Self-pity, regret and giving up was not an option when Leeds United’s players arrived to find Jesse Marsch stewing in the Molineux dressing room at half-time on Friday. The head coach had stormed down the tunnel immediately after Wolverhampton Wanderers’ second goal and before the half-time whistle blew.
As the team trudged off, their season looked to be in a sorry state. There were three injuries in one half, all to key senior players and they were two goals down off the back of a dire display which spelt nothing but relegation, only five days after an unforgettable late Norwich City win.
Marsch, who has spoken at length about the character of this squad and his personal desire to improve every one of them, to embed them into his vision for how the game should be played, was not about to let them descend into apathy. He pulled the curtain back on that half-time inquest post-match.
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“The best part of this one was we talked at half-time, we talked a little bit about tactics, but we talked more about not feeling sorry for ourselves,” he said. “We talked about it was easy, after three injuries and a late goal in the half to be down nil-two, to be thinking it's not our day and what are we going to do now.
“I tried to encourage them to believe if we had a good start to the game like we did, actually against Aston Villa, and if we could find the goal the momentum would change. Now, we get a little bit lucky that we pick up a red card, but it's deserved at the same time.
“Then you saw the quality of men more than anything, with no subs left after the 50th minute, four injuries. For guys to dig in and push the game and stay tough, to have young guys come on the pitch and deliver the performances like that, says a lot about the character of the men we have and they deserve all the credit.
“It's also to do [with] I'm learning more and more what the identity of Leeds United is and it's gritty, it's hard. It's about belief, it's about never saying die.
“It's about giving everything you have to the match and these young men do that in a big way. So, yes, what a result.”
Marsch now has a fortnight to prepare his squad for the visit of Southampton to Elland Road on April 2, who are coached by Ralph Hasenhuttl. Marsch was a part of the backroom staff behind Ralf Rangnick which succeeded Hasenhuttl at RB Leipzig in 2018.
