Jesse Marsch is winning over the doubters at Elland Road by giving Leeds back their bite.
The Whites are snarling again under Marsch and they became soft touches in the final months of Marcelo Bielsa’s reign. They blew Chelsea away with their high-pressing style to climb third in the Premier League for the first time since 2002.
Marsch knew some fans would not like him because he replaced their beloved Bielsa and hopes they will appreciate the improvements he is making at Leeds. “There’s probably still a lot of doubt in me,” said the Leeds boss. “It’s OK, that’s normal.
“There are going to be people that like me and people that hate me. I just want the team to play with love, passion and belief.” Marsch is reshaping Leeds and he has ditched Bielsa’s man-for-man press all over the pitch to press zonally. The intensity is still the same - Leeds ran 10km more than Chelsea on Sunday - and Marsch wants his players to be in his opponents’ faces. Training is less intense and more tailored with an emphasis on recovery to reduce injuries and it was noticeable that Leeds reported no knocks after beating Chelsea 3-0.
Bielsa’s famous murderball sessions are gone and Marsch will perhaps spend time working on set-pieces after a tough session on the training pitch so as not to overwork his players. Marsch has switched from Bielsa’s 4-1-4-1 formation to 4-2-3-1 with Jack Harrison causing havoc on the left and Brenden Aaronson on the right or as a 10.
Marsch has also plugged the team into the fans’ energy and hopes the supporters can see his vision for Leeds. “I know the fans are intelligent,” said the American. “I hope they can see a little bit more what the tactics are and what we’re trying to accomplish. They learned in the past how Marcelo liked to play, now they are starting to gather more information about what my tactics look like.”
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Perhaps Marsch’s greatest success has been bringing the best out of Rodrigo by employing the personal touch. He speaks one-on-one to the Spain striker in stark contrast to Bielsa’s distant approach and he preferred to talk to the players through his interpreter as a group. Marsch’s arm-round-the-shoulder approach is paying dividends and Rodrigo became the Premier League’s top scorer with four goals with his effort against Chelsea.
“I’m happy to score goals to help the team and the most important thing is the team,” he said. “The energy the team showed over the 90 minutes against Chelsea was amazing. We know that with good teams, if you give them space, you’re halfway to losing the game because they have a lot of quality. So we have to press, we have to be brave, but we also have to have personality to play with the ball.”
The personal touch is very important with Marsch and he has made it his business to know the names of not just the players’ family members, but many of the staff at Elland Road and Thorp Arch. People respond to his affability, but he is not afraid to call someone out publicly if he feels they need telling.
He is big on discipline, but still uses a light touch and any player or senior staff member who transgresses must buy a £500 gift for one of the ancillary staff, such as the chefs, receptionists or cleaners. They list the £500 item they would like on a piece of paper, which goes in a box, and then the transgressor draws one out and has 24 hours to fulfil their wish.
