Every word from Leeds United boss Jesse Marsch's pre-Tottenham Hotspur press conference including January transfer window update - YEP 11/11/22

Whites boss Jesse Marsch spoke to the media today ahead of Saturday’s final game before the World Cup break at Tottenham Hotspur.

By Lee Sobot

Leeds are heading to North London seeking a third Premier League win on the spin following last Saturday’s amazing comeback 4-3 sucess at home to Bournemouth on the back of the previous weekend’s superb 2-1 win at Liverpool. The Whites were then knocked out of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday evening through a 1-0 defeat at Wolves in a match for which Marsch made ten changes to his side. Marsch spoke to the press at 1.30pm and here is everything that was said.

“I’ll give you a few updates on a couple things. Archie Gray has turned into a little bit of an ankle injury and so we’re in a situation with his age and he’s still growing that we have to shut it him down for about six to eight weeks. It’s a little defect that he has in his ankle that kind of got highlighted when his toe got broken so it’s unfortunate. I spoke to Archie a little bit today, he is obviously we doubt about it but we think given his age and his maturity, physical maturity that this is the best thing for him. Adam Forshaw has been training hard back out on the pitch and if the Tottenham game was maybe three days later we would consider him probably eligible for the match but it at least means that he should be ready for when we get back after the World Cup to get into training and get himself back to 100 per cent. Stuart is making great progress as well and we’ll see how that goes but maybe we get him on the pitch at some point towards the end of December, early January. And then Patrick is out for this match. He still hasn’t recovered. Clichy took a knee to knee knock in the match against Wolves and he’ll be out. And then the other one is Jack Harrison is a little bit questionable with a muscle strain but we’re hopeful that in the next 24 hours he can recover and be available for tomorrow as well.”

On back to back wins and coming back from 3-1 down

“We’ve been talking a lot internally and now I guess externally about being winners, that in a lot of these matches that we’re right in the match and that the way that the games have gone, it’s often very even and we have to be more poised to capitalise on those situations and stay strong and stable. Even though the match can open up a little bit more in the second half and it can be a little bit more fragile defensively but it also means that the opponent is a little bit more vulnerable in those moments and that’s what was good to see, in both of those matches that that we were able to capitalise and we looked at those matches like we were going to win.”

On last game before the World Cup and avoiding injuries

Of course with our three guys we want them to have a great World Cup and have a great experience there. I always think as a as a player, the way to get injured is to play to not get injured. And I think that Rasmus, Tyler and Brenden have all committed to the games fully and have their minds fully grounded in what’s necessary for us in this last match and I think they also know that that will prepare them the best for the World Cup. With us, some teams have ten guys, 15, 20, Man City I don’t know, maybe their entire squad. But for us I think the first part is that we’re happy for those three guys. They’ve they’ve been playing at a very high level. We’re disappointed for a lot of our other guys that maybe just missed out, barely, guys like Rodri and Diego today. They found out that they weren’t. I think Robin has has had such a good season so far that he was a possibility for Germany. Patrick and Jack were on the50-man squad. Even Pascal was in the squad. Klichy winds up not making it which is a bit of a surprise. We’re disappointed for those guys and we want our guys our other three to stay focused right now and have a great World Cup.

On Tyler and Brenden attacking the game v Spurs - there is no other way?

“No and they and they know that. Strategically we made the decision to not travel a lot of our players that we thought would be playing in this match against Tottenham, to keep them fresh to keep them ready mentally, physically, and to give us the best chance to go down there and give our best effort to get the three points. I think that they’ve been really sharp this week. Even I came back Thursday and we were all a little bit tired from travel and everything else but then coming back you can see the freshness in the group that had slept well and was ready for the match on Saturday and training was really good and and I expect them to push and be ready.”

On managing the players that have not made the World Cup, particularly Klich

“It was a little bit of a roller coaster for Klichy in the last week. About a week ago he felt he was out. There was communication going around Poland and he felt he was out. And then a few days ago they were still deliberating I think on the squad and then maybe he heard that there was maybe a chance. And then by the time I spoke to him on match day against Wolves, when the announcement was coming out he kind of figured that he was probably out again so there was a couple of things happening internally in Poland, one of which is the manager came from the youth team or the 21s or something like that and he’s more comfortable taking more of the younger players and so that kind of left Klichy in an awkward situation. But if you know Klichy he’s a positive guy. He’s a guy that loves football. Obviously he’s disappointed, everyone wants to go to the World Cup but his mindset and his mentality to be in the moment here and give everything to us has been really good.”

