Jesse Marsch suffers big Leeds injury blow - Football Fancast 9/9/22
by Lewis Blain
Leeds United boss Jesse Marsch has suffered a big injury
blow this week…
The Whites’ next Premier League outing against Nottingham
Forest on Monday is to be postponed following the death of Queen Elizabeth II
on Thursday afternoon and with their trip to arch-rivals Manchester United also
in doubt, there may be no action until October.
That’s because there is also an international break soon on
the horizon.
One player who isn’t likely to feature at all before then is
Rasmus Kristensen after the Telegraph’s Mike McGrath dropped an update on his
situation at Elland Road.
“#LUFC right-back Rasmus Kristensen set to miss a fortnight
of action (max 3 weeks) with the injury that ruled him out vs Brentford last
weekend,” he tweeted.
Regardless of whether we see Leeds out on the pitch in the
coming weeks or not, it appears as if the £10m summer signing won’t be making a
return until after the break.
This will come as a gutting blow to the American head coach
as his first-choice right-back is likely to be unavailable for the foreseeable
future, leaving him with the tough decision of either the returning Luke Ayling
or the inexperience of Cody Drameh.
Kristensen was one of the manager’s first few signings in
west Yorkshire and one of many that he has previously worked with, joining
alongside the likes of Brenden Aaronson and Tyler Adams.
Therefore, it’s perhaps little surprise to see the Danish
dynamo an instant starter under his stewardship, having worked under Marsch for
two seasons at RB Salzburg.
After six league outings, the 25-year-old currently ranks as
Leeds’ sixth-best performer with a SofaScore average rating of 6.82 – that’s
the highest of any of Marsch’s other defenders to have started in 50% or more
of their matches.
Evidently, he’s a key part of the plan at Leeds right now.
Once hailed as an “absolute leader” by his former boss
Matthias Jaissle, it’s no wonder that Marsch has trusted him to adapt quickly
to the Premier League and he would have undoubtedly stepped up to be some sort
of leader in the absence of vice-captain Ayling.
“As a right-back, he has a very strong offensive drive,
marches up and down the line and is also a goal threat,” the Salzburg boss
added.
Marsch will surely be gutted to not have him available in
the coming weeks, regardless of whether Leeds see the pitch in the Premier
League or not, as Kristensen will almost certainly be out until October, at the
very earliest.