For all the very valid criticisms of Jesse Marsch, you always knew what the outgoing Leeds boss stood for. He even had it pinned up in the dressing room. Loved: Vertical, counter-pressing football, swarming the opposition, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Hated: Playing with width, American stereotypes, non-Americans.
While only part of that may be true, the Princeton graduate was hired for his history with Red Bull’s sporting emporium and his perceived similarities in philosophy to Marcelo Bielsa. The Leeds higher-ups’ admiration for the energy-drink-conglomerate-cum-footballing-cuckoo is well known and the club bought Marsch four of his ex-Red Bull players in a 343-day stint at Elland Road.
Financially buoyed by the sale of the most talented duo to don the Leeds white in a generation, majority owner Andrea Radrizzani has spent £142.7m since Marsch joined the club, on 12 permanent signings and one loanee. This is more than the club has ever paid in a season, breaking their record fee for Hoffenheim youngster Georginio Rutter in January too.
That’s an incredible show of faith in a manager that lasted six days post-January transfer window. Even Everton, having loaned out Lucas Digne just in time to sack Rafa Benitez last January, left Frank Lampard enough time to sign Dele Alli and Donny van de Beek.
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All except one of those signings, back-up keeper Joel Robles, are 26 or younger, with eight of them 23 or younger. The club may argue that they were signed for a future with or without Marsch, but it’s clear from the profiles brought in that they were planning for with.
For all the tactical jargon, Marsch wanted players whose great strength was running, alongside varying levels of intelligence. If you watch Tyler Adams, Weston McKennie, Brenden Aaronson, or even Rutter, you’ll notice that they’re always going somewhere quickly. They’re pressers, harriers, designed to disrupt rather than create, to spend long periods without control of the ball.
This is similar to Bielsa’s philosophy – the idiosyncratic Argentine even drew criticism from his successor early on for his evangelical dedication to fitness and pressing.
The issue with canning Marsch – the second aggressive, pressing manager to go in a year – is that it demonstrates a fundamental lack of faith in the system you are expensively tailoring your squad to play. Sporting director Victor Orta and his team expect breath-taking, exhilarating football, but ideally without the trepidation that accompanies it. They want to be exciting, but only as long as it staves off the risk of relegation.
If one more manager of the Red Bull-ilk fails at Elland Road, especially if that leaves them in the Championship, then the club are going to lose a huge amount of money and ruin the careers of some incredible young talents.
Illan Meslier is already highlighting this. The club’s starting goalkeeper since their promotion, the 22-year-old Frenchman has been linked to some of Europe’s biggest clubs.
Yet, according to Opta, Meslier has conceded 5.5 more goals than the average goalkeeper would be expected to this season, only behind fellow regularly-peppered youngster Gavin Bazunu at Southampton. His confidence looks shot and when he was forced to produce some lightning stops to keep out Accrington Stanley, you could almost watch the last slither of hope that things would improve exit his body.
None of this is helped by Radrizzani’s impending sale to current 44 per cent stakeholders 49ers Enterprises, agreed for next year. The club were American-ising to play to a new audience but are now some way up the Rio Grande without a paddle.
The obvious spiritual replacement for Marsch is Ralph Hasenhuttl, but if anything, the ex-Southampton boss is too similar. Aside from one season in which the Saints finished 11th, his other seasons at St Mary’s ended 16th, 15th, 15th. He thrilled in moments and collapsed in others championing a pressing style taught from the same Ralf Rangnick-inspired playbook as Marsch.
Another leading option is Spaniard Andoni Iraola, whose upstart Rayo Vallecano side are currently fifth in La Liga. He relies on a tactical system grounded in a Bielsa-like athleticism and an exhilarating directness which will appeal to Orta’s inner thrill-seeker, or sadist, depending on which way you view it.
The next year will define whether Leeds will spend another 16 years out of the Premier League. They have placed their future in Red Bull-ball and are praying to Don Revie it gives them wings.
If it doesn’t, the face-saving fire sale and #AnnounceBenitez will not be pretty.
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