RALPH Hasenhuttl admitted Jesse Marsch has had a good start as Leeds United manager, but challenged his Saints team to target weaknesses that remain ahead of the clash on Saturday. The 48-year-old American became the third boss from the USA to take a job in the Premier League, after he replaced fan-favourite and cult icon Marcelo Bielsa.
Ralph Hasenhuttl said: “I think we shouldn’t forget that at the end of the Bielsa time they had a lot of injury problems. You very often forget the circumstances behind why a team that was flying last year and had a fantastic finish but have struggled this season with massive injury problems they’ve had. So it’s not a coincidence that now that that they have a few players coming back it’s getting better and better. But, sure, there’s always momentum when there’s a change and a new manager comes in. The question is always how long it changes. And how based on the fundamentals the changes are and how good they’re working for in the longer term. You don’t know if it’s the right thing what you have done after two or three months. You learn after two or three years if it was the right way to go. But yeah, the first fruits are good and it’s on us to show the weaknesses they still have because you can see that not everything is perfect with what they are doing – there are still things to learn which is normal. It’s on us to show the weaknesses they still have.”
Hasenhuttl and Marsch are both products of the Red Bull system, with the Austrian arriving at Saints in 2018 after a successful spell with Leipzig. Marsch had managed with Red Bull sides New York, Salzburg and then briefly Leipzig since 2015. His spell in the German Bundesliga lasted just a few months, though.
Ralph Hasenhuttl said: “In their game against the ball you can see now very good counter-pressing – the 5-second rule after losing the ball is definitely there, for winning it back. And the behaviour of waiting for the right trigger to start the committed pressing is definitely visible. Meanwhile, we are more than only our key philosophy that we all learned – we have a different style of game. Our game with the ball is separate, we have different philosophies maybe. Also the flexibility in the shape you play can be a decisive thing in the future. In the Premier League it’s getting more and more important, I think, that you are able to switch shapes – to be able to switch your way of playing football because it not always works the same way.”
