Mighty Leeds Weblog

Jesse Marsch spoke exclusively to LUTV after being announced as new head coach of Leeds United. The 48-year-old has signed a deal at Elland Road running until the summer of 2025. Marsch spoke of his goals for the club, what he expects from the team and admitted he can’t wait to get going. “It’s something I’m really excited about, I know what a big club Leeds is, I know ex-players who have played here and I’ve watched this club from afar for many years and I’m really honoured and excited to be here,” said Marsch. “One of the things I love about this team right now is their commitment no matter how difficult the games have been, to play until the end, fight for each other, to never stop and to give everything to each other at every moment. “This mentality and mindset to play for the fans, fight for the fans and to fight for each other is what I love, as a manager that is what I identify, a team that has heart, passion and plays for each other with everything they have. “My st

THE NEW GUY Written by: Moxcowhite • Daniel Chapman Jesse Marsch, Princeton Class of ’96, author of the senior thesis ‘Shaken, Not Stirred: An Evaluation of Earthquake Awareness in California‘, should be well prepared for stepping into the seismic crack created from Beeston to Wetherby by the Leeds United board’s decision to replace Marcelo Bielsa with him. “Believe it or not, I love this passion. There’s a lot of clubs in this league that would have none of this. I know how privileged I am to be the coach of this team. I’m excited to be here. I know I have a huge challenge ahead of me.” That was Marsch in January 2015, with New York Red Bulls executives alongside him, addressing a crowd of angry fans demanding to know why he was taking over from just-fired Mike Petke. Feelings were running so high that supporters were guerrilla streaming the event on the UStream.tv platform, a cute reminder of when Leeds fans used to smuggle phones and use the same service to broadcast Ken Bat

Leeds United have confirmed former RB Salzburg and RB Leipzig boss Jesse Marsch as Marcelo Bielsa's replacement at Elland Road. By Graham Smyth The 48-year-old American arrives a little over 24 hours after Bielsa's sacking, with Leeds sitting 16th in the Premier League with 12 games remaining. Club owner Andrea Radrizzani said on Sunday he felt the time to take action had come, due to the club's precarious position in the table and their recent results. Marsch has been out of work since his December sacking by Leipzig, with whom he stayed for just five months and 14 Bundesliga fixtures. He was already lined up as a potential successor to Bielsa this summer, having been earmarked for the role last year in case Bielsa walked away after the 2020/21 season, and the Whites have simply accelerated their plans. Terms were agreed quickly between the two parties, leaving just the red tape of work permits to be finalised. Marsch has signed a deal at Elland Road running unti

By Phil Hay There were eulogies paid to Marcelo Bielsa by Leeds United on Sunday and the promise of a permanent tribute to him at Elland Road, but alongside those compliments were comments that showed faith in the corridors of power had gone. Andrea Radrizzani, the club’s chairman, said starkly that “a change is required now to secure our Premier League status”. Victor Orta, their director of football and the man responsible for courting Bielsa in the first place, warned that the board “cannot hide from results”. In other words, in the minds of the people at the top of the club, relegation was looming and drastic action was required. Relegation looming, more often than not, is what drives a change of head coach in the Premier League but the decision-making process behind sacking Bielsa — even without considering the intense public emotion surrounding the Argentinian’s exit — was and is incredibly delicate. It was an unequivocal conclusion that in the last 12 games of the season,

Leeds United have appointed Jesse Marsch as their new coach to pull them away from the Premier League relegation zone without abandoning the pressing principles Marcelo Bielsa built the squad around. By Stuart Rayner With no transfer window until the summer, the 48-year-old's job is to get the most out of a small, injury-hit squad created for the Argentinian, who was sacked on Sunday after his fourth season turned into a relegation battle. It was concerns over Leeds's league position, two points above the Premier League's bottom three having played two more games than the teams directly below, Everton and Burnley, which caused Bielsa's sacking in the absence of any significant fan pressure for it. But the Whites had already been planning to bring Marsch in when Bielsa's contract expired in the summer and the fact he is out of work and has a good relationship with director of football Victor Orta made it easy to bring him in quickly. Getting a work permit was

