Jesse Marsch asks Leeds United squad to eliminate key distraction in desperate relegation battle - YEP 7/5/22
Leeds United head coach Jesse Marsch believes the key to survival this season will be remaining focused on performances rather than the emotion of the occasion
By Joe Donnohue
Jesse Marsch and Leeds United have the fight of their lives
on their hands with four fixtures remaining to steer clear of relegation.
A return to the second tier of English football would be a
tragic end to what has been a thrilling journey over the past four seasons and
despite arriving just over two months ago, Marsch is determined not to let that
happen.
The American has stressed he is up for the challenge,
something the squad have seemingly resonated with in recent weeks given their
five-game unbeaten run prior to last weekend's somewhat anticipated defeat to
Manchester City.
With four matches left, there is little room for error and
back-to-back games against Arsenal and Chelsea suggest there will be no let up
in the difficulty of Leeds' task.
Speaking ahead of the visit to the Emirates' Stadium this
weekend, Marsch was asked how he and his players plan to focus, shutting everything
else out.
He revealed what he feels must be avoided by his squad:
"That’s what it is - it’s to eliminate the emotion and to continue to
focus on our ability and discipline to have concentration for what’s important
to us.
"I know that of course from a media perspective that
people like to write about the emotion of football and what’s happening in the
moment here or this or that. But when you’re in this business for a long time,
you know that the job is about preparing to perform," he said.
Marsch wants his players to separate the emotion of their
upcoming matches from the performances on display.
Level-headedness has been difficult to achieve in recent
weeks and Marsch will be the first to admit that even he has allowed himself to
get carried away on occasion.
Joe Gelhardt's last-minute winner against Norwich City in
mid-March, followed by the most improbable of 3-2 comebacks versus
Wolverhampton Wanderers were hardly short of emotion.
Nevertheless, the head coach's message is clear: he would
like his players to exhibit professionalism, poise and - a favoured turn of
phrase - clarity, on the pitch in order to give the team the best chance of
picking up positive results.