Leeds
United boss Jesse Marsch defiant but storm raging at Elland Road after Fulham
loss
If Jesse Marsch is one
for omens, waking up on Sunday to the sight of black storm clouds unleashing a
torrent of rain on Leeds will have filled him with a sense of dread.
By four o'clock the downpour had eased, but
the figurative storm swirling around the American manager was raging.
He had just witnessed his side throw away a
lead to lose 3-2 at home to Fulham. It was a fourth defeat on the bounce and
leaves them in the bottom three having taken just two points from the last 24.
Familiar failings again cost them. An attack
with endeavour but no end product and a litany of costly errors by a porous
defence handed three points to a side who didn't have to be at their best to
earn them. A recipe for disaster.
What began as a show of discontent at
Leicester three days ago from 3,000 travelling fans became outright revolt by
36,000 on Sunday, with the team booed off at full-time and chants calling for
the sacking of Marsch and, more vociferously, the club's board.
As those same fans streamed from the ground, talk will likely have been about when not if the axe would fall on Marsch.
Meanwhile, in the Elland Road media suite,
found inside the John Charles Stand, the American was defiantly and confidently
stating that his future remained very much with the west Yorkshire club.
"I'm here for the long term," he
said. "I love this club, I'm investing everything I have to try to make us
better.
"I understand the frustrations from the
fans and we are equally if not more frustrated. We are doing everything we can
and we are together. The board and I are unified. We have had clear discussions
that we are together."
To add weight to Marsch's suggestions of unity
within the club, captain Liam Cooper told reporters that the players were
"fully behind the manager" and "buying into the
philosophy".
Vice captain Luke Ayling added: "The boys
are right behind him. He took over in a tricky situation last season and kept
us in the league.
"We're only 11 games into the season. We've been in worse positions, like last season, and there's still a long way to go so please stay calm and stay with us."
Worryingly for the Whites, they have taken
fewer points from the first 11 games of this season (9) than they took in the
previous one (11) - a dire opening run that contributed to Marcelo Bielsa being
sacked and replaced by Marsch.
Their current points haul is their fewest at
this stage of a league campaign since 2003-04 (8), when the Whites were last
relegated from the Premier League.
During this run of eight games without a win
there have been aspects of their play to admire, suggesting that a repeat of
the impressive 3-0 win against Chelsea on 21 August was just around the corner.
Last weekend, they gave league leaders Arsenal
a torrid time, especially in the second half and should have taken points -
something that could also be said of the game at Southampton, where they threw
away a 2-0 lead, and at home to Aston Villa, where Luis Sinisterra's sending
off cost them the chance to push for a win.
On Sunday, they were the better side for 20
minutes and deservedly led but failed to capitalise and allowed Fulham parity
and then victory through their sloppiness.
Worryingly, they repeatedly fail to punch
their weight.
Rodrigo's goal against Fulham was his fifth of
the season but first since the win over Chelsea. His rival for the number nine
spot, Patrick Bamford, has yet to score this season, missing a superb chance to
do just that on Sunday with the game finely poised at 1-1.
No player has had more than Bamford's nine big
chances without finding the net in the Premier League in 2022-23. His personal
xG stands at four.
It shines a light on the failure to sign a new
centre-forward in the summer to further aid an ongoing transitional period for
the squad.
"What you can see is that in our good
moments, we can be quite good," said Marsch. "We can play aggressive
and attractive football and the kind of football this community and club wants
to see, with intensity and running and entertainment.
"In our weak moments we look naive and
vulnerable and weak defensively. I take responsibility and I need to find
solutions to get results, momentum and our season back on track.
"There were moments when it looked like
we could do that and take control and get the season back on track but we
couldn't make it happen.
"If we were getting killed in games and
were the team who were much worse we would have more worries and concerns that
what we are doing is not good enough. It is not like that.
"Every game is in the balance. In these
eight games we have found a way to give it away. If we can find a way to
capitalise on our moments I believe the momentum can change quickly."
If they are to build momentum they must do so
during a run of fixtures that are trickier on paper than those they have faced
thus far.
Their next two away games are at Liverpool and
Tottenham, either side of what looks like a must-win home game with
Bournemouth, before the season halts for the World Cup - a six-week break clubs
may well view as the ideal time to make a change of manager.
Ominously, in his programme notes for Sunday's
game, Leeds chief executive Angus Kinnear wrote: "We should all have
confidence we can correct the course of the season before the World Cup break
and then return in December to build on a firm foundation."
