New Leeds United boss Jesse Marsch has described the reaction to his decision to hold an on-pitch huddle with his players after his first game in charge as “hilarious and ridiculous.”
Marsch became just the third American to manage in the Premier League when he was appointed to replace Marcelo Bielsa last month. His appointment, and the cultural differences in the game between England and the U.S., attracted fresh scrutiny following his decision to speak to his players in public after Leeds lost his opening game in charge, 1-0 at Leicester City, on Saturday.
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Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, though, Marsch said he couldn’t understand what all the fuss was about.
“I’ve done that at different moments, partly because if I go back to my time in Austria and Germany, after the game the media comes for players right away and it’s almost impossible after the match to have the whole group together,” Marsch said ahead of Leeds’ game at home to Aston Villa on Thursday. “The attention around this small little conversation with the group I find frankly hilarious and ridiculous.
“But whatever, maybe people don’t see that much here, I’ve done that a few times in my career, in positive moments and negative moments. And it’s about now making sure that we’re able to, as a group, process what happened and make sure that we’re clear on what was good, what was bad and how we’re going to move forward. So I thought that the immediate feedback in that situation was important. I realize maybe I could do it in the locker room, maybe I’ll do it on the pitch, I don’t know. Who cares?”
Marsch also said he saw some encouraging signs in the loss to Leicester.
“I felt good about the first performance. We deserved a result, but those good feelings will stay strong when we can get the results,” he said.
Leeds could be boosted by the return to action of last season’s club top scorer Patrick Bamford, who hasn’t appeared since December due to a foot injury. After being an unused substitute in the defeat by Leicester, Marsch hinted that Bamford will play some part at home to Villa.
“He won’t start, but he’ll be on the bench,” Marsch said. “The physical team told me what his loading has been over the past months, he hasn’t trained hard often and hasn’t played much. That’s the reason I was hesitant against Leicester.
“He’s a positive guy, the effect he’ll have on the group will be massive.”
Also speaking ahead of Thursday’s game, Villa manager Steven Gerrard said he has already seen changes being implemented by Marsch.
“Tactically, you’ll see a change — you’ll have seen that in the game against Leicester,” he said. “Marcelo Bielsa was very unique, as in certain areas of the pitch he’d go man-to-man and players would get followed in different positions.
“You also heard about different training regimes that they’d practice and try to back up in the games. I’m sure Jesse will want to put his own stamp on things.
“You could see at the weekend that there were slight changes, in terms of tactics. Personnel-wise, it won’t be too much different. We know we’re in for a tough game. Watching Leeds at the weekend, they could have quite easily have got something out of the game.”
Information from Reuters was used in this report.