Here are the latest Leeds United headlines for Friday, April 15.
Marsch's keeper directive
Jesse Marsch has given goalkeeper Illan Meslier a vital new role at Leeds United. The new The head coach wants Meslier setting the tempo and deciding the way his team attacks when he has the ball at the back.
"First of all, Illan's talent is massive,” he said. “He is a young goalkeeper that is as good as any young goalkeeper I have ever seen.
“That's really exciting. Then he has a really good mentality, he wants to work, he wants to learn and he wants to improve.
“Marcos has done a very good job with him as a mentor and a teacher. So they have a good relationship and, for me, how I work, I can't go through technically and tactically every detail for a goalkeeper like goalkeeper coaches can.
“The way I work is I trust the goalkeeper coach a lot to help the player adapt to the things I want. Certainly, being the last defender is always really important because we like to play very aggressively with our backline.
“Then what I can do with my experiences is I can see how to help a goalkeeper with his mentality, his decision making. When he has the ball in his hands, he is the quarterback of that situation and he understands what type of rhythm of play we want from the match.
“I'll talk more about those types of things than I will, ‘did he move one step to the left, did he move one step to the right’, that I'm not as good at evaluating, but the work Marcos and I have done together with the staff has been quite good and then the work we've had with the goalkeeper group has also been very good.”
Dyche shock
Relegation-threatened Burnley have sacked manager Sean Dyche. The decision comes with the Clarets 18th in the Premier League, four points adrift of safety having won only four matches all season.
A statement said: "Burnley Football Club can confirm the Club has parted company with manager Sean Dyche, assistant manager Ian Woan, first-team coach Steve Stone and goalkeeping coach Billy Mercer." Burnley are currently nine points behind Leeds, but have two games in hand over Jesse Marsch's side.
The 50-year-old, who signed a new contract due to run until the summer of 2025 in September, had been the longest-serving manager of any club in the Premier League, having taken charge in October 2012. During that time he had twice led the Clarets to promotion and brought European football to Turf Moor in 2018 despite a limited budget, but his side have been in the bottom three virtually all season and last week's 2-0 defeat at Norwich was seen as a major setback in their survival bid.
Chairman Alan Pace said: "Firstly, we would like to place on record our sincere thanks to Sean and his staff for their achievements at the club over the last decade. During his time at Turf Moor, Sean has been a credit both on and off the pitch, respected by players, staff, supporters, and the wider football community.
"However, results this season have been disappointing and, while this was an incredibly difficult decision, with eight crucial games of the campaign remaining, we feel a change is needed to give the squad the best possible chance of retaining its Premier League status."
Giles defends Bielsa
Leeds United legend John Giles has admitted it was 'unfair' for Jesse Marsch to blame Marcelo Bielsa's training methods for the Whites' dismal injury record this season. The American claimed the players were 'over-trained' which led them to become 'physically, mentally, psychologically and emotionally' drained as he opened up on his time at Elland Road so far.
Kalvin Phillips, Liam Cooper and Patrick Bamford are amongst the high-profile Leeds stars to miss a sustained period of time throughout the campaign after suffering long-term injuries in the 2-2 draw against Brentford in December. Bamford, in particular, has missed more matches through a succession of issues, including an ankle problem and a foot injury, picking up the latter in the 3-2 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers last month.
Junior Firpo, Robin Koch, Diego Llorente and Luke Ayling have also been out for a number of weeks this season and it is a problem that has effected Leeds' performances on the pitch. The Whites currently sit 16th, having won just eight of their 31 Premier League games, collecting 17 fewer points than at this stage last term.
However, Giles, who made over 350 appearances for the Whites, believes Marsch wasn't right to call Bielsa out so openly. He told Off The Ball: "I think it is outrageous and unfair. What he said about the training methods leading to the injuries which brought them into trouble. Now, the thing is with Bielsa, he has been doing it for three or four years. And during that time, he took Leeds from nowhere in the second division to promotion."
