Leeds slide continues as Aston Villa help to deepen relegation concerns - Independent 10/3/22
Leeds United 0-3 Aston Villa: Goals from Philippe Coutinho, Matty Cash and Calum Chambers condemned the hosts to a sixth defeat in a row
Richard Jolly
It was a pledge of loyalty when Jesse Marsch vowed at his
unveiling to stay at Leeds United if they were relegated. A hypothetical
scenario is looking more plausible. Leeds have been beaten in both games under
Marsch: narrowly by Leicester, emphatically by Aston Villa. If they are
Marsching On Together, the direction of travel is towards the Championship.
Just the second American to manage in the Premier League is
not really responsible for an unwanted piece of history but Leeds have equalled
a club record of six successive defeats. With three successive wins, Villa are
on their best run under Steven Gerrard and, if Leeds lose the millions
top-flight football brings to the coffers, it will in part be because of the
third most expensive footballer in history and Cash: Philippe Coutinho and
Matty Cash, whose goals were followed by a wonderfully unexpected 20-yard
curler from Calum Chambers.
For Leeds, hope stems in part from the fixture list and a
date with Norwich on Sunday and in part from a welcome glimpse of a possible
rescuer. The standing, and deafening, ovation was reserved for Patrick Bamford:
after 22 minutes of football since September, he mustered 31. In contrast,
Marsch was greeted with applause by the Leeds fans and impolite questions as to
who he is from their Villa counterparts. The third goal and the final whistle
brought the loudest choruses of the night of the name of his sacked
predecessor, Marcelo Bielsa. Marsch is walking in a legend’s shoes, even if he
is not sitting on his upturned bucket. That no longer forms part of the scenery
at Elland Road.
Shorn of the frenetic chaos of Bielsaball, Leeds are yet to
forge a new identity. Marsch is the third former RB Leipzig manager to import a
4-2-2-2 formation but thus far his experiments with it have more similarities
with Ralf Rangnick’s than Ralph Hasenhuttl’s. Leeds are yet to score under him
and mustered a solitary shot on target. A cheeky Raphinha backheel apart, they
did not threaten before the break.
Their drought now extends to four games. Couple it with the
division’s worst defensive record and it scarcely amounts to a successful
formula. Villa’s blueprint shows rather more signs of working. Their opener was
a product of Gerrard’s attacking full-backs, Coutinho’s elusiveness and
fortune. Left-back Lucas Digne’s cross missed everyone and was retrieved by
right-back Cash. Coutinho arrived unchecked to meet his cutback, but his shot
took a telling deflection off Pascal Struijk on its way in.
Comfortable then, they had to weather a bombardment after
Marsch’s half-time words and the introduction of Joe Gelhardt. Spells of high
intensity at least indicated why he was deemed a logical successor to Bielsa
but energy and urgency were not accompanied by potency. Villa possessed it.
Fresh from supplying two assists against Southampton on
Saturday, Danny Ings added a third in a week with a lovely cross-field ball.
Cash latched on to it, darted past the ever unimpressive Junior Firpo, and
drilled in a low shot. Then came a Chambers special, whipped in from 20 yards.
The January signing had one previous goal this season, for Arsenal, but against
Leeds.
It was witnessed by a more decorated former Arsenal defender
as Leeds managers present and distant past watched on. David O’Leary is a
reminder of the time when they were in the Champions League’s last four, rather
than threatened with a place in the Premier League’s bottom three. He also
managed Villa and they were at risk of relegation when Gerrard took over. They
are all but safe now. Marsch, with less time to perform such a salvage job, can
only dream of such an impact.