In a recent interview, former Leeds United head coach Jesse Marsch has admitted that his side were just a few more games away from kicking into another gear before he was relieved of his duties.
Eyebrows were raised when the American coach was named as the man to replace the highly-regarded and respected Marcelo Bielsa, who left Elland Road in February 2022 as a club legend, having taken the Peacocks to the Premier League for the first time in almost two decades.
Marsch had never managed in England before and was coming to Yorkshire off the back of a brief failed stint with RB Leipzig in Germany despite his overarching success with its sister club RB Salzburg in Austria.
The ex-New York Red Bulls manager had a difficult time in charge of the Peacocks but managed to guide the club to marginal safety on the final day of the 2021/22 season with a vital 2-1 victory away at Brentford.
Nevertheless, his first full season in charge went pretty badly. Having spent £140 million during the 2022/23 campaign under his tutelage, Marsch was sacked in February this year as the Whites were sitting just outside the relegation zone, but only on goal difference.
Marsch was eventually succeeded by Javi Gracia and later Sam Allardyce but Leeds were unable to keep themselves in the top tier and now reside in the Championship where Daniel Farke is hoping to take them back up.
However, in a recent interview with The Daily Mail, Marsch claimed that he could have kept the side in the league had he been left in charge, admitting that former owner Andrea Radrizzani had lost his nerve [quotes via Caught Offside]:
“We were a couple results away from really getting everything moving.
“I believe everything was already moving the right direction. But in the end, the owner just lost his nerve. And he paid the price for it.”
Writer’s View
When Marsch was dismissed, Leeds United should have been higher in the table on expected points. However, in such a savage business like football, decisions are cut-throat. Leeds were at risk of going down and the board acted quickly.
In hindsight, perhaps it was the wrong decision, but the club are now back in motion under Farke and looked primed for a return to the top-flight at the first time of asking so maybe hindsight is shifting more favourably towards sacking him once again.
Be the first to comment