Former Leeds United manager Jesse Marsch has revealed that he did not want to manage the club and instead pleaded with the owners to keep faith in Marcelo Bielsa.
Jesse Marsch At Leeds
Following an impressive 9th-place finish under Marcelo Bielsa in their first season back in the Premier League, Leeds United looked to push on in their second season.
However, with the club sitting 16th in the table, 2 points off the relegation places come the end of February, Leeds decided to make a change in management.
Talismanic coach Bielsa was replaced by enthusiastic American manager Jesse Marsch in the hopes of salvaging their Premier League status.
At the time, this decision was met with disapproval from large cohorts of the Leeds United faithful who believed the Argentinian manager had earned the right to more time at the club.
Despite helping the club to avoid relegation that season, Marsch’s Leeds side failed to push on in the next campaign. With his side sitting in 17th place in the Premier League, the former RB Leipzig boss was sacked from his role as manager, just a year after he assumed the role.
Jesse Marsch 🗣
"When I went to Leeds, they told me within three years the club had an 84% chance of being relegated." #LUFC pic.twitter.com/gLShG3Hx6U
— LUFCMOT (@LUFCMOTcom) January 10, 2024
Marsch On Managing Leeds
Speaking on the Up Front podcast with host Simon Jordan, Marsch said: “When I went to Leeds, my analysts told me that within three years the club had an 84% chance of being relegated – the club knew that too.
“The Brightons and the Brentfords of the world are very unique, just look at Leicester. I knew when I went there that I was going into the lions’ den.
“I went because I liked the people at the club, and I believed that we had symmetry in the ways we thought about the game.
“I felt like Leeds was a club with a big heart. But I knew it was going to be a massive challenge.
“I didn’t even want to take the job at first. When they called me, I pleaded with them to keep Marcelo Bielsa.
“They just got to the point where they felt that they had to make a change.”
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