jesse marsch leeds united
Marsch on Stuart Dallas’ injury
So let me start. I want to talk about Stuart Dallas. We don’t think it’s good with his knee and obviously, with where we are in the season, we will miss him very much because he is in many ways the heart and soul of the group and one of the guys that I think is always at the forefront in terms of being a leader and someone who, who can stand up to big challenges. So, you know, our hearts and minds are with him and his family and we’re hopeful that the prognosis is okay, and that he can have a speedy recovery and get himself healthy and back on the pitch again soon.
Is that a knee injury at this stage? (for Dallas)
So they’ve had a scan, and I don’t want to speak yet exactly about what it is because I haven’t gotten enough information. But they say that it’s not great. So we’ll see.
What sort of injury was Liam Cooper’s and was it significant when it came to defending set-pieces?
Probably. So first, Liam had a weird feeling in his knee and warm up after making a pass. Nobody’s really sure exactly what it is and he will need a scan. We’re hopeful, hopeful that it’s not a major issue, but we will see. I believe you’re right, it probably was a big factor in set pieces and it’s a shame really, because we’ve defended so well in set-piece situations and if you take out those two goals, man, the first 70 minutes, we’re pretty good. A team like Man City that can move the ball and hurt you in so many ways, we had control of many parts of the match. I’m really proud of the guys, I challenged them to play with confidence, to play with belief, with the ball, to be better and clearer and against the ball at the right moments to go after City and make it difficult for them and they did all of that. The best part is that we saw the fan’s response after a match. A 4-0 loss at home and you saw so much passion and love for this team, and this club from our fans. I know some people may have thought I was being facetious or sarcastic when I said it was the best team in the world against the best club in the world. But I mean that. I’ve never seen a place like this and it’s a very unique relationship that this club has with its fan base and with the city.
Did you expect to surprise Pep with your line-up?
I’ve played a lot in, in my trainer career, my managerial career with three at the back and it can be effective if the players understand the behaviours and the tactics correctly and I feel like for major – it wasn’t perfect – but for major stretches, they were able to execute the match plan, both against and with the ball. Again, the shame of it is that the two set pieces are really the difference in the day.
Mathematically it is out of yours and Burnley’s hands as Everton have two games in hand. But, to play like that today, how confident are you of getting a result against Arsenal or Chelsea?
Before the match, I said to them we wanted to at the end of the match look each other in the eye and say that was our best, and I think we can comfortably do that. We wanted to have something to bring take with us and continue to grow from the experience so that we can be ready for the next four massive challenges and I think we can do that. I think we can do that. We knew this was not going to be easy. I came from vacation and stepped into a relegation battle and I said again, that I knew that this was going to go down to the wire and I’d still believe that and we are up for it and the confidence I have in our group and in the way they work every day and the desire they have to do whatever it takes gives me a lot of optimism and confidence and so you know, we won’t be easy, but we’re gonna keep pushing.
At times today, it looked like all that was missing was composure in the final third. What can you do about that?
Yeah, it was composure in the final third and composure a lot of times leading to the play that would lead to the final third. And that’s a little bit where we are. We were still not able to quite slow the game down in key moments and then have enough quality to create bigger chances and goals. On another day, maybe we manage it a little bit better and still, even the Joffy [Joe Gelhardt] chance, Ederson makes such a ridiculous save. But again if we feel like we can play like that against City, then then we should feel like we can play like that against anybody.
Do you have a clearer picture now after two months about why the team are where they are?
So much has changed in the last two months. I feel like we’ve been ahead of schedule the whole time and I’m certainly only taking positives away from this. This was almost a write off game. Because Man City is, like I said, the best team in the world and we would have surprised everybody to get any kind of points out of it. But again, the performance was what really mattered to me. For me, it was not a 4-0 match. I was prepared to say that to you guys at 3-0. Then of course, they pile on an extra one. I think we’ll take it with us.
Was there any trepidation you had coming into the game playing this new system with five at the back. Did you see enough across the last four or five days of training to think it would work?
No, I felt really good about it actually and going into the week, we had already thought about some things and I said to the staff, I want to come up with a tactical plan that allows us to use five at the back. Then we walked through a lot of things, and then we analysed a lot of things and then we created a match plan for the players and they were very engaged in the process of trying to learn the match plan and then execute it. I think they did well. We wanted to be able to still attack them on the wings at certain times and then we still wanted to be able to combine in front of their backline because we felt like we could find some advantages there. We wanted to defend on one side of the field and really then press in moments where we felt like we could create a numbers advantage and then turn that into opportunities to play forward and specifically transition on the opposite side. A lot of those things we were able to accomplish, we just weren’t able to score enough goals or any goals.
Did you feel like it was a big step forward with the counter-press in this game?
Yeah. I think as hard as accepting certain things along the way that it’s not perfect, it’s never going to be perfect and transitioning out of a lot of different things and into what I would like this to be moving forward was never going to be easy but I can again, say to our fans, that our players are so committed in every way, and so selfless and do whatever they can every day to try to make the fans proud and keep us in this league. So yeah, it’s closer than what any of us would like. But whatever man, let’s keep going.
Stuart [Dallas] seems like exactly the sort of guy you need in these circumstances. That’s going to hurt you isn’t it?
Yeah, so that’s why I said he’s in many ways, a big part of the heart and soul of our group but we have a lot of guys that we’re going to continue to draw on, and in this situation, obviously, I know that Stuart’s going to be missed in the team, but you have to think about the person and the type of injury and hope that he’s going to be okay and hope that he can come back strong. So all of us, our minds are with Stuart and his family to hope that he can have a full recovery.
You had a little chat with the referee?
I call this human behaviour 101. So I don’t know if you guys have those kinds of courses in England, but we have those in the US. If the referee isn’t behaving in a way that I think is appropriate, and I’m asking things to change, and they don’t change, then I have no other recourse other than to adjust my behaviour to try to force the referee to change his. Is that a good strategy or not? I’ll say this after I get the yellow, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that they pick up a yellow in the next play. So it’s about at times, without being disrespectful because I have respect for referees and I know it’s a very difficult job, but when you play the biggest clubs and teams in the world, this is normal. I’ve seen it in Champions League. I’ve seen it in many different phases that the big club gets the calls and so you have to fight.
Burnley have come back on this incredible run and it’s almost like Leeds have been dragged back into it. Is it hard to keep that pressure out?
Yeah, it’s a reality. The pressure is a reality but we have to control our reaction to the pressure and focus our energies in ways that can live in, in realities. And the realities are that the more that we’re able to focus on ourselves in our performances, then the more that we’ve been able to control results and put good performances together. Again for me on the table or on the score sheet, this is a loss, but in many ways, I think it’s a win and it was 4-0. That’s a crazy thing to say. But that’s how I feel truly. That’s how I feel.
Have you ever felt an atmosphere like that when you’ve lost 4-0?
No. Again, it wasn’t facetious. This club is very unique, and its fan base as well and that isn’t pandering either. Maybe fans, our fans, because I’ve only been here a little bit of time. They think it’s pandering. I’m just calling it like I see it.
Did you feel that any of the calls contributed to what happened in the game?
I asked them the fourth official if he thought the foul that lead to the first goal was a foul because I don’t think it was a foul. I think Sterling puts the ball by, he can’t get to it, he falls down easy and he gets a foul. So I don’t think that’s a foul. I felt like over time, there were a lot of light fouls that they picked up, which can change the momentum of the game and obviously, it’s it can frustrate players but I actually thought our players stayed pretty focused in the moment and didn’t didn’t allow to frustrate them and we talked a little bit about it at halftime.
