Leeds United manager Jesse Marsch believes the club’s injury situation this season has been predominantly down to ‘over-training’. The likes of Patrick Bamford, Liam Cooper, Kalvin Phillips, Luke Ayling and Robin Koch have all spent large portions of this season on the sidelines, while several other players have also been forced to miss matches due to injury.
Leeds’ struggles this season has been predominantly down to the volume of injuries to key players, which has seen them in and around the relegation battle. Speaking on talkSPORT this morning, Marsch explained how he has looked to change the club’s ‘training methodologies’ in order to combat the fitness issues since his arrival.
"The injury issues had a lot to do with the training methodologies, the players were over-trained. That led them to being physically, mentally, psychologically and emotionally in a difficult place to recover from week-to-week and game-to-game.
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“I have a very specific methodology in the way I work and I've had a reputation for having high running data in the way we play, but also having healthy, fit and strong players so we can meet the demands we want. So, we tried to put that into place to help the players, I think that has helped a lot.
“The one with Patrick I felt terrible about because the responsibility of a coach to take care of players and to make sure you're not injuring them and putting them in harms way. In the end, it didn't go the way I wanted with Patrick and I always feel like it is my responsibility to get that right. But for the most part, we are getting healthy and strong with almost the entire group.”
Here is how Leeds fans have been reacting to his comments.
@ihatelufc: “Bielsa’s training methods are why Kalv is England’s 2020/21 POTY. It’s why our fairly average squad was able to dominate the Championship and overachieve in the Premier League. It may have come at a price, and this season we paid that price, but it was still good value.”
@BallMarsch7: “You can clearly see why Marcelo doesn’t stay at clubs for more than 3-4 years. I don’t know what particularly went wrong this season but some of the methods and philosophies he continued to apply were unsustainable. Injuries to key players ultimately cost him his job.”
@Jordan_Lee95: “Just like anything in life, if you overwork something/someone constantly then at some point something has to give, injuries and fatigue in this case was his downfall.”
@markydh: “He’s right. You don’t have to have access to all the data to make that judgement. The players have looked tired since the start of the season, before the injury crisis took hold.”
@thinlad: “Some will say he’s dissing Bielsa but he can only go on what he’s seen. If that’s his honest assessment (there’s no reason to think otherwise) then no issue with what he’s said.”
@LiamKFootball: “Marsch has obviously said this because he knows it to be true. Because he’s spoken to the players, and staff etc. Whether or not he should have said it is up for debate but didn’t we all suspect it anyway?”
@ThunderLips3000: “He’s right, two other players had the same injury as Paddy. On average four injured players missing from matchdays. Soft tissue injuries become the norm under Bielsa from overexertion.”
@gavlarr80: “Only said what many thought. Let’s just hope it doesn’t create a divide with the fanbase, he's our manager, we need to support him and hopefully we stay up.”
