Wisconsin Soccer Central

After parting ways with the Montreal Impact in 2012 after just one season, Jesse Marsch (Racine Case) once again is a Major League Soccer head coach.

But Marsch is heading into a challenging situation as he replaces fan favorite Mike Petke as New York Red Bulls coach.

Petke, who played seven seasons in New York and coached the team the past two years after being promoted from an assistant's position, was fired by new sporting director Ali Curtis on Wednesday. The decision was widely criticized by Red Bulls fans, who saw Petke guide the team to its only trophy (the 2013 Supporters' Shield) and within a goal of a spot in the MLS Cup final last year.

Curtis praised Marsch effusively when speaking to reporters about the move.

"This decision wasn't about getting rid of Mike. It was more about bringing in Jesse Marsch," Curtis told reporters. "We're very excited to have Jesse and I'm looking forward to him sharing his ideas, not just at the first-team level but at all levels of our organization, from our youth development platform all the way to the first team.

"Jesse, for me, he embraces an area of performance and analytics. He embraces that those areas that are consistent with where I see the club moving and the direction of the club. His approach and ideas as it pertains to youth development as well as the first team and the interplay between those two areas, I believe is very innovative, and it fits very well into where this club is moving in not only over the next 12 months, but really in the long term."

Marsch, a midfielder who won seven trophies during his 14-year MLS career with D.C. United, Chicago Fire and Chivas USA, retired in 2009 and became an assistant to Bob Bradley with the U.S. national team.

He left that role in August 2011, when he was named the Impact's coach for their inaugural MLS season after moving up from the North American Soccer League.

The 41-year-old Princeton graduate led Montreal to a 12-16-6 record and a seventh-place finish in the Eastern Conference in 2012, then left the team following the season by what both sides termed "mutual consent." He served as a volunteer assistant at Princeton each of the past two seasons.

"A value in Jesse is that he's actually had a chance to actually step away from the game, and I think a lot of times when you step away from the game, it gives you a perspective that is different, that is new, and very innovative," Curtis said. "Particularly, through my conversations with Jesse, it's aligned with where we are moving as a club and I felt that was the right decision to make."

On Twitter: @JesseMarsch