Marsch: Stepping out of Bielsa's shadow - Sky 3/8/22

By Zinny Boswell

In a big summer of change at Leeds United, Jesse Marsch is going back to what he knows as he embarks on his first full season in charge at Elland Road.

The departures of Leeds’ star duo – Raphinha to Barcelona and Kalvin Phillips to Manchester City – will undoubtedly create concern among fans. Especially when you consider they had to wait until the final day of last season to be sure of Premier League survival.

It says a lot about Marsch, then, that his first text to Phillips following his transfer was: ‘I can’t wait to see you lift the Champions League trophy’. And when Raphinha’s dream move to Barcelona was nearing completion he only had kind words for the 25-year-old, who fought so hard to save Leeds from relegation, knowing his transfer fee would have been largely reduced had they gone down.

“If you love people, you want the best for them, in their life and in their career,” Marsch said in early July. He was speaking about Phillips at the time, but the sentiment certainly stretches to both men. Marsch understood the hit Leeds would take, but was ready to move on.

They’ve spent most of the £105m from those two sales improving the depth of what remains a thin squad. Six new signings have arrived – three of which have worked under Marsch before – as the American begins to mould this group into his own vision. With last season now firmly in the rearview mirror, Marsch is hoping to take Leeds on a new journey.

First, though, he must step out of his predecessor’s shadow. It’s nothing Marsch hasn’t done before. When appointed Leeds boss, he said: "I've followed living legends everywhere I've been.”

It was a tough gig replacing Marcelo Bielsa. When Marsch arrived in March, Leeds were two points clear of the drop zone and had lost four on the bounce. His task, though, was so much more than keeping Leeds in the top flight. The former RB Leipzig coach had to convince fans he was a worthy successor to the man who restored Leeds to the top table of English football after 16 years away. He also had to deal with the stigma of being an American coach in England, and the inevitable Ted Lasso jokes.

Marsch was acutely aware of those hurdles, but felt they only really existed outside the walls of Thorp Arch. "It's been more about the public perception", he told Sky Sports in May, adding: "The combination of replacing a club icon, being an American, speaking the way I speak [can be a challenge], but the important thing is how the team plays."

There were murmurings of discontent after Marsch kicked ‘Bielsa Ball’ into the long grass in favour of a more pragmatic approach. "The difference in playing style is more jarring than anything else,” Rob Conlon, writer at Leeds fanzine The Square Ball, told Sky Sports in April. Marsch had overseen an upturn in results, which ultimately saved Leeds from relegation, but something wasn’t quite right. As Conlon put it, “something special has been lost”.

Marsch inherited one of the worst defences in the Premier League, who could blame him for abandoning Bielsa’s uncompromising brand of football? The American played the odds – or, as he put it, after a hard-fought 0-0 draw at Crystal Palace in April, employed a “bend but don’t break” approach. Leeds, once renowned for their riveting style under Bielsa, had resorted to lining up with a low-block as they clung on for dear life under Marsch. Quite the comedown for Leeds fans to stomach.

Time is always the best healer, and the Leeds faithful have had ample time to mourn the loss of Bielsa. Securing survival at Brentford on the final day of the season – and the scenes of jubilation which followed – have given Marsch some credit in the bank, but supporters will want to see more this season to banish the lingering scepticism about their manager. He now has the time to instil his own philosophy at Elland Road and nowhere to hide. The pressure is on.

It would be unfair to use the performances at the end of the previous campaign to draw an accurate conclusion of what Leeds will look like under Marsch. He made a name for himself at New York Red Bulls, Red Bull Salzburg and RB Leipzig playing a vertical, high-intensity and high-pressing style of football.

In Austria and Germany, Marsch’s teams always ranked in the top two for opposition passes allowed per defensive action (PPDA), a metric which measures a team’s pressing output. Salzburg even ranked second in the Champions League in 2020/21. But it’s not pressing for pressing’s sake. “We don’t press to gain possession, we press to score goals,” Marsch told The Coaches' Voice in 2021. It’s pressing with a purpose.

