Jesse, congratulations! If there’s a Leeds way of doing things that was it…
Thank you. I’ve heard this a lot about Leeds United and the community and we always think we have to do it the hard way. Honestly, part of the job of being the manager of this club is to change that mentality, to change the mentality to say we deserve more.
We have an incredible team and I honestly think it’s not by accident that we’ve scored four winners or equalisers in injury time, it’s because we have belief and we think we deserve what we have gotten but we have to earn it.
I’ve heard this is the Leeds way but I’m not buying into that. I’m only thinking about the potential we can turn this into.
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What was the game plan going into today?
We wanted to find ways to press them and find ways with the ball to unbalance them. I actually thought the first 25 minutes were pretty good.
We lost some balls a little bit and then played long balls and picked up second balls and that’s the way they were dangerous. Then, our guys got tired a little bit at the end of the first half and it was hot.
The game got a little bit more open and some of their good attacking one v one players were getting free in certain moments. But, what I was so happy to see at the start of the match, to see us play well and to go after the game and not play afraid.
I thought as the half went on we could have been better in possession, to get the ball in tight spaces, move it again and have good rotations but in the heat the concentration for what the match needs and the concentration for every single action is so massively important. The pressing moment when we get the penalty was really good and then there was a lapse from us when we go a man up we give away the goal.
We pushed at the end and kept fate in our own hands and pushed to get the goal.
How much were you aware of what was going on at Burnley?
I sent some of the coaching staff at one point just to watch the match because I didn’t need any more help thinking about what to do with our team, I needed to know exactly what was going on. We tried to communicate that and we tried to get the word out, especially when we were up two, that we wanted to win the game and end it, make sure that Burnley couldn’t have a last ditch effort, in Germany we call it the ‘lucky punch’, to find a way to seal our fate.
Did you believe all the way through that it was going to end like this?
I believed that we were going to do that. There wasn’t one day that I didn’t believe and that’s why I never talked about being in the Championship.
For me this business is about belief and exuding it as a leader. The other part I had as an advantage was the group of players we have.
I believed in them and I believed in their spirit and resole and character and I believes that over time all the things we’ve been through have made us stronger not weaker. That’s what I think earned us what we think we deserve.
So what happens in the summer for you, Jesse?
We all need to take a little break, we’ve earned it. It’s been a stressful time but we’re going to have a meeting in the next couple of days and we’re going to talk about how to build this roster and continue to build this club in a way that we want to represent moving forward.
I think there’s still so much potential and teams always change, that’s a fact, but from the academy all the way up, we need to focus on the infrastructure and maximise the potential of what we can become every day. Now we have an opportunity to do that.
Have you had reassurances about players staying?
No, honestly I haven’t even enquired. Most of the things I know from reading. Take Rapha for example, all I’ve talked about is him and how to play the best role within our team and what a big play he makes in a massive moment for our team.
You’ll have a drink tonight then?
Yeah, I’ve already had a couple.
How much information did you pass onto the players about what was happening?
We were trying to let them know. It’s hard when it’s loud, even when they scored the equaliser our guys didn’t know they were down a man because there was the injury and he has to come off.
We had to communicate that, we had to go through formation changes, we had to communicate the score and lastly Rapha came over to me and asked ‘do we need to win?’, I said, ‘absolutely, push!’ In the end the guys did great.
Did you see belief?
I talked about it's been 11 games and we couldn’t have another game where we have a slow start, where we weren’t playing at our best from the beginning and at half-time have to reorganise tactically to exactly what we wanted and reorganise the mentality of the group and look around to see a bunch of faces with doubt. To be fair, we didn’t have any of that today.
We weren’t perfect and we could have played better in certain moments but the resolve of the group was really good.
Can you talk us through the mood in the dressing room right now?
I haven’t been in there for like 10 minutes but it’s a proud group. Everyone knows that the community deserves this and the community puts pressure on them to achieve and make them proud.
It’s a good pressure but it’s there and they want to do that for each other and even more so for the club. With Victor and Andrea and the group being together, at one point I was answering questions from you guys about if they believed in me and what I was doing and I thought it was a joke because it’s not about believing in me, it’s do we believe in each other and that was clear to me, always, never a doubt.
We’ll have to rely on it and that has to be the moniker of our identity but hopefully we can get better and better in my version of what I want the football to look like.
Sam Greenwood was a huge call and it seemed to pay off?
That was a big call, wasn’t it? For me it was an easy call because Sam’s been so great and I’ve always been itching to get him on the pitch. I thought he played great.
How did you deal with the heat?
I’ve been through this, in the MLS we play in heat all the time and I know that here, in Europe, players don’t play in heat a lot and what happens is their brains melt and they can’t think accordingly and it’s tough to keep their feet going and minds going.
I screamed more than usual today and it had something to do with the situation but it had more to do with keeping guys engaged. That was the message at half-time.
For me, in my career and in my career in America, this wasn’t even hot, we’ve played in heat, elevation, smog, we’ve got a lot of problems in the US but in the end, you see the resolve and character of the group, that made me proud.
In this job how important was it to start by staying up?
From the beginning, when Victor asked me to come, I went through it with you guys, at first I was like ‘no’. Then I thought about it for 24 hours and it was an opportunity.
My focus was to keep us up but it’s been a very important three months for me and my connection to the future of this club. I know the players more, I know the club more, I know the people that work within the club, I know the fans, I know the community, I’m much more aware of exactly what we are and where I want to take it.
That’s how I treated it from the beginning but I was laser focused on achieving this goal.
You’ve not just gone with Sam, you’ve gone with Joe (Gelhardt) as well, is that how this club has to move forward?
Yeah, it’s too bad that Cry (Summerville) got hurt because he was emerging as a better player and engaging in the group more and more. I think the balance with any team, especially if you want to play active football, is to get the balance of leadership and experienced players on the pitch but also youth and younger legs that are brave, that can run and can meet the standards that we want to play.
I think from a leadership perspective we have an incredible core, an incredible captain and leadership counsel. Total belief and that trickles down to the player pool in a big way and then we need to continue to invest in young player and I don’t just mean with money I mean with time and energy and develop them in a way that can help this club make steps forward.
What do you think needs to be done to avoid this again?
It’s almost been a Band-Aid project than it has been a project about style of play and identity and developing an academy. There’s so much to do, I think we’ve started the process and invested in each other and what we have from a resource and people perspective but I think we’re just scratching the surface of the potential of what we want to become.
There’s a lot to do, it’s almost everything but I am so thankful to work with the people I work with every day and I know that regardless of the outcome that we have a big future because of the people involved, that’s from a player perspective, worker perspective and support staff, everything.
What was it like the supporters at the end of the game?
It was great for us, I always love the energy and here at Leeds I’ve never felt energy like the supporters bring here. I don’t want them to chant my name, I want them to chant who we are.
It’s not about any one person and certainly not about me, it’s about our club and who we want to become and the unity we have a group. Don’t worry about me, if you want to criticise me, that’s my job, do it, I don’t care.
What’s most important is that we are Leeds United and the united part of our name is who we are at all times and that will always be the case.
