'Angry, tired' - Every word from Leeds United boss Jesse Marsch's pre-Liverpool press conference with key quintet injury doubts
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Marsch faced even more intense questions about his job as Leeds head coach at the weekend after his side fell to a sixth defeat from their last eight games through Sunday’s 3-2 reverse at home to Fulham. The loss left Leeds in the Premier League’s relegation zone for the first time this season and United now face a trip to Liverpool on Saturday night. Marsch held his pre-match press conference at 1.30pm at Thorp Arch on Thursday and here is everything that was said by the Whites head coach.
Every word from Leeds United boss Jesse Marsch’s pre-Liverpool press conference
Key Events
- 1.30pm press conference at Thorp Arch
Good afternoon
1.30pm for Jesse Marsch’s pre-Liverpool press conference today and we will have all the news here.
Injuries - a brutal update
“I’ll just start with the injuries. Stuart and Adam are still out, in addition questionable are Leo Hjelde with his appendectomy. And then Joffy, Rodri, Luis, Liam and Tyler are all a little bit in question, we will see how the next 48 hours goes for all those players. That’s it.”
On Liverpool
“I know Liverpool, I have gotten to know Jurgen Klopp a little bit over the years, he is relentless in his commitment to making his team better and his belief of the way he does things ad Liverpool for me has bene one of the best teams in the world over the last four or five years. I think no matter what that that is a group of professional players that understand what the demands are. They have a lot of niggling injuries right now. Their backs have been against the wall already a little bit in this year in different ways than where we’re at but we know the quality they have, we know at home there they’re incredibly good. The way they responded in the game against Ajax shows everything and we’re expecting their absolute best.”
On changing things in the way you play?
“It’s not about changing the style of play. It’s about modifying certain tactics for what the opponents are and where we are in the situation. This week I have mixed things up, because I could see that the attention span for things when the stress levels are high hasn’t been as good so I’ve tried to find the right mix of training ideas along with tactical ideas along with preparation in every way so that the concentration is at the highest level so that when we are ready to step out on the pitch we play with more confidence and discipline and concentration. It’s a little bit of all three of those things I think right now so we’re urgent, we’re trying to stay positive, we’re injecting belief but we’re also trying to find exactly again we need to know that the moment is now.”
Any Liverpool weaknesses?
“The weaknesses in Liverpool?! (laughs). Holy....It’s not that we see a weakness in them, it’s can we challenge them in terms of the intensity at which we play and with the ball and can we lmit them as much as possible and can we find ways to limit them at set pieces where they have been incredibly effective and can we not let them get out on the counter and can we find more situations where we can get out on the counter. Both teams like to play on the counter and they are one of the most lethal in the world at that. I wouldn’t describe Liverpool as having weaknesses, I would just try to say that we will have a gameplan and we will try to stick to it and we wil try to execute it to the best of our ability to give ourselves the best chance in the match.”
How tough is this position that you find yourself in compared to what has gone on before?
“It’s about identifying what exactly is necessary for us to change our fortunes. In some ways, a lot of people in football and sport they say ‘yeah, you need a couple of breaks.’ We have to make our breaks. If we make the penalty against Arsenal, that’s a break and if we capitalise on it then we’re in a different place but we’re not prepared to seize moments like that, for whatever reason right now and I have to try to encourage the group, maintain the belief and then find the right combination of energy, tactics, training, everything to get that right so that the next time we’re in a moment like that we can capitalise.”
“I don’t want to put the responsibility on the other players, we are all responsible, certainly, we have to challenge everyone to stand tall in this moment and to know that we’re close but it’s not been good enough. That’s the reality we live in so we have to find a way to push a little bit harder, to think a little bit quicker and a little bit more carfeully but absolutely make sure that the mentality to fight for eveything come matchday is paramount and to do whatever it takes. That includes not being so naive in certain moments, not giving things away so easily and then being ruthless and finding ways to capitalise.”
On Elland Road crowd during and after Fulham defeat
“I think Elland Road was not overly negative. I actually think the way that they treated the team and the situation we are in, given the negativity that they could be feeling, I felt still like it’s a fan base that still loves the club and loves the team so much and they all recognise that we’re not in a situation that we want to be in. Of course, some people want me out, some people want to see us just find a way to turn the corner because they can see that the performances are not bad and so in the end it’s normal. Like I said, whether it’s with the board or whether it’s with the team or the fans, we have to start to find a way to get results or the questions come more and more in this direction.”