Leeds United chief sets Whites target for next twelve weeks and makes transfer window admission - YEP 2/9/22

Whites boss Jesse Marsch says his Leeds United side have come on “leaps and bounds” but are only just getting started with a view to their “exciting” long-term potential.

By Lee Sobot

Marsch's Whites will return to the scene of May's great escape on Saturday afternoon in their sixth game of the new Premier League season at Brentford.

Leeds lined up at Brentford sat in the division's relegation zone in the final game of last season but ensured their top-flight survival with a dramatic 2-1 victory, leapfrogging Burnley who were beaten 2-1 at home to Newcastle United and were relegated instead.

May's Brentford assignment was only Marsch's 12th game in charge and his Whites now sit seventh in the new season’s early Premier League table just over three months on.

Marsch, though, says his team's development is still very much in its infancy when it comes to the bigger picture of what his Whites can achieve and that “a few” more transfer windows will be needed first.

“We’re still a long way away, a long way away from being the exact team I believe we can become," said Marsch.

"We’ve obviously had a good start and I said to the team, ‘if you take the 12 weeks from when I came before the match against Leicester, to the game against Brentford, we didn’t make that much progress in that time, partly due to the stress of the situation.’

"Compare that, it hasn’t even been 12 weeks from the first day of pre-season until now, we’ve made leaps and bounds.

"Now the goal over the next 12 weeks is to match that kind of development and to continue to build on that week after week and period after period.

"It will take a few transfer windows, and time to move things forward.

"But at the same time I am very excited about the possibilities of what we could do here and it’s because of the club, people, players and I think the commitment to excellence from a work perspective is the better than anywhere I’ve been.

"It gives us a real chance to grow and get better."