He was a student of Ralf Rangnick, working as his assistant at Leipzig and head coach while the German was sporting director. Marsch, too, has been known to deploy a 4-2-2-2 formation, something Leeds have experimented with since his arrival. The American will be hoping his Premier League adventure is more successful than his tutor’s.

As Rangnick demonstrated at Manchester United, you need the players to fit the system for gegenpressing to function. Otherwise, the results can be disastrous. Fortunately for Marsch, ‘Bielsa Ball’ involved a lot of running off the ball - this is, after all, largely the same squad that played 'Murder Ball' every week in training.

There are distinct differences between the two styles, though. Where Bielsa would line up man-for-man out of possession, Marsch prefers a ball-orientated approach, encouraging his team to overload areas high up the pitch when they press in the hope of outnumbering the opponent to regain the ball. Two high-risk, high-reward strategies which rely on the collective being completely committed. One of the first things Marsch sought to address at Leeds was "getting away from the man-marking".

When asked by Sky Sports in May about the biggest challenges he faced at Leeds, Marsch said moving on from the "distinct playing style" of his predecessor. Teething issues are inevitable, but Marsch is hopeful the efficiency of his communication can be key. The value of coaching vocabulary was another important lesson he learned from Rangnick in Germany.

The recruitment of players he knows from his time at Salzburg and RB Leipzig – attacking midfielder Brenden Aaronson (£24.7m), right-back Rasmus Kristensen (£10m) and midfielder Tyler Adams (£20m) – is sure to smooth the transition and help to fill the Phillips and Raphinha-shaped holes in the squad. They’ve been joined by forward Luis Sinisterra from Feyenoord (£25.4m), midfielder Marc Roca from Bayern Munich (£10m) and midfielder Darko Gyabi from Man City (£5m) for a total expenditure of £95.1m.

Adams, who has known Marsch since he was 15, says his familiarity with the Leeds head coach means he is “almost a step ahead” of his new team-mates. “One hundred per cent it helps,” he tells Sky Sports News, “I think more than anything you understand the tactics, and the ideas he’s trying to get across.” A head start will be welcome for the trio, once again working under the meticulous Marsch.

The Leeds head coach has also dipped into the pool of former RB employees while forming his backroom staff this summer. Ewan Sharp, an analyst under Rangnick at United last season and formerly of New York Red Bulls, and Rene Maric, previously assistant to Marco Rose a Salzburg and Borussia Dortmund, have been appointed as his assistants. There was an approach for Chris Armas, another member of Rangnick's United staff last season, but Marsch's former lieutenant had agreed with his family to return to America.

Leeds are going all in on the Marsch experiment. Sporting director Victor Orta's commitment to his head coach is to be admired, but if things unravel again at Elland Road this season, he will have a mess on his hands. Supporters won't settle for another year of relegation scrapping.

Marsch wants to add more signings to his squad before the close of the summer transfer window on September 1. Considering the departures of Raphinha and Phillips, loans away for Charlie Cresswell and Jamie Shackleton and an already growing injury list, it feels imperative he is backed further. Another injury-laden season could easily derail their campaign otherwise.

Leeds will be without Stuart Dallas for the foreseeable after he suffered a broken leg against Man City in April. But there are also a number of players - Raphinha's replacement, Sinisterra (hamstring), Adam Forshaw (knee), Liam Cooper (Achilles), Junior Firpo (knee) and Luke Ayling (knee) - who will be missing during the first month of the campaign. Marsch will be hoping this isn't a sign of things to come.

The Whites are searching for a striker to share the workload with Patrick Bamford, who spent most of last season out injured. Left-back is another position which Leeds are assessing, with Firpo currently their only senior option. The potential departure of Newcastle target Jack Harrison could lead to a further re-think of their transfer plans.

There has been an element of risk to Leeds' business so far. While their five key signings come with a European pedigree and at a cheaper cost than domestic alternatives, the time it will take them to settle in the Premier League could invite unwanted pressure.

A relatively forgiving first two months of fixtures gives Leeds a chance to put some much-needed points on the board. And it all starts with Wolves at Elland Road on Saturday; kick-off 3pm. The Marschians have landed, how long they last remains to be seen.