'I'm watching him' - Every word from Leeds United boss Jesse Marsch's pre-Bournemouth press conference - YEP 3/11/22

Leeds United boss Jesse Marsch spoke to the media today ahead of Saturday’s final home game before the World Cup break as Bournemouth visit Elland Road.

By Lee Sobot

Having gone eight games without a Premier League victory, Marsch’s Whites will be seeking to land a second win on the spin against the Cherries following Saturday night’s superb 2-1 triumph against Liverpool at Anfield. The victory propelled Leeds from second-bottom to 15th and United now face the side directly above them in the Premier League table. Bournemouth, under caretaker boss Gary O’Neil, are one point ahead of the Whites but the Cherries are heading to LS11 having lost their last three games and Marsch’s side also have a game in hand. United’s American head coach held his press conference at 1.30pm and here is a full transcribe of everything that was said.

Marsch spoke to the media at 1.30pm

Team news - Sinisterra out - probably until after the World Cup break

“Stuart and Adam again are injured but making progress, Archie Gray will be, we think, on the pitch tomorrow so starting and getting closer to training with the full team and then the only other update is Luis Sinisterra. Luis Sinisterra has a foot injury that it turns out to be more than what we originally thought it was. He wasn't making the progress that we were hoping for him to make over the last 10 days and so they did another scan and then they had a specialist look at it, and they started to worry about it being a Lisfranc injury, so maybe you guys have heard of that. If you haven’t, it’s a rare injury that controls the movement of the metatarsal and when that is ruptured, it can be a long recovery. We don’t believe it’s ruptured, we believe it’s partially torn, which puts him in a little bit of a grey area, but probably out until after the World Cup break. We will know more about that today and we are hopeful that’s a version that doesn’t take him out for long.”

What did the Anfield win mean to you and the players and what impact has it had on the mood around the club this week?

“I’m still kind of in the same place. It’s obviously, it was a good win. But it’s also kind of frustrating that we can perform like this in certain games and then we’ve let too many points and games slip away against other opponents. And so it’s a little hard for even me to understand and appreciate that moment because I’m still thinking about the fact that we should be further up the table, further along in our process but we’re not. Obviously there’s joy that we get a result like that, but also concern in frustration that we haven’t done more in other moments. Now, this week, I think there’s been real concentration on what’s necessary for this weekend and our focus entirely is to build momentum. So in order to do that, we have to get a result and a win against Bournemouth.”

On giving the youngsters a chance and Summerville and Gnonto

“For me, whether you’re young or old, it’s all about what you’re establishing and exhibiting on the training pitch. Cree, for me, it was a little unfortunate that Cree picked up the injury last year before Palace. He was starting to look really good in training then and I was thinking he could be a player that can help us push towards the end of the season last year and unfortunately we didn’t get him going. I talked after the game against Liverpool that a big factor for him is discipline and professionalism and work ethic. I’ve been on top of him again this week to make sure that he has a very good training week and he has. He has looked really good and we are hopeful that he can establish himself more and more and Willy think is in the same vein expect that his professionalism and work ethic and clarity for what this world is, is incredible. He is very mature for an 18 year old and it’s interesting because Cree and Wily have sparked up a really good friendship and I think Wily has had a positive effect on Cree and I think that those two together can be part of the core of young players, or can be the core of the young players that can kind of push us forward and continue to help all the young talented specifically attacking players we have establish themselves more and more.”

On Summerville

“It was a little of everything, making sure that he was getting here early enough, making sure that that he was putting work in the gym, that he was preparing for training the right way, that he was paying attention in video, that he was applying the lessons that we wanted to learn in training every day. That even then when he was playing with the 21s, typically when he was playing with the 21s he was performing well. He’s a gamer. He loves the match but it was more about like helping him understand what the entire process of being a top professional is and making sure that he’s committed to it.”

This week in training - what have you kept that you think might work?!

“It’s been a little bit of a different week because we sent a lot of guys to play with for the 21s in the Papa John’s tournament so even those guys have the day off today. They will come back in tomorrow. I think we have tried to find ways to look at video and look at the opponent and assess what was good and needed to be better against Liverpool and then how it applies to what we want to achieve on Saturday. It hasn’t been the same kind of week but I’m always trying to whether it’s set piece preparation or training methods or video presentations always trying to come up with new ways of doing things because players get tired of routine and so do I frankly so I that part has been important, just not but so committed to the exact same routine.”

On Bournemouth

“Bournemouth, in general, I know that they haven’t gotten a lot of results but if you look at their metrics, they’re actually improving as a team and I think they’re more and more in matches. We believe that they are very lethal in counter attacking situations and so they defend very hard, they defend sometimes a little bit deeper. They sometimes like to press a little bit higher but get into a deeper block and they’re very intensive in some of those defensive moments. And they’re very quick to get into the counter and it showed in the Tottenham match and In a lot of their matches lately. I think manager’s done a great job of taking them out of a moment early in the season where they looked like they were in trouble, to making them stronger and making them clear on exactly what their play model is. Who they play and exactly how they play, they have some variability, they played five in the back in the last game and defended five in the back, sometimes they build with five but defend more with four so we have had to prepare for a few different things. But we know that in the end we have to know them but we have to be ready to perform at our best. That’s a big focus this week, knowing the opponent but making sure that we are ready to be at our best.”

Could Summerville be a regular scorer?

“I think he is a dangerous player. Is he going to score every game like he has in the last two? No. But I think he can be a big part of unbalancing teams, by scoring goals, by betting goals up, by being good in transition and certainly good in pressing. It’s too bad because if we can get him, Luis, Jack, Brenden, Rodri, Patrick, Willy, Joffy then we then start to have a core of attacking players that could be really fun if we can get all those guys in top form and that’s what we are trying to achieve.”

