Wolves v Leeds United: Jesse Marsch press conference every word on team news, fans, Archie Gray - YEP 17/3/22

Leeds United head coach Jesse Marsch is facing the media this morning ahead of Friday night's Premier League clash at Wolves, and you can follow everything that is said here.

By Lee Sobot

The Whites will be looking to build on Sunday's epic 2-1 victory at home to Norwich City in which Joe Gelhardt struck a 94th-minute winner, just three minutes after Kenny McLean's strike had cancelled out Rodrigo's opener.

The triumph ended a run of six-straight defeats and put 16th-placed Leeds four points clear of the drop zone but with second-bottom Burnley who are five points adrift having two games in hand.

Wolves, meanwhile, will be seeking to land a third win on the bounce on Friday evening having followed last Thursday's 4-0 victory at home to Watford with Sunday's 1-0 success at Everton.

Bruno Lage's side have now won seven of their last 11 league games.

On Phillips being local and the heartbeat of the team

“You are absolutely correct about that. The identity of the team in this moment, Kalvin is a big part of that but there’s a lot of guys that are and a lot of guys that are fully committed to what it is to be part of Leeds United and I am trying my best to do the same.”

Can Phillips be even better as part of a double pivot?

“I hope so, that will be the goal. It’s the goal with all the players, to help them develop and grow and get better and as people, to help them develop and grow. I think Kalvin, as good as he is, I think he has room as a leader to grow and, room with intensity and being aggressive against the ball and then how to use his quality with the ball to help himself and the team. That will certainly be the goal and I think that all of these young men are committed to that fully.”

What have you learnt about yourself so far in such a short space of time?

“I think I have had to adjust to the league quickly and what the games are like. I have had to adjust to what it’s like to play at our stadium. One thing that is nice is for me to speak English again with everybody because I know I can communicate more clearly that way. Even when I am standing in front of the team, I feel I did it effectively in German but I know that with my native tongue that I can really do that much better except for right now. But I think it is all about the adaptation and understanding exactly who are group is and what are opponents are and what the league is. I think that’s the most important thing.”

Do you need to add your staff quickly here to cope with the demands?

“We will add to the staff eventually. Right now it’s a little bit just trying to get the rhythm with everybody that we have here and I am very thankful. I spoke about Mark Jackson in I think the first press conference and he has been amazing. Willy and Aaron our two video analysts have invested a lot, Marco the goalkeeper coach has worked very closely with us o we are cranking every day. We are probably all doing about two or three more jobs than we should be but it’s also worked. I haven’t had enough time to even think about how to build things out now. Once we get to the FIFA break we will be able to take a little bit of a pause and then we play once every week and then we will have a little bit more time to really sort everything out more and more what what things need to look like as we continue to move forward. But, the way we are managing things, I think has been very effective, I think the players are very clear every match and there has been a lot of efficiency so that’s been good but there has been a lot of work put on all of our shoulders which at the moment is okay.”

On Rodrigo sprinting to celebrate the last minute winner

“I mentioned that in the video session that the two guys that came off a little bit earlier nursing a little bit of an injury seemed to reach their top speed on the sideline!”

How is Rodrigo, are you happy that he will be okay to face Wolves?

“Rodrigo I think will train today and we are hopeful that everything is going to be ready to go. When we did the scan it seems like he has a little bit of an old injury and it’s just about managing some of the symptoms so we are hopeful that he will be ready also for tomorrow.”

Where does the late winner against Norwich rank in your best moments in football?

“Someone said to me that one of the videos that they put out of the celebration had almost seven million views or something like that so that’s incredible to me, to think about that. Certainly, I think, even being around the city and the fans and the way that they appreciated and enjoyed the moment. The other moment in my coaching career was in 2010 when I was in the World Cup as an assistant and we scored a last second goal, Landon Donovan against Algeria to win. Maybe it’s not right to bring up here but we won the group phase and a country called England finished second!”

What do you mean by Kalvin being more of a leader?

“I think he is a leader by his presence in the group and I think he can be a bigger voice in he group, that’s all. He is clearly so well respected and liked in the team. He is Leeds through and through.”

Have you spoken to Kalvin about his long term future in conversations?

“I haven’t spent any time with anyone talking about long term future, only about living in the moment and what’s important for every day. Those conversations I think can be had down the road once we can establish a few more things but for me it’s been in the moment just focusing on prioritising what’s important so those conversations I think are more for the club but I can always help and of course I would love to keep guys like Kalvin and Patrick and Raphinha. I would love to keep those guys here as long as possible so we will see, those conversations will ne had in the future.”