Leeds United v Cardiff City: Jesse Marsch press conference every word on Georginio Rutter, FA Cup intent, injuries and Joe Gelhardt future

“I think I always take the Cup matches very seriously. I said the lineup we put on the pitch given the physical situation where we were last week would have been pretty much the same as what we would have played in a Premier League matc. I thought actually in the beginning of the match we were playing pretty well and then we gave up two quick goals and then we needed to adjust at half time and push the match. In general, I think that where we are in this tournament, we can have hope to now handle our business on Wednesday night and go for it. We know it won’t be easy but we will be at home and the club has not had a home FA Cup fixture for many years.We’re going absolutely to win that match. We will need to go match by match now in the league and in the cup and try to now really take the momentum from that Aston Villa game and show that we are ready for big challenges now. So that’s the entire focus is to have this kind of conviction and belief and understanding and go after it moment by moment, game by game. This is where we are and my belief sitting here right now is higher than it’s ever been. And again, like I said I think more importantly the players are in the same position.”

“Patrick has been feeling good. We’ve had to be measured with him, not to push him too much. I was very happy for him to get a goal and I told you guys last week that he seemed to be mentally in a really good place and physically in a really good place. Whether he starts tomorrow or not, we’ll wait and see. We have to address a lot of guys physically today. Rodri, I think came out of the match and I thought Rodri was fantastic at Villa, fantastic, in every phase of the match. One of the best performances I’ve ever had from a striker especially considering that he wasn’t able to get the goal but what a strong performance and he’s obviously in great form so we’ll be looking to turn him around and get him ready to go again for this match and then we’ll see how Patrick fits in.”

“High by high intensity running. I think it was over 13,000 meters for our match and by the way only 48 minutes in active time, play time. So to achieve that with a low ball in play time is phenomenal and there’s been a lot of talk about this ball in play time, even with the league and the referees and how they manage certain situations.Villa gets the lead early and then they do a lot of game management. But I think our last three performances in general are three of our highest in the history of the Premier League for Leeds United based on per minute ball in play time. In that sense, again, I think we’re getting clearer and stronger and better and it also helps that tactically the players are understanding more and able to commit to it at a higher level. I know, as frustrating as it is for the fans when we don’t get the results, I know that their confidence wavers in what we’re doing but, again, on the inside, our confidence is moving absolutely forward and for me, I’m at the highest belief I’ve been since I’ve been here.”

“ No. In general, I tell you, I don’t know what any of the player’s salaries are or their contract situations. I just try to treat them for what they are and who they are and try to maximise the potential of what they can become. And the more that we do that. I think the more that we’re able to just have an environment that’s about people and about development and about each other. And I think that’s the way that we will treat Georginio. I don’t think he has any extra pressure from us. Obviously there’s certain external things that he and we will have to manage for expectation but he, and by his performance yesterday and by fitness level right now and by his intensity and by his excitement of being here, I think it’s going to be a big opportunity for him to step in quickly.”

“I think there’s been some internal discussions and we’ll make some decisions in the next coming weeks. In general his attitude has been great, we have had great conversations. I think everybody’s open to different possibilities. We do have a lot of really good attacking options. Even Luis after training yesterday when we talked and I talked to him about how he was feeling and he mentioned to me, wow, we have some really good players now and Luis is certainly one of them. He looked fantastic and he looked fit, Joffy has looked great, his attitude has been fantastic and he will be ready.”

“This is the exact kind of problem that managers want to have, lots of options and some selection issues. But this is one of the reasons I was a proponent of five substitutions because I wanted to build an arsenal of weapons and help them understand how to commit to the way we want to play and use them effectively match after match after match. Again, I think when we watch training every day and when we see the quality that we’re developing in the team when we’re putting together the squad, we all believe in our potential.”

“No doubt, and we’ve continued to try to address that. I think Max Wober coming more into the fold will be helpful. With Max on the pitch now over the last two matches we’ve given them zero goals and we scored three so I think that that is important. We’re trying to continue to make some tactical adjustments to be able to help specifically defend in some wide areas and in the box and wide areas. But the more that we can defend now, I think we know we can score. We know and to be honest with you, scoring is the hardest thing to do in this sport. And so for us it’s been also trying to manage the opponent from scoring, the quality obviously has something to do with that, but the more leads we can get, the more clean sheets that we can have the better we will get results.”

“I had spoken to him before he had gotten here, when we were talking about the possibilities and trying to recruit him to explain to him what the project was. You can see he’s a young energetic person with a smile on his face that is naturally brave and excited about the potential to be a high level footballer. He knows a lot of the players that I’ve coached in the past, high potential players, he knows Illan too from some of the youth teams. He knew a little bit about me, I knew a little bit about him and I really enjoy the chance to have some football conversations with them and start to map out what our expectations are for them tactically and, and get to know them in that way. And it was really engaging, he’s always been really engaging. And I think even with the team, he said he’s learned and he’s had to learn more German in the last year than English, but I think his English is good enough and it will come I think, it will come around even faster after a few weeks of being here. I think in general, we’re excited about the potential of what he can become.”

“Yeah. Like I said, after the game, I accept the pressures of what’s happening in my role at this club right now, I accept it and I understand it. The only thing I can say is that I am doing everything I can and that we are doing everything we can together and we believe in this project and I think that’s clear with the transfers we make, with the decisions we make, with everything that we’ve done. I think that it’s shown unity. Like I said, I’m disappointed. I’m disappointed with the fact that we haven’t developed faster and better and that’s my responsibility and I have to find, continue to find ways, to push buttons, what we do in training, what we do in tactical sessions, what we what we do with video, what we do with everything so that we can get better at a quicker rate but I feel like this was a massive step in the right direction, and I’m more energised and I’m stronger in my belief than I’ve ever been before that we’re going to be a good team and we’re going to be a good team soon. Now we have to show it, specifically tomorrow night.”

“Yeah, I’ll be honest. A lot of the first meeting I had with Willie when we talked about the same things he was very responsive in the same way. The difference, I guess, would be that Georginio has played 57-60 Bundesliga matches at 20 years old. That’s a pretty quick ascension for a young footballer and even he said it was amazing how much he learned going to Hoffenheim and going to Germany and I think that Willy had some of the same things in Zurich so, yeah, I think it gives us hope that he can be ready soon.”