Houdini act for Marsch
STARS WILL DISAPPEAR
AFTER Marcelo Bielsa’s tearful farewell, the stakes could hardly be higher for Jesse Marsch as he begins his rescue attempt at Leeds.
Bielsa became emotional when he said goodbye to his players at Thorp Arch on Monday before they met his successor Marsch.
Marsch has been thrown in at the deep end and not only is Leeds’ Premier League future on the line, but those of their two most coveted players, Kalvin Phillips and Raphinha. Relegation would have huge ramifications.
Not only would it undo all the hard work of the past four years, but it would probably spell the end of Raphinha and Phillips’ time at Leeds. Raphinha is ambitious and the Brazil winger would not want to play in the Championship, especially in aWorld Cup year.
He has already attracted interest from the likes of Liverpool, Manchester City, West Ham and Bayern Munich.
Leeds are in talks with the forward over new terms and want to insure his value should he leave sometime in the future.
But this strategy would be severely undermined if they went down and were forced to cash in on Raphinha this summer.
Leeds could also lose Phillips, with the England midfielder, who is almost ready to return following hamstring surgery in December, coveted by West Ham and Manchester United. Phillips turned down interest from Burnley and Aston Villa to stay in 2019 because he could not bring himself to leave his beloved Leeds.
But he will have to let his head rule his heart if Leeds are relegated because of the impact it will have.
Phillips has established himself in Gareth Southgate’s England squad, but he could find his World Cup position under threat if playing in the Championship. That’s why it is so important Marsch engineers an escape act.
The American’s appointment is a gamble and he will have to learn about the unique demands of the Premier League on the job. Aged 48, he had great success at Red Bull Salzburg as he won the Austrian league and cup double in successive seasons, but he lasted just four months in the Bundesliga at RB Leipzig. Leeds have huge confidence in Marsch and director of football Victor Orta has been tracking him for a number of years.
He believes the former US international player is similar in style to Bielsa and can build on his work. Leeds do not believe they need a reboot but want Marsch to make some fine adjustments.
They believe he can achieve this and have handed him a contract until June 2025 in a sign of their faith.
Now they will find out if their feelings are correct.