Jesse Marsch Leeds United promise must come true - Graham Smyth's Leicester City Verdict - YEP 6/3/22

The result wasn't fair but Jesse Marsch's first Leeds United Premier League experience at Leicester City was an authentic one.

By Graham Smyth

Chances created but not taken, an avoidable goal conceded, a freak injury and VAR inconsistency gave Marsch a full bingo card and a taste of what led to his predecessor's dismissal.

What the American can at least say is that Leeds were worth so much more than the 1-0 defeat they left the King Power Stadium with. What he can build on is the fact that for the first time in a while, having worked with him for just four days, Leeds gained and maintained control of a game.

Performances that deserve results will not keep Leeds up. They could play well in every game between now and the end of the season and still go down. But by playing this well, repeatedly, Leeds will give themselves a much better chance of picking up the points they need.

Marsch's message after the game, as he huddled the entire squad and staff together in the centre circle, was more of the relentless positivity he has brought to the club since his Monday arrival.

Energy. Fight. Heart. Intensity. Process. They're buzz words, not goals or points, but he cannot afford to let negativity creep in and suck the life out of the squad at such a crucial moment, with the season on a knife-edge.

Before the Leicester game there was a lot of talking - even a one-to-one sit-down interview with a broadcaster - and Marsch, to his credit, was saying all the right things in such a way that enough fans appeared to be buying into him and his mood. Only results will sustain that support though and having lost this one, the Aston Villa game at home on Thursday now takes on even more importance.

Yet Marsch and his men could so easily have been bouncing into a bouncing Elland Road later in the week, had they simply taken their chances at Leicester, where there were one or two signs of life returning to normal.

The two teams walked out side by side instead of the staggered entrances we became accustomed to during the pandemic.

When Leeds lined up, they had a decidedly unfamiliar look to them. Marsch set out a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Robin Koch a surprise presence in a midfield that had Matuesz Klich, but not Adam Forshaw who could not play a full part in training. The other surprise was Stuart Dallas starting at right-back instead of Luke Ayling, who partnered Pascal Struijk at centre-half.

Leeds looked different and, having abandoned the man-marking system, defended differently but the early stages had a familiar refrain with play rapidly switching ends .

Jack Harrison played in Daniel James who whistled a shot just past the far post via a slight nick, Luke Ayling headed over from a corner and Kasper Schmeichel saved from Harrison. Leicester's early joy came in space, on the break, as they sought to target Leeds' full-backs.

The sight of Klich running across the pitch to check the progress of Hamza Choudhury midway inside the Leeds half, was new, however and given the problems caused in recent weeks by marauding defenders, most welcome.

Marsch's back four and two midfielders formed a solid-looking base, from which the front four were told to go and play. There was no discernible difference in Raphinha's form as he continued to struggle to beat defenders and sent an aimless cross into Schmeichel's hands, but he did provide one nice pass into Rodrigo, the Spaniard firing over after linking up with Harrison.

As it went on, Leeds took over by winning the ball well in midfield areas, the more pragmatic approach starting to pay off and encouraging Dallas and Junior Firpo to get forward and provide the width.

When the left-back joined an attack and found the ball dropping to him inside the area, it should have been 1-0, but his goalbound shot found Çağlar Söyüncü and not the net. That was the biggest chance of a half that said Leeds will still take some risks, just not as many as before.

Leicester created little as the break approached but still could have gone ahead, Wilfred Ndidi given a free header at a corner only to nod it straight at Illan Meslier.

The interval came and went but did nothing to change the pattern of the game. Chances weren't flowing but the visitors did have their moments. James saw a shot blocked, Harrison had one deflected over and Rodrigo's near-post header was palmed out by Schmeichel.

The power of muscle memory was never more evident than on the hour mark when Harrison slipped the ball to the overlapping Firpo and he crossed low for Raphinha to make contact a few yards out. It was a move ever bit as familiar as its end result - a fine Schmeichel save.

Raphinha finally got the better of Luke Thomas and when his cross bounced back to him lashed over wildly. Joe Gelhardt, on for Rodrigo, took a touch to create space for a shot in the area and it faded wide. A corner was given as VAR checked for a handball but, for the second time in the game, there was no spot-kick.

If you couldn't see what was coming, you haven't been watching Leeds this season.

All the possession, territory and chances counted for nowt when Leicester found space to play from deep, and time to pick passes, Harvey Barnes in acres of room to dart goalwards, exchange passes with the loosely-marked Kelechi Iheanacho and pass the ball across Illan Meslier and into the net.

Marsch turned to Tyler Roberts for the final quarter of an hour, not Patrick Bamford who he later said could only have played 10 minutes, and Leeds' final substitute promptly injured his hamstring in his first challenge. A 'weird collision' Marsch called it. Add that one to the list of 'rare,' 'unique' and 'freak' injuries inflicted upon Leeds this season.

From that point on they were essentially a man down, Roberts able to do little more than hobble around the pitch as his team-mates created just one more chance, a Gelhardt shot that was deflected wide.

The result didn't feel fair but it felt very Leeds and if he didn't before, Marsch now knows exactly what he's up against. Crucially, it wasn't a bad performance. They did look more comfortable, defensively, for the most part. They created danger. They were right in the game, against a good team. The display held plenty of promise.

"If we keep playing like this we'll get all the points we need," Marsch told his players in the huddle. That promise, for the sake of the suddenly-very-visible Andrea Radrizzani and everyone else at Leeds United, simply has to hold true.