Leeds United chairman Andrea Radrizzani has issued a fresh explanation as to why Marcelo Bielsa was sacked, insisting something was "broken" within the club. By Lee Sobot Promotion-winning boss Bielsa was sacked following Saturday's 4-0 defeat at home to Tottenham Hotspur which left Leeds in 16th place and just two points clear of the drop zone. Both third-bottom Burnley and fourth-bottom Everton both have two games in hand and Radrizzani says he had to act in the best interests of the club, despite Bielsa's "iconic" and "legendary" status with the Whites. Bielsa has now been replaced by former RB Leipzig boss Jesse Marsch who was appointed as the club's new head coach on Monday evening. "Dear Leeds United fans, it was a very difficult week for me, for all of you," said Radrizzani, in a video released on the club's social media channels on Monday evening. "I am very sad, as you are, for the departure of Marcelo Bi

Leeds United look set to appoint American Jesse Marsch as their new manager following Marcelo Bielsa's departure on Sunday. By Ben McKenna The Whites relieved Bielsa of his duties following a run of six games without a win in a string of results that also saw them concede 21 goals. Marsch will reportedly be in charge for Leeds when they take on Leicester City at the King Power Stadium this Saturday at 12.30pm. Marsch will need to hit the ground running at Leeds, with the club dropping worryingly down the Premier League table. The American has coached four clubs during his managerial career, taking charge of over 300 games. Here we take a look at how he has fared since going into management in 2012. Montreal Impact Marsch was the first manager of the Canadian club as they entered the MLS ahead of the 2012 season. He took charge of 36 games, winning 12, drawing seven and losing 17. His win record was 33 per cent before he left his position after one season. Montreal s

Outgoing Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa is not famed for developing cosy relationships with his players. By Flora Snelson After the Argentine's exit had been confirmed on Sunday, Kalvin Phillips shared footage of him and Bielsa embracing as Leeds celebrated their promotion to the Premier League in the summer of 2020. This expression of joy was a rare exception, according to Phillips, who said that the reserved coach prefers to keep some distance from the players in his squad. "He's different in the way that he works," Phillips told the BBC. "He doesn't like to get too close to his players. "It's just very football-orientated. "If he's got a bone to pick with you he'll make it clear there and then." Jesse Marsch, who is tipped to succeed Marcelo Bielsa as the Whites head coach, looks set to bring about a shift in mood at Elland Road. The American is renowned for showing no restraint and performing energetically on t

Marcelo Bielsa brought so much to Leeds United. By Lee Sobot He revolutionised the club. There was flair, international appeal, stunning football. Bielsaball. And murderball of course. But, above all else, there was promotion and Leeds United must now just hope that removing the man who achieved it does not lead to the opposite effect two years on. United’s second season back in the Premier League has been a far cry from the club’s glorious campaign upon their top-flight return which yielded a brilliant ninth-place finish. There was even a possibility of qualifying for Europe as the 2020-21 season approached its final throes. Bielsa might be gone but the memories of a first top-flight season for 16 years will live forever, featuring, as it did, stunning results and performances such as the 2-1 win at Manchester City, the 4-1 romp at Leicester City and the 3-1 triumph at home to Tottenham Hotspur. The second season back amongst the country’s elite has been a different pr

The manager’s sacking is heartbreaking because he energised the club and reminded a city what football is really all about James Riach To the outside, the adulation that Leeds United supporters hold for Marcelo Bielsa may appear strange, bordering on fanatical, perhaps even delusional. But to those who have followed his every move over four exhilarating years at Elland Road, his departure leaves a hole not only in the dugout but also in the heart. In Chile, they call themselves “widows of Bielsa”. The same sentiment can be found at Marseille and Athletic Bilbao, teams who look back on the Argentinian’s time with wide eyes and palpable nostalgia. Leeds are at the beginning of this undoubtedly painful process, coming to terms with life post-Bielsa, a life that will never quite be the same again. Discussing a football manager in such reverential terms might seem hyperbolic. However, what Bielsa has done for the club and the city in many ways transcends sport. He is a man who sees

