As the Saints go Marsching In: Jesse Marsch rumored to lead race for Southampton job

Yeah, it's absolutely a gamble. The Wober purchase made so much sense: he's probably been brought in to play as a CB, but can perform well at LB or, in a pinch, fill-in for Tyler Adams at CDM (like he did for 30' in his debut), but Rutter has a high probably of being Aaronson 2.0: looks good, is positive on the field, but isn't getting Leeds the goals they need to survive.

I wonder if Rutter is Marsch's choice, or the board trying to make an investment...

 

Leeds GF=25 (11th in Prem); GA=31 (t-17th in Prem)...they are getting enough goals to survive, but are letting in too many to, so going with a more sensible purchase on D and more of a gamble at F makes sense (not to imply that this particular player at this particular price is or is not the best/right choice)

 

I do agree that it is risky, I would have loved to have seen Leeds fill out their roster with more experienced, proven PL players who can provide something instantly.

You can only rely on surprisingly amazing goals from mostly out of nowhere 20 year olds like Summerville and Gnoto for so long. Also Summerville is out for a month now too.

Like what is happening to Aaronson the PL season is long and there is a lot of physicality and it takes young players time to adjust. Relying on them (and a career goal scoring year from Rodrigo) is definitely risky, I guess a bit brave too.

 

Leeds fall 2-1 to Aston Villa in typical fashion. Some good attacking, but consistently caught with too many players upfield and scrambling back to defend the opponent's counterattack. It's happened so frequently this season that it's difficult not to pin it on Marsch's tactics, and it's clear that other teams have figured out how to beat LUFC.

Another concerning stat: This season, Leeds have the second lowest number of points earned against teams not in the top 6, which may ultimately hurt them as they try to avoid relegation.

Next: FA Cup at home - replay against Cardiff City.
Next PL match: home to Brentford (currently 9th; unbeaten in the PL since October).

 

If Twitter is any barometer, the fans have entirely turned on Jesse after that one.

xG 2.2 to 1.1 in favor of Leeds, but xG doesn’t get you points. Still, a neutral watching that game would’ve said Leeds deserved a lot more.

I hope Jesse gets some more time, but fan pressure may be too heavy. Their expectations just don’t match reality. With what they lost vs what they brought in, it was always going to be a tough task to survive comfortably. They’re just now spending a bit, but it might be too late for Jesse.

I’ll say that if they sack Jesse, I hope they go down. Those fans need a big reality check. Although I’m sure Jesse would still receive all the blame. Adams would find a better club anyway, and maybe Brenden could find his form again in the championship.

 

I understand the fans. Over the summer, Leeds signed six starters who were better suited to Jesse's system (Adams, Roca, Sinisterra, Gnonto, Aaronson and Kristensen). Jesse has had a year to get his system implemented. Things are now going backwards (fewer points per game than last season under Marsch) and the team is just not strong defensively. At some point the board has to make a change with enough time to save the season.

 

save the season?! They’re in 14th. They’re not a top half club no matter what their fans think.

 

They're two points above the relegation zone, only five points from last place, and have only won two out of their last 16 PL matches. They have 2 points out of their last five matches and are averaging less than a point per game. Saving their season means avoiding relegation, which last season meant getting 38 points. That means getting 21 points out of the next 20 PL matches. Definitely doable, but not if the team keeps defending the way it has been.

 

I do agree the defending needs to improve, but that’s been a problem long before Marsch, and would still be a problem without him. I really think Wober will help. Apart from Kristensen, he’s the first real investment in the defense. He’s looked good so far, hopefully Marsch gets him in the starting lineup soon. Jesse’s loyalty to some of the old guard also does him no favors. Cooper and Ayling are not premier league level players. There’s no surprise their best football of the season was the start of the year when both were out injured. Mistake after mistake is costing the club. Llorente was for some reason extended….

I would like to see him try Wober - Struijk- Koch- Kristensen. Flip flop Struijk and Wober if he prefers that. Those are the four best defenders. He cannot afford to not be playing his best defenders.

 

I agree with the bolded parts.
I have no proof of this, but was the loss to Villa the straw that broke the camel’s back? Has Marsch finally “lost the players”? It’s just my own sense that the players might finally be turning on Marsch because they feel *he* is just not a Premier League level manager.

 

Jesse had relegated Ayling to the bench for much of the beginning of the season. Then Kristensen started to show some real flaws, which is why Ayling has recently returned to the lineup. Honestly, Ayling has looked better than Kristensen.
Struijk played centrally against Cardiff and played one of his worst matches of the season. Koch has not looked good either.

 

Struijik is terrible. Get a LB during the window.

