Mighty Leeds Weblog

HMMMM Written by: Moxcowhite • Daniel Chapman Eeesh. It’s not the sound anyone wanted to hear at Elland Road four days before Christmas 2022 but, eeesh, it’s the sound we got. But also, aaaiiieeeee. If ever a match needed Wilf Gnonto to win a penalty and for Joe Gelhardt to boot it into the net and send the cold kids-for-a-quid home happy and squealing with the last kick of the game, this was it. It’s a real upside that half the crowd — the half under fourteen years old — won’t care, in years to come, if Monaco’s four easy goals exposed failings in Jesse Marsch’s defence as he tried to collect enough healthy players for a team one week before restarting the Premier League season against Manchester City. All that is a problem for grown ups, and specifically Jesse Marsch himself, not the kids cheering all Brenden Aaronson’s backheels, booing all Monaco’s goals, staying up late as a Christmas treat. Aaaiiieeee! Joffy scored a goal and you were there to see it. Go to sleep dreaming it ...

Leeds United assistant coach René Marić says he ‘probably won’t watch a single game’ at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar By Joe Donnohue Jesse Marsch’s assistant coach has outlined his stance on the World Cup in Qatar this month, divulging his thoughts on social media site Twitter in an exchange with a former colleague. The Austrian replied to a conversation regarding popular football tactics blog Spielverlagerung, which he helped establish whilst studying and in his early roles within football clubs. "I think it’s good that we [Spielverlagerung] don’t benefit from *this* World Cup with a preview,” Marić began. “I wouldn’t have wanted to do that anyway. I probably won’t watch a single game anyway and won’t read a (football-related) report about it. So, it’s okay.” This year’s World Cup in Qatar has been scrutinised by football federations and human rights groups over the deaths of migrant workers in the construction of stadia set to host the tournament next week, as well a...

Leeds United went out of the Carabao Cup away at fellow Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers on Wednesday, following a late goal from the hosts. The Whites made 10 changes from the weekend win over AFC Bournemouth, with a number of first team debuts seen on the night. Rene Maric gave his thoughts to the media, after the match. He said: “We're obviously disappointed because I thought that we could have won the game. “We had a really good start to the game and we had chances all over. But, we didn't take it so we were also disappointed. “It's a disappointment because we thought that the group that we put on the pitch played a very good game.” United’s assistant head coach was asked about the team selection and the number of young players who were given their opportunity in the team, for this cup clash. “We know that we have a really good squad and we know that we have really talented players who need these steps to develop,” Maric stated. “We knew that ...

YEP chief football writer Graham Smyth has discussed a possible reason for Tyler Adams’ frustration at the end of Leeds United’s most recent fixture versus Aston Villa By Joe Donnohue Leeds midfielder Tyler Adams appeared agitated by something following the final whistle at Elland Road last Sunday as the US international had to be calmed by assistant head coach René Marić on the pitch. Adams cut a frustrated figure as the Leeds players did a lap of the Elland Road turf applauding fans for their support during a hard-fought draw against Aston Villa, having gone a man down in the second half. Referee Stuart Attwell endured one of his more difficult afternoons as a Premier League official, sending Leeds attacker Luis Sinisterra for an early bath, whilst struggling to curb the visitors’ repeated attempts to waste time prior to the showing of the red card. Speaking on the latest episode of the Inside Elland Road podcast, Leeds United journalist Joe Donnohue and YEP chief football ...

Austrian coach René Marić arrived at Leeds United earlier this summer as Jesse Marsch’s new assistant head coach By Joe Donnohue René Marić sat down with the press following Leeds’ 3-1 Carabao Cup win over Barnsley on Wednesday night. Standing in for Jesse Marsch, who would take the following day’s pre-match press conference ahead of Brighton and Hove Albion this weekend, the 29-year-old coach answered questions on a variety of topics. Ranging from his personal coaching experiences, to the players at United and how he sees his specific role at Elland Road, the ex-Borussia Dortmund assistant came across well. “It's very interesting to work with him [Marsch] because he's on top of all these things. I have to admit that I really like it here, I feel I’ve settled in quite well, not just [with] Jesse, but the whole staff,” Marić said. "I'm obviously relatively fresh, so it's more [to do with] serving, looking at how things are done and just sharing my though...

Luis Sinisterra starred as Leeds United eased past Barnsley in the Carabao Cup but the winger must fight his way into the Premier League line-up according to René Marić. By Graham Smyth Jesse Marsch's assistant saw plenty of room for improvement from the team in general after a 3-1 win that came courtesy of a Sinisterra wondergoal and Mateusz Klich's double, the reward for which is a trip to Wolves in the next round. "I think in general the performance was was good, but we could have done better," said Marić. "We were not as consistent over 90 minutes as we wanted to be. We always had some situations where we allowed the opposition to come into defensive third, things that we don't want to do. "We had phases at the start of the second half, at the end of the second half, in the middle of the first half where we played more like what we want to do - pushing them into their half to keep them there and just be dominant in every phase." Mars...

Leeds United got the season off to a flying start with an impressive 2-1 win over Wolves at Elland Road on an incident-packed opening day of the season. By Graham Smyth Rodrigo cancelled out Daniel Podence's disappointing opener in the first half and, after soaking up huge pressure from Wolves, Leeds broke out to take charge again, earning a winner that was credited to visiting defender Rayan Aït-Nouri. There was plenty going on, on and off the pitch, throughout a testy encounter between two sides developing a keen dislike of one another. Here's what you might have missed as the Whites started the 2022/23 Premier League campaign as they mean to go on. Off-camera moments Andrea Radrizzani posing for selfies with supporters as he made his way around the ground prior to the game. The owner spoke publicly this week of his reasoning for sacking Marcelo Bielsa and his belief in the club's transfer policy. His Elland Road popularity took a slight dip during last se...

There were smiles all around Elland Road as Leeds United finished pre-season with a relatively satisfying 6-2 victory over Cagliari. By Graham Smyth The side relegated to Serie B last season struggled to cope with Jesse Marsch’s pressing system and although they provided a five-minute scare with two second half goals and a spurned golden chance, Cagliari ceded control of the game to Leeds for the vast majority. Here’s the YEP take on the last of the summer friendlies. Good day Patrick Bamford The size of the smile when he scored his first said it all. Pre-season or not, this was another box ticked on his road back from injury hell. He took it well, too, making a good run and finishing off Brenden Aaronson’s through-ball with real composure. A fully fit, firing Bamford is essential for Marsch and Leeds, whether a new striker arrives or not. Rodrigo Got off to a slowish start with a couple of moments of dithering that wasted good territory and possession and then roared t...

Leeds United are delighted to announce the appointment of René Marić as our new assistant head coach. Croatian Marić arrives at Elland Road with an exciting CV, despite being just 29 years of age. He began his coaching career at TSU Handenberg before rising to prominence at Red Bull Salzburg, initially as a youth coach in 2016 and then as assistant head coach between 2017 and 2019. It was while at Salzburg that Marić began working with Marco Rose. After a successful period in Austria which saw the side reach the Europa League Semi Finals, Marić joined Rose at Borussia Monchengladbach at the start of the 2019/20 season. By 2021/22 the duo had headed to Borussia Dortmund, before leaving the club at the end of the season despite a second-place finish. Marić is a highly respected coach and we are delighted that he has chosen to join up with Jesse Marsch’s backroom staff alongside Ewan Sharp, Mark Jackson and Cameron Toshack. Jesse Marsch said: “I’ve known René for a number of y...