rose has established himself as one of Germany’s most promising young coaches. And he enhanced this reputation this term by qualifying from a Champions League group featuring giants Real Madrid and Inter.

Julian Nagelsmann

Aged only 33, Nagelsmann is considered perhaps Europe’s best young coach. His attacking and intense style of football has delighted neutrals over the last few years, first at Hoffenheim and then Leipzig.

Last season, he led Leipzig to the semi-finals of the Champions League and this time around he has already achieved a massive scalp by eliminating Manchester United in a group of death that also featured Paris-Saint Germain.

It will be difficult to tempt Nagelsmann to Dortmund, though. He has suggested that he intends to stay at Leipzig past this season and even if he doesn’t there is interest in him from a number of top European clubs.

Ralf Rangnick

Rangnick is free and available after his planned appointment at AC Milan fell through in dramatic circumstances earlier this year.

The 62-year-old boasts a brilliant reputation thanks to his brilliant work in managing and coaching the Red Bull football teams of Salzburg and Leipzig.

However, Rangnick usually demands complete control of a club in all areas of the club; sporting, economic, the boardroom, the transfer policy. And this may pose a problem at Dortmund given the presence of influential figures such as Hans-Joachim Watzke and Michael Zorc.