 

Rutter move completed

Official, confirmed. Leeds United sign Georginio Rutter on £28m fee plus add ons from Hoffenheim, deal signed and completed. ⚪️🤝🏻 #LUFC pic.twitter.com/vTuNCz55D7

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) January 14, 2023

 

They are hitting a soft part of their schedule. They need to start winning now. The fact that Leeds is still in 14th and have a game in hand over every team below them might give Jesse just a wee bit more time. But not much.

 

I've mostly been discussing Leeds in the threads for Adams and Aaronson but am really worried for Marsch and the team as a whole. Hopefully I'm proven wrong but they squander too many points from winnable games.

Things could've played out differently but I think failure to secure a legit EPL calibre 9 has thrown off everything else about the current strategy. IMHO Bamford's slump (and lack of true depth at striker) has been even more pivotal than the Struijk LB gamble...they'd have a few key W's with better conversion on all missed opportunities to dull the blow of their defensive lapses and turn momentum in favor of LUFC.

Sinisterra remaining healthy might've helped too but I think the surprise contributions from Gnonto and Summerville probably equal what JM might've hoped he'd accomplish by midseason.

 

Yeah I mean look at all Bamford’s misses this year that would given them 1 or 3 points. Arsenal game really stands out. Or look at the mistakes by Cooper, Llorente, Ayling, Koch. Hard to blame Jesse for individual lapses in concentration. Not like he had any other options. I’m very high on Rutter and Wober. Think Rutter is good enough to make an impact now, and has potential to be World Class. Unfortunately, finally investing more money than what they got in for Kalvin and Raphina is coming too late for Jesse.

Barring advancement today and three points this weekend, Jesse is probably out.

 

The next two matches (Cardiff today, Brentford over the weekend) are crucial for Marsch to keep his job. The feeling among many fans is that Leeds could eventually be a decent side (read: better than two points from the bottom) but that it would take time that Leeds simply do not have at this point in the season if they're going to stave off relegation. Signing Rutter and Wober are steps in the right direction but it's not like other bottom of the table teams are standing still during this transfer window.
Should be an interesting week for LUFC.

 

Wondering why the JM thread is in the middle of page 2 of the YA Academy board (why isn't he worthy of being on the regular YA board?).

They looked good in today's game but only came away with a draw. The team is in 15th place with a game in hand on the competition, and a draw against a team in the top half isn't exactly shameful. But I'll really be biting my nails if they can't beat Forest in the next league match. There are two low-level opponents on the schedule after that game and back games with an in-form United, but who knows if JM will be around that long?

 

They did look good until they put Bamford in. Really none of their subs played well.

On the whole they haven’t played like a team that will go down but they have lost 5-9 points from really terrible individual mistakes that are really academy player level (and last year the team was making the same mistakes before and after he took over). I think goal difference is a string indicator about what will happen…that doesn’t mean JM is safe, but I think they stick with him as long as they think they are staying up.

Leeds aren’t spenders, lost two top players, their striker turned into a pub league player, and have several young players that aren’t quite there yet. But few unproven coaches get new opportunities that are not hard.

 

Excellent post. I agree with everything except I still think Bamford has improved slightly (still not nearly good enough, but they might give him a couple more run-outs before binning him).

I was afraid to look at Twitter after the game, but there were actually many more positive posts about Jesse than I expected.

 

Forest are surging and playing at home. A win can't be the expectation for Leeds. A draw would be more than enough. And I don't think Jesse would be canned unless they got trashed in that game.

Leeds are in decent form. They only have 1 loss in their last 6. And they've been hard-done between reffing + finishing to not have a couple league wins in there.

I think the expectation should more to be to accrue 1-3 pts between the 2 Man U fixtures. Better form or not, the Red Devils aren't the juggernauts of the league - Arsenal or City. And Jesse's system is supposed to get better than expected results against good not great opponents. They certainly ain't dominating the bottom-feeders, so if they don't have that, they really have nothing. So yea, I suppose he ought to get fired then.

 

No Casemiro for either of the Leeds - Man United matches this week; just sent off for violent conduct, 3-match ban incoming.

Huge boost for Leeds.

 

At first I was glad but now I’m kinda pessimistic. Leeds fans have such unrealistic expectations they’ll berate Marsch if he doesn’t beat Manchester twice

Even without Casemiro (or Eriksen) they have enough quality and depth to crush LUFC.

 

Struijk loses more games for Leeds than anybody but Marsch deserves to get canned for starting him time after time.

 

As much as I like Jesse overall, I have to agree. And Bamford. It's just not working. His biggest weapons is to draw contact, fall down, and try to get the call. It's getting comical.

Jesse has 4 games left, tops, if he doesn't turn things around. That means no Bamford or Struijk. The shame is that we may not see JM as coach by the time the team has a chance to gel. I think that this can be a decent team with a bit of time to work together. Not sure Jesse is going to see that. It's not going to be completely his fault if they go down, but he can't keep sticking with cart horses.