Will Gnonto start against Spurs?

“If Jack seems a little bit questionable then Willy becomes a real possibility. I think Sam Greenwood as well played really well when he came off the bench so it’s a little bit what tactic we decide to use and is Willy a better fit or is Sam a better fit to supplement what we would require from Jack? But regardless, I think that both played really well against Bournemouth, both played well when they came on against Wolves and I know that both will be ready.”

Plans after Saturday

“They will all have a week off. Then we give them a physical program for another week to do on their own so they will have two weeks off but the first week they do absolutely nothing. Then we come back on the 28th here and we do testing. We have a good plan and I think we have some good opponents and then we will have most of our team together which is a positive.”

On the youngsters v Wolves and their pathway into the first team - they played well?

“I agree with you completely. I think that Matteo, Sonny and Darko all played very well. I wasn’t surprised. We work diligently with all of our young players, really with all of our players with the individual development plans, with trying to communicate with them through video and statistics on ways that they can improve, how in training the things that we want to try to achieve with them. And the most important thing for young players I think is to just show them belief and we’ve done that and I give credit to Skubes and Pudge in the 21s, the coaches and the coaching staff and the environment that they’ve created there and how they have really attached themselves to what we’re trying to do with the first team. And I think it gives a real pathway for all these young players to see that they can be first team players for Leeds United so that was a big moment for them, for us. I was really disappointed with especially given the way we played, that we we could have easily won that game. We maybe should have. Again, it’s another game where somehow we find a way to lose it instead of finding a way to win it and that’s a little bit where we are with the team we are and the youth that we have, that we are still a little naive in certain moments. But we believe in a lot of the things we’re doing here, we believe in our players and we’re going to keep pushing to get better and again, make them make them all winners.”

On Spurs

Conte, in general doesn’t always do a lot of rotation. He has a group that he works intensively with and almost protects very carefully. I know from even his he’s traveled to the US many times with different teams, Juventus or whatever and he’s known as one of the guys that keeps a closed environment more than anyone else that comes when they take teams to the US. This is this is his leadership style. I think in the moment that Tottenham has had a lot of games, they’ve rotated a little bit but not that much. They have such a quality squad. Playing at home they are always good and what an incredible stadium and fan base they have. We know that this is a big challenge once again against a top opponent in our league that is disciplined to play the way that they want to play. But, the beauty of where we are, is we are not perfect but we are also not afraid. We have shown that this year, that we are not afraid of top opponents and for sure we are going to Tottenham and we are going to play confidently and we are going to go after the game in every way.”

How much is Robles pushing Meslier?

“I wouldn’t really be able to speak much on how he has gone in the past but Illan is our no 1. There’s no doubt. However, my idea, our idea, was to get Joel. Let’s start from square one. We wanted a veteran goalkeeper to come in to help push our young goalkeepers and competitively every day,and to help provide a little bit more experience as to what the position can look like with savviness and understanding and controlling of the match through that position and then a guy that knew what the role was and could commit to it all the way in a selfless manner. And I’ve told Joel from like the third week that he was here that I could see he was the perfect guy and that we made an absolutely fantastic decision to bring him here and I’ve encouraged him to continue to be himself and integrate himself, to be a leader in the group, to certainly help Illan and Kris but also to push them and I think he’s done that perfectly, literally perfectly and I thought the match he played against Wolves showed all of his qualities which isn’t just his technical and tactical ability, but his feel of the game I thought was incredible. This, to me, is what young goalkeepers, they need to understand how to manipulate a game in a way to to be in control of every moment. So it’ll be important for Illan and for Kris. They’ve accepted him really well. I think he’s challenged them but I think it’s been in a real positive way and I think it’ll be key for them to learn from him.”

What is the situation with Cody Drameh? He wasn’t involved at Wolves? Could he go out on loan?

The plan was to have him in the squad and he said he wasn’t physically ready. He said he felt he was injured so we didn’t have him in the squad.”