Did Summerville have a good birthday?

“Yes. He wanted to go home and I said no. We actually had a Halloween party as well, it was good, with families and all the players and the first team staff after our training session on Sunday.” Who had the best outfit? “All the guys were pretty amazing. Probably Pascal Struijk, he was like a hippie so he probably had the best one.”

On Meslier

“This has been a little bit of a crescendo for him of putting really strong performances together and now on a nigh it comes together in a big way for him and for us. Certainly he needs to use that to gain confidence and belief and know how good he can be. I think we all know his talent is high and we’re just trying to help him mature and push himself daily to be the goalkeeper that we need and. He fits well with us because he’s a good shot-stopper and he’s good in one v one situations and transition phases and I thought that he stood up big in those moments.” Do you expect him to be in the France squad for the World Cup? “I spoke to him about that about a month ago and he seemed to think it was unrealistic so I would just go off of that but I think that as a young goalkeeper he fits the criteria of a third goalkeeper in a World Cup squad.”

On the leadership council - how important?

“It’s a good question and those guys are incredibly vital to what we do here. But the issue has been that too many of them have been injured so with Stuart and Adam out a long time, Luke was out at the beginning of the year, Patrick was unhealthy, There were some games where we made Robin captain because none of the six leadership council players were healthy. Obviously getting Luke back has been really important and getting Coops healthy and going has been really important and then Rodri I think has been a pretty consistent guy with the team. At one point, we sat in this room and I said ‘listen, right now you guys have got to be strong, and I need you. I need you to help me in this moment. And I need you to be clear that that we need to push the group and make sure that there’s no little things going on behind the scenes, that we stay on top of being positive and maintaining the belief so those guys have been vital for that.”

On Summerville getting the no 10 shirt - how did it happen?

“I’m not really sure how he got the no 10 to be honest. I just got a text from Victor, it wasn’t even the start of the season and he said Cree will be no 10 and I said okay. I’ve had a lot of teams where there has been no number 10. I think it’s an overplayed number and moniker in our sport. I was 15 and I always thought 15 was like the new 10!”

On Rasmus Kristensen - what has made the difference lately?

“I think adapting to the league. I wouldn’t say he had a slow start, I think against Wolves he was pretty solid and in pre season he was very good. Obviously the level of the league and then the fact that the full backs in this league sometimes have the hardest task because the winger position in almost every team is usually equipped with the best players from the teams, from the opponents. I think the key for him has been that he’s been more aggressive against the ball and with the ball. He has shown more confidence and more self belief and he’s gone after it in a bigger way, physically, mentally, everything. With the way I like to coach and manage, aggressiveness is a key and we can’t have passive players on the pitch so I think he’s gone through that with me already at Salzburg and I think he just had to readapt to another level of what the quality is and then and then start to exhibit more and more what I know he has.”

Can the Liverpool win have a transformative effect on the season and how important to back it up now?

“That’s the important thing. My mind, right after the match, was squarely on making sure that we’re prepared for this weekend. I said last week at this press conference, I was tired of losing and tired of being in a situation where we have to dig ourselves out of. We’re not out of that yet and we’re still there but the only way is to get the result on Saturday.”

More on Summerville...

“I think from a tactical perspective, against the ball he can be connected with the team more and more and more and be really making sure that he’s always in the right tactical position. When he is around the ball both against the ball with the ball, he comes alive. He’s one of our best players in terms of pressing and counter pressing and winning balls. And then obviously on the ball right now he’s very confident, he’s very hard to tale the ball off and he’s very dynamic in those moments. And then I think he can be, as much as he scored two goals in the last two games, I think he can be more dynamic in transition and creating even more chances for himself and others. His potential is very high. I’ve talked to him about that from the very beginning and we just need to keep pushing him every day in terms of his mentality of being a pro and then the technical and technical aspects of what we are trying to achieve.”

Is there a way of nullifying teams that are more set up in more of a deep block or to frustrate, like teams you are more expected to beat on paper?

“There’s a lot of little things in there. I think there’s with the ball tactics and movements and ideas. We still are a team that if we gain an advantage in possession, we think we almost always have to go direct. And that’s not the idea. The idea is to now understand how to unbalance teams through a lot of tactical positioning and ball movement. And then what are the last third kind of movements and connections we want to have. And too often we have like a concept that we call often option A, option B, option C with option A being the most threatening, most vertical action of the time or possibility and then option C being sort of a third-most vertical and too often we are always in our mind is option A and then it means that we’re giving the ball away too often, we’re losing too many advantages by thinking we can always make the most important play at that moment. And then it’s sometimes means that we’re not able to set up our counter pressing and rest defence tactics in moments which then means if we lose bad balls that the opponent has more space to get out on the counter. For this game, that balance and that understanding will be really important.”

What has this week been like after that Liverpool win? Air cleared a bit?

“Yes and no. I think the urgency has been the same, the desire to find a way. I don’t feel in any way that we’re out of the phase of where things weren’t going our way or where we weren’t getting results. The only way to ensure that we can really start to push the process and even though we only have like two weeks left in this moment of the season, I think it’s vital for us to get as many points out of the next two matches as possible so that we can go into the break, feeling like we’re coming back and we’re going to be strong.”

On Summerville - are you saying the shirt is now yours to keep or not quite there yet?

“I think it’s an opportunity for him to use the moment to strengthen his position within the group. That’s what I have said to him. I said in front of the group, I said, you know, I’m watching him, I told him in front of the group that I’m watching him now and I’m going to stay on top of him even more and we have to make sure there’s no slipping back and that we are only going forward from here. He has had a really good training.”