Brisbane Roar boss reveals what stood out about Jesse Marsch and admits Leeds United disappointment - YEP 15/7/22

Warren Moon has praised Leeds United head coach Jesse Marsch for the time he devoted to the Brisbane Roar staff this week.

By Graham Smyth

Moon is a self-described fan of the American and has followed his career from the MLS to the Austrian Bundesliga and now the English top flight.

His hope, as he prepared the A-League side for their Queensland Champions Cup game against the Whites, was that he could grab some time with Marsch and pick his brains. And Marsch did not disappoint his opposite number .

"He's been fantastic," Moon told the YEP.

"What I would say is, I'm a big fan of him as a coach and I think a lot of coaches around the world because I've seen his journey from touching the MLS to then into Europe to now into the Premier League. So obviously he's someone a lot of people admire greatly and I'm no different.

"What stood out was probably more his interactions with us on the human level. He took the time in the busy schedule to talk to our staff and just casually chat, and spent a great deal of time in the offices yesterday and we really appreciate that.

"I thought that was nice given his busy schedule. So yeah, top marks."

Moon's Brisbane side won't start their season until October so have returned to pre-season early in order to face Leeds and Aston Villa.

He was delighted with what they showed at the Cbus Super Stadium against the Whites, causing problems for the visitors and coming close to a draw before settling for a 2-1 defeat.

"Proud of the effort and the response," he said. "They came out of the blocks really fast and you know the fear was they could blow us away there for a bit, but I thought our boys just really stuck at it well, stayed composed and worked our way into the game really well. By the end of it, we could have pinched something but you know, the bigger picture is it's a good first step for us. It's a long preseason to go and everyone's injury free so all in all, a happy group."

Moon, who watched Leeds make an ominous start to the Blackpool friendly, expected the same thing on the Gold Coast, but rued the sight of two goals going in at the wrong end inside two minutes.

"We knew they were going to start that way and causes problems and it was just about us staying in the game and I thought we did that really well," he said.

"Which is why I was probably disappointed that we copped two goals in a couple of minutes. We were just sort of working our way into the game. But again, we found a response and we managed to claw our way back. I'm really, really pleased with the effort."