Jesse Marsch senses 'fear and stress' as Leeds United capitulate to Aston Villa - YEP 10/3/22

Jesse Marsch sensed 'fear and stress' in his Leeds United players as they were well beaten 3-0 by Aston Villa at Elland Road.

By Graham Smyth

The third Villa goal was enough to prompt chants of 'Marcelo Bielsa' and anger aimed at the directors' box as Leeds sank to a sixth straight defeat.

Marsch felt the occasion and the atmosphere got to his players.

"I underestimated the stress of the moment from the players' perspective," he said.

"We've had a very good week, 10 days together, I've tried to create clarity for how we want to play and the behaviours we want and the tactics, but it was clear from the beginning that we lacked confidence and aggression in the match.

"I've heard a lot about the Elland Road crowd and I thought it was fantastic from the beginning but I could see that the players want to do so well so badly that it brings almost more pressure and stress. From the beginning I said we had to stay calm and be clear, that's a message we have to stay strong with. When we step on the field we need to know that the fear will ensure failure, it won't protect us from failure. We have to be fearless, attack and go after opponents. That's the biggest lesson for me from what happened tonight."

Leeds went in at the break a goal down having allowed Philippe Coutinho to arrive in the area unmarked to finish a Matt Cash cross, but they emerged at the outset of the second half with much more about them and took the game to Villa.

After their best spell, however, they conceded a second as Junior Firpo left Matt Cash alone in the area and he converted from Danny Ings' cross.

"The goal they scored - we talked specifically about their cut back crosses and we didn’t adjust at all," he said.

"It was unlucky to deflect off Pascal. A lot of elements in the match we spoke about how to handle - set pieces, movements and ideas with and without the ball - we didn’t execute or follow the plan. I addressed at half time the confidence, fearlessness in approach, reinforced tactical messages, then we had a good phase at the start of the second half, we played how we wanted to play, brought the crowd into the match - which was always the goal. We weren't sharp or good enough to find an equaliser, and then invited a few too many counters, and gave up the second goal. After that, we became a bunch of individuals and not enough team coordinated ideas of how to get back in the match."

Where Leeds' tactical problems began, in Marsch's eyes, was in how they pressured Villa when the visitors were in possession. He believes there was a hangover from the previous regime's defensive system.

"[The press] was the start of our problem," he said.

"We lacked aggression in duel situations. It’s all about the group attacking the ball together, too many times the guys who were five or two yards from the ball were allowing the player closest to do it rather than joining in. It’s the product of playing man v man for four years. I have a different leadership style, playing model, tactical style. I'm trying to get the simple things right, without changing everything. It’s a lot. We had a big first step against Leicester. Today was not a good step forward. Other than the first 15 mins of the second half. It wasn’t perfect before, it’s not terrible now. We know there’s a lot of work to do. Staying calm and focused is paramount now."

Marsch has three days in which to pick his side up off the floor and prepare them for a relegation battle against Norwich City, in front of the Elland Road crowd.

The American says he's not afraid of the challenge.

"The one thing I can promise is I’m not afraid of the moment and the situation," he said.

"In some ways I like having my back against the wall. This business is not about how good you are when it’s good, it’s how good you are when it’s really tough. Clearly we have a really tough situation. I won’t sleep a lot tonight, but I'll think carefully and make sure I regroup and help the team do that in every way so we can put in a performance on Sunday that represents who we are. This is what I'm here to do - in a difficult moment, to help the club understand what we need to do to thrive and survive in this situation."

Leeds' problems didn't end with the result - left-back Junior Firpo was stretchered from the pitch with what appeared to be a serious knee injury.

"I hate speculating but I would guess this would keep him out for a while," said Marsch.

"Looks like inside knee, maybe an MCL strain."