On giving youngsters a chance

“First, one of the challenges is between the 21s and the Prem is that the gap is pretty big. Even when you see our team defend set pieces against Wolves versus when they’re in the 21s, those physical parts and the mentality moments of the Premier League is is night and day compared to the21s, The tactical part, the technical part, their ability to fit into the speed of play, they can manage that fairly well, but it’s often the power at which the game is played at the highest level that is the biggest challenge. I like giving young players opportunities because I have very seldomly been let down when they’ve shown that they’re making progress and when you give them belief in themselves and in the process that typically they over achieve and then once they over achieve and get the taste of success that can really motivate them to get even better. Maybe we can use plenty examples even since I’ve been here, which the number one right now is Cree. But I think for Mateo, Sonny and Darko and you can throw Leo in there. Leo has played Prem matches before but Leo for me specifically second half,, I thought he really grew in the game and played really well. But I consider him more almost part of the first teaam because he’s a little bit not necessarily older, but he’s been around it a little bit more and is a little bit more mature from that perspective. But I think again, all four of those guys have big potential and then once you add in Cree and Willy and Joffy and Sam then you start to feel like we’ve got a real core of young players that have a chance to be quite good.”

On the January window - how much have you spoken about it and what do you need?

“We’ve spoken a bit. I think, in general, whenever I look at windows, I’m looking at it as piece by piece and window by window. And so you know, there’s there’s the two month project and what we think we need right now and then what is in eight months and 14 and trying to piece together how the cycle will present itself. We have targets. I think we’re we’re smart enough to know that in order to achieve our goals we want to continue to look at every position and think about how we can move forward in the right way. We also know that I think we have some young talented players that will continue to draw interest and so trying to figure out how to keep those players and how long can we keep them and what can entice them to stay and what that means to the pieces that we might need moving forward. I don’t want to talk specific about positions, we talked enough about the striker position in the summer and I don’t think that’s gone away. But I think we’ve been active and this is one of the best parts about working with Victor is his clarity on what the market is and what’s available and what are good fits for how we are trying to play football is quite good.”

Who will win the World Cup and why?

I don’t care and why I don’t care because I find international football interesting,but I’m fully immersed in club football and they’re like two different sports almost. So again, I just want our guys to do well so maybe the USA, shall I pick the USA to win?

How do you see the USA getting on against England and Wales?

I think all of us are Americans, first of all, are very optimistic about our team and our our talent, our young talent. The group is manageable but not easy and then I think everyone in the US, anytime we play England, everyone gets really excited. So I will be watching that match. I will be cheering for the US and I know it will take their absolute best performance to have a chance. But I think that’s one of the thing that’s uniquely American is that sense of fearlessness and we almost thrive and enjoy the moments when the things are the hardest and when everyone expects us to lose. So we’ll see. It won’t be easy. I’m looking forward to it.

Is the World Cup break a help or not?

“The season in general has been quite segmented. I think any chances to have a little bit of a pause are always a chance to re evaluate, to gather ourselves mentally and physically, to really go full gas at it again. That’s the way we will use it. What you know in football in general is that the mental grind can sometimes be bigger than the physical one. And I think in this league and maybe with all the guys in this room here, you make it even more so! No, you guys are are fair enough. But this is the reality. It’s the attention to this league and the attention to the pressure of the expectation of our club and everything means that any kind of break that we can gather to sort of recharge our batteries and make sure that when we go at it, we go at it all the way because that’s what the demands are. I think it’ll be a good chance for us to gather the national team of the World Cup guys. I think they’ll be ready as well and then and when we get back at i, we have some big challenges ahead of ourselves again.”

Is it good for Harrison’s confidence that he was on the long list?

“I think in general, I think all the guys, even though they’ve been disappointed processed it in a mature way and knew in some ways that it was a bit of a long shot and wanted to give themselves the best chance by performing well. I spoke to Robin yesterday about it and that’s what I said to him. I said you did everything you could. It’s never easy to accept letting your dream slip. But the best way to process it, is often knowing that you put your best foot forward in every way to give yourself the best chance and Robin is in that category too. I think he’s been called in maybe once. And for most of these guys, they’re still young enough to be considered yet again and now the next World Cup is only three and a half years away instead of four years away.”