Under-fire Jesse Marsch admits ‘entire project is in jeopardy’ at Leeds - Independent 28/10/22

Marsch is fighting for his Elland Road future after an eight-game winless run.

Mark Walker

Leeds United’s under-fire boss Jesse Marsch claims the Premier League table is not a fair reflection of his side’s performances this season.

Marsch is fighting for his Elland Road future after an eight-game winless run has seen Leeds plummet into the relegation zone.

A section of fans have called for him to be sacked, but before Saturday’s daunting trip to Liverpool the 48-year-old American, who insists he still has the board’s backing, has come out fighting.

Marsch said: “If we go game to game and you look at the fact we haven’t won in eight games based on how we’ve performed over the eight games, it’s almost impossible to believe that two points is all that we’ve earned.

“But that’s our reality right, in those eight games and all the phases in those games? What if Luis (Sinisterra) scores at Brighton on the two-inch line and it doesn’t go wide?

“What if we score the penalty against Arsenal? What if – you can go through what ifs, but it doesn’t matter, right?

“You could still look at the metrics and you could look at different things and you could say, we’re actually doing OK, which I believe.

“But in the end again, right now, if we continue losing matches, then everything in the entire project is in jeopardy. We’ve got to figure out a way to stop that.”

Leeds took seven points from their first three matches, which included an impressive 3-0 home win against Chelsea at the end of August.

But they have since failed to turn dominant spells during matches into goals and, after seeing his side slip from third place into the bottom three, Marsch said he was “sick of it”.

He added: “I’m a little angry right now. I’m tired of playing matches where we’re in the match and in many cases we’re better than the opponent and walking away with nothing.

“I’m tired of not capitalising on moments when we’re the better team and I’m tired of giving away goals too cheaply, tired of not getting results we should be getting.

“Fourteen years as a player, 13 years a coach and I’ve never lost this much in my career. I’m sick of it.

“So I’m trying to figure out which guys can be counted on at the highest level right now, what kind of decisions need to be made in terms of match plans.

“I need to help find the group confidence and find the guys who are ready to fight for everything right now in these next matches, to do everything we can to get the points we need.”