Jesse Marsch admits Leeds United are not ready for new season as familiar weakness rears head

Leeds United head coach Jesse Marsch has never hidden away from shouldering responsibility for his team’s performances.

Upon his arrival, Marsch acknowledged the final 12 games of last season would be a patch-up job, cobbling together enough points to remain in the division before instilling philosophies and practices more closely over the summer.

It is now a month since the first batch of Leeds players returned to pre-season and after two wins, one draw and one defeat in pre-season, squad upheaval and new appointments to the backroom team, the first game of the new Premier League campaign is on the horizon.

But, Leeds aren’t ready, insists Marsch. However, he does not view that as a slight towards his preparation throughout pre-season, it is merely the ‘reality’ of the situation, he says.

"I don't know how many years I've been a manager now, but I've literally never come out of pre-season and gone into the season feeling like we're ready. It's just the reality. It's an ongoing process.

"From day one, the work and the concentration from this group of players has always allowed us to, day-by-day maximise what we're trying to become.

"I still know there's so much work to do. But again, I feel that we're going to have a good team this season,” he added following United’s penultimate pre-season fixture.

Next up is a home friendly against Cagliari this weekend who were relegated from Italy’s top flight last season.

Marsch will hope to avoid repeating some of the same mistakes his team have fallen foul of throughout their warm-up games so far – namely defending counter-attacks.