THE FUTURE Written by: Moscowhite • Daniel Chapman Marcelo Bielsa’s impact at Leeds United can be described and measured simply by writing down what he did, assembling the video clips being shared on social media, comparing the before and after pictures of the club, its players, its league position, its bank account, its future. His departure was always going to be difficult but his mid-season sacking feels like an occasion for grief. Not so much because he’s gone. We’ll always have memories for that. But grief because Leeds United is no longer different, and it was all over before the traditional kick-off time of Saturday, 3pm. I was dragged out of bed by BT Sports and the worldwide broadcasting market for a lunchtime match against Spurs, and sacking Marcelo Bielsa at the end of the game was the moment Leeds United became just another Premier League football club on just another Premier League day. It is being said that Bielsa transformed Leeds United and gave the club an iden

Results brought it to a rushed and unsatisfactory conclusion, but Marcelo Bielsa’s time as Leeds United coach was about so much more than results. It was about more, even, than football. By Stuart Rayner The Argentinian unbelievably pitched up in West Yorkshire in the summer of 2018 with an almost mythical global reputation for the purity of the football his teams played. World-class managers such as Pep Guardiola and Diego Simeone were fully paid-up members of his fan club but it was noticeable virtually no one tried to completely copy a style of play which had not brought a single major honour since Argentina won the 2004 Olympics. In a country which loves a plucky loser and sometimes seems to resent a winner, it was part of Bielsa’s charm. Don Revie built Don Revie Leeds United as we know it on very different principles. His teams had flair but were remembered more as a reflection of their tough, dour manager, doing what it took to win and to hell with what others thought.

Written by: Moscowhite • Daniel Chapman Leeds United have confirmed half of what the press told everybody at full-time on Saturday, hiding the loud bit by saying they’ve ‘parted company’: Marcelo Bielsa has been sacked from his job managing Leeds United. They haven’t announced a replacement, so Leeds United are spending Sunday rudderless, as well as bottleless. It might work. Leeds United might get the wins and points between now and the end of the season to keep them in the Premier League. We’ll never know if Marcelo Bielsa would have got the same wins, the same points and the same end result. Bielsa has been making this point about the demands for him to play a different striker, or a different system: the things you don’t do are always the best ideas, because you never get the evidence to prove they weren’t. Leeds’ owners have stopped being brave and decided to gamble. Their resolution has snapped into risk taking. Brave resolution helped them succeed when everything else th

By Phil McNulty Chief football writer Leeds United's downward spiral into relegation trouble made it clear something had to change. The one thing everyone knew would not be changing was manager Marcelo Bielsa's philosophy. It meant that if Bielsa would not change, then he would have to be replaced, and so it has proved. Bielsa's departure, a decision undoubtedly taken with huge reluctance, closes a chapter in which the enigmatic manager has made himself an iconic figure in West Yorkshire, not only restoring Leeds to the Premier League but also giving back respectability and credibility to this proud club. The 66-year-old Argentine's stellar reputation among his peers and his status with adoring Leeds United fans is based on steadfast principles that football for the masses must be a front-foot thrill ride designed to deliver excitement and brighten lives. When it works it is glorious spectacle, but when it falls apart it leads to Leeds' current predica

By Phil Hay On the Sunday after Leeds United’s recent defeat by Everton, Marcelo Bielsa got out of bed and took himself to mass. As a practising Catholic and a resident of Wetherby, it was not unusual to see him in his local church but this particular Sunday called for some soul-searching. The Premier League season had been gruelling and Bielsa was bearing the weight of it but a 3-0 loss at Goodison Park cut as deep as most results. With hindsight, the game on February 12 came to feel like a tipping point. Leeds were under pressure to win it and bring their season to heel but it was lost with a whimper: the wrong line-up, positional errors that Bielsa owned up to and not enough fight. Over 90 minutes the team looked troubled. In the boardroom at Elland Road, the wind was turning against him; not dramatically or viciously but to the extent that the idea of replacing Bielsa in the summer was now the prevailing mood. A new season would most likely mean a new head coach, unless a r