Leeds United manager hunt - Ian Wright weighs in on 'unlucky' Jesse Marsch and what Whites need now

The Arsenal legend can understand why the Leeds ownership made the decision to fire Marsch on Monday, less than 24 hours after a 1-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest that left the side above the drop zone on goal difference alone. The defeat added to a difficult run of results for Marsch, who could point to only two wins in his last 17 Premier League outings.

“Unlucky Jesse,” said Wright on his Wrighty’s House podcast.

“They're bleeding. Someone has to stop the bleeding. With Jesse, I just think I would hate to be an owner in that position. His heart is obviously in the right place. I wanted him to do well. The thing is they have a ticking clock, Leeds cannot afford to come out of this league and they have to have believed that with him their luck is not going to change or whatever. When you're seeing the numbers and seeing another performance, a great performance but a loss and no points, you're starting to cack yourself.”

In a debate with his podcast co-hosts Flo Lloyd-Hughes and Ryan Hunn over whether or not Leeds made the right call over the American, Wright suggested that Marsch's energy might have played into the dramatic and chaotic nature of this season’s games. The ex-England international felt Marsch was the wrong direction for Leeds to take following Bielsa’s sacking in February 2022 and would advise them to go with a manager who will settle things down on the pitch in order to secure Premier League safety.

“Because of Bielsa, Bielsaball and organised chaos football with that energy, and obviously he's come from Red Bulls in New York and Salzburg, he's all about energy, pace,” said Wright.

"They thought that was the manager they needed to come in after Bielsa to see if they could recapture what they probably saw in the Championship and a little bit in the Premier League. Whereas I think this group coming off of Bielsa, they needed something else, more Unai Emery vibes. Everything needs to simmer down, stabilise and build something concrete, from the back for me. Make them hard to beat and then you have to get them scoring goals. That's one of their main problems. That's the kind of manager they need to be looking for now.

"They don't need a rock n roll manager, they need to calm it down, get some stability in there quickly. Leeds are quite easy to get through. They've been very lucky in games, unfortunate not to get some goals but very lucky not to concede more.”

Leeds are hoping to make a swift appointment but will go to Old Trafford on Wednesday to face Manchester United with a caretaker trio in charge. Michael Skubala, Paco Gallardo and the recently-appointed Chris Armas will be in the dugout for a clash with the Premier League’s third-placed side. Armas, a former team-mate and New York Red Bulls assistant of Marsch’s, was at Old Trafford last season as part of Ralf Rangnick’s set-up.