Marsch: Red cards killed us...we can’t afford more

JESSE MARSCH has warned his hot-headed players it is time to keep their cool, after revealing the club’s owners held a crisis meeting with the team this week. Leeds are rooted in the relegation zone heading into tomorrow’s penultimate match of the season, against Brighton, following three successive defeats. In the most recent defeats by Arsenal and Chelsea, Leeds had a man sent off in the opening half-an-hour, with Luke Ayling and Dan James both guilty of wild tackles. ‘We are aware that killed us in the last two matches and it can’t happen again,’ said manager Marsch ahead of the visit of the Seagulls. ‘Discipline in these moments is important. We want to be aggressive but not overzealous. We cannot afford any more red cards.’ Marsch has questioned whether his own muchdiscussed motivational methods are to blame for getting his teams too pumped up. But he believes the discipline issue is more to do with players being desperate to impress the Leeds fans. ‘Internally with our coaching staff, we said, “Are we over motivating?”,’ said Marsch. ‘But the talk I gave before the Chelsea match was calm. Obviously we have a team here that are aggressive and want to perform for their fans. It’s part of the reason for the red cards, I think. ‘I don’t think it’s an accident that Luke’s red comes right in front of the fans at the Emirates. It’s because they want to do whatever they can for the fans. ‘We know the two red cards crossed the line and that hurt us. But we’re aggressive and we want to go after the opponent.’