Leeds United boss Jesse Marsch spells out crucial equation as Whites head to Leicester City

Jesse Marsch is urging his new Leeds United side to start as they mean to go on and be "fearless" in Saturday's showdown at Leicester City.
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Former RB Leipzig and RB Salzburg boss Marsch is heading for his first game in charge as Whites head coach having been named as Marcelo Biela's successor on Monday evening.

Promotion-winning hero Bielsa was sacked after three and a half years in charge following last weekend's 4-0 defeat at home to Tottenham Hotspur which marked a fourth-straight defeat and a fifth loss from United's last six games.

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Leeds sit fifth-bottom in the Premier League table, just two points clear of the drop zone, and Marsch's first game takes Leeds to a Leicester side who finished last season in fifth place, the Foxes only missing out on qualification for the Champions League by a point.

NO FEAR: Says new Leeds United boss Jesse Marsch, centre, as his Whites side head to Leicester City. Photo by George Wood/Getty Images.NO FEAR: Says new Leeds United boss Jesse Marsch, centre, as his Whites side head to Leicester City. Photo by George Wood/Getty Images.
NO FEAR: Says new Leeds United boss Jesse Marsch, centre, as his Whites side head to Leicester City. Photo by George Wood/Getty Images.

Leicester currently sit 12th but Brendan Rodgers' side have games in hand on the sides above them and welcomed back star striker Jamie Vardy from two months out with a hamstring injury during Tuesday night's 2-0 win at Burnley.

Marsch admits he has been handed a difficult opener - yet the new Leeds boss has called for a "fearless" approach to tomorrow's clash at the King Power, a mindset the American boss is looking for a consistent basis in charge of the Whites.

Former Whites winger Mike Grella has recently said how Marsch's sides do not play with fear and the new Leeds boss said: "I used to have an equation - and Mike Grella will know this - fear to fail equals failure.

"And the way we play, our style of play is fearless.

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"I think we have a lot of fearless young men here and we have to tap into that fearlessness and it will help us in a situation like this.

"The way we play is that making mistakes is never a bad thing because we are aggressive to go and win the ball back, we are aggressive to try and impose our will on the opponent at all times and then to help educate the players and the team exactly what that means on every given day and how to use it as a strategy to be better than the opponent.

"That’s what it is."

Sizing up Leicester as an opening test, Marsch said: “First, I think Brendan Rodgers is a very good coach.

"He’s flexible. But also I think he has a very clear playing style.

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"They also have a very good team. With Vardy back, I think that brings a boost to them.

"Let’s see if he starts or not, I would expect that given his performance on Tuesday that he would be a big option from the start.

"They are a team that plays well both with the ball and against the ball, we will have to have a very clear match plan and understand the ways that they can make it difficult for us and we also need to be very clear on how he can make it difficult for them.

"I think it’s a very, very difficult one and being an away match, a very difficult first start.

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"But whatever, fearlessness is what we have talked about so we had better be in this moment.”

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