Leeds United boss Jesse Marsch's pre-Arsenal press conference every word: Dallas and Cooper updates, Bamford plan

Leeds United boss Jesse Marsch spoke to the media today for his pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday's Premier League clash against Arsenal at the Emirates.
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United's destiny in their bid to avoid relegation has fallen out of their own hands via last weekend's 4-0 defeat at home to Manchester City combined with a 2-1 win for Burnley at Watford and Everton's 1-0 beating of visiting Chelsea the following day.

Leeds are fourth-bottom and two points ahead of third-bottom Everton but the Toffees have a game in hand.

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The Whites are level on points with fifth-bottom Burnley but the Clarets goal difference stands at minus 15 compared to United's minus 34.

FACING THE PRESS: Leeds United head coach Jesse Marsch.
Photo by OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images.FACING THE PRESS: Leeds United head coach Jesse Marsch.
Photo by OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images.
FACING THE PRESS: Leeds United head coach Jesse Marsch. Photo by OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images.

Leeds also lost Stuart Dallas to a femoral fracture against City having already seen captain Liam Cooper pull out of the warm up due to a knee problem.

Tyler Roberts, Adam Forshaw and Crysencio Summerville are also all out for the season but Marsch was hoping to have striker Patrick Bamford back on the grass this week as the striker recovers from a ruptured plantar fascia.

Sunday's clash at Champions League-chasing Arsenal presents United's fourth-last game of the season and here is every word from Marsch's pre-Gunners press conference that was held at 1pm on Friday afternoon.

Arsenal v Leeds United: Jesse Marsch press conference - every word

Key Events

  • Jesse Marsch facing the media at 1pm
  • Leeds away at Arsenal in Sunday 2pm kick-off

How much are you enjoying the challenge here and how much have you settled in here?

“My family’s been here. We still are in temporary housing so we haven’t moved into our permanent housing yet. But we will be doing that in the next couple of weeks. And I can only speak about the positivity that I felt in this community starting at Elland Foad. The way our fans treated us after the match against Man City I’ve never seen in football and the positivity we need right now. We need to be so aligned and I can say that the singular focus here at Thorp Arch is that everybody is doing everything they can to make sure that we control our destiny. And we need all the positivity from our fans like we saw at Elland Road, and I felt that in the community too, whether it’s having people that recognise me and come up and then support me and say how happy they are with the team and how excited they are for the future. And then there’s people that have no idea who I am, which I prefer more and then we have a really nice exchange, whether it’s at a coffee shop where the friendliness and kindness is amazing. So I’ve said it from day one that I love being here. I hope to make this my home for many years. And I love the club. I love the team. I love the area. We’re really enjoying ourselves and that gives me more and more motivation and desire to do whatever it takes to help this team achieve.”

How much of an achievement would it be for you keeping Leeds up and leading them in the Premier League next season?

“It’s all about the team. I knew when I came in early, it was an opportunity to evaluate everything for how to help it move forward. Not just to take over from the summer and try to do that. So I think that that part has been great. I’ve gotten to know the people here that work around the team and support the team. I’ve gotten to know the players, I’ve gotten to know the academy and so now I have a really good feel for everything that’s going on here and how we can move forward. But again, this is all about achieving our goal so that’s what every day is right now.”

More on Dallas - the timing of the injury with what’s at stake?

“You don’t want anyone to have a big injury like that at anytime. Football is football and life is something else and so for me, it’s, you know, in that moment, we all just want to support Stuart and as a team this is bigger than any one man and this is just the way that it has to be. But we obviously all think about Stuart a lot and just want him and his family, we want him to be healthy. We want him to be strong. We want him to be back living his life and we want to support him in that process. And that’s how that works for me. We will miss him but we’re thinking about him.”

On a lack of a natural centre forward being costly in creating chances?

“I think probably so. We’ve asked Dan James to play a lot in that position, and I know that it’s not ideal. We will still probably need him at times to play there. And I think he has developed a lot more flexibility in his game over the past couple of years because he’s been asked to do different things and play different roles. If we can get Patrick back and sharp and fit that will be helpful for sure. And then I’ve always been thinking about how to use Joffy more and more and we have used Rodrigo sometimes at that position but I think he is more like a false 9 or 10 or operates better when there’s another striker there with him so it hasn’t always been perfect in terms of trying to get the most out of every game plan but the guys have given everything no matter what role has been asked of them. That’s for sure.”

Back five last weekend - same again?

“My goal from the beginning is to have flexibility with positional players playing different positions and formations and everything and we’ve gotten better and better with understanding principles so then we can we can apply it to tactics a little bit more. Each opponent is a little bit different and requires something different against the ball, with the ball, the whole bit. The good news is we are at a point where we are clearer and clearer and we can use tactics and formations I think to manipulate opponents and match plans a little bit more. The key will be that the players are clear when they step on the pitch and that they can play their best. I feel like we are getting there and it will be a test for that again on Sunday.”

What more are you looking for upfront and what have you been working on?

“Against Man City, I felt like we lacked a little bit of poise when we won the ball. In build up phase we were quite good and we were able to move the ball around and manipulate the opponent and make them defend at certain moments. But a lot of times when we won balls in transition we we gave it back and maybe rushed actions a little bit. So, for me, the key is to understand what moments that we need to be very vertical and attack immediately and what moments we need to have a little bit more patience to control the game a little bit more in possession so we’re still working on that. That’s what I think I said one press conference, the 100 to 70 message so we’re continuing to work with our ability to slow ourselves down and especially in attacking moments and finish off plays”

Are you seeing confidence or tension?

“I think it’s more and more after results and maybe things going forward against us to have emotions attached with what’s happening but by the time we get to work and get on the pitch and start talking about what we want the weekend to look like for the next match, there’s clarity and there’s not a lot of tension at that point. It’s normal, I think, for everybody to have emotional responses to different results that don’t goour way or do go our way. But I think the work and the focus on the work here has been phenomenal and it’s been a real strength of ours so far.”

How important to shut everything else out?

“That’s what it is- it’s too eliminate the emotion and to continue to focus on our ability and discipline to have concentration for what’s important to us. I know that of course from a media perspective that people like to write about the emotion of football and what’s happening in the momentum here or this or that. But when you’re in this business for a long time, you know that the job is about preparing to perform and the focus and the ability to do that and to eliminate the things such as media that get in the way of us doing our job. But we have a lot of good pros here, we understand that and that is clearly my approach to every day. And I think that the players respond to that and they understand it.”

How many teams are in the scrap to stay up?

“I have no idea what it’ll take. I have no idea. I’ve been asked this many times. All I care about is focusing on each match. And right now that’s squarely on Arsenal.”

Will you want to know what is happening with Everton on Sunday as they play the same time as you?

“Not right now, I think there’s still too many games left. I think when you get down to the last two, you have to know a little bit what are happening with the other results. Specifically the last one if it’s tight, but right now, the best thing we can do is pick up points.”

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