‘Big battle’ – Danny Murphy praises Jesse Marsch but sends Leeds relegation warning
Danny Murphy has been impressed by Leeds manager Jesse Marsch since he took over at Elland Road, but sent the boss a warning on talkSPORT.
The Whites earned a remarkable three points on Friday night, coming from 2-0 down against Wolves at Molineux to win 3-2 and open up a seven point gap between themselves and the relegation zone.
But Murphy, who was speaking on the Jim White and Simon Jordan show [March 21, 12:55], admitted that the result would likely have gone the other way if not for a controversial red card and says the job isn’t done yet.
“He’s likeable, he’s concise,” he said.
“He’s a bit emotional which is understandable in his first month in the job in the Premier League, with some of the games we’ve witnessed and results, with the ups and downs of being down at the bottom of the league.
“So yeah, it’s going to take him a little bit of time to plateau because at the moment he’s a rollercoaster with his interviews, but I quite like him. He’s quite infectious, he’s got a good passion for the game.
“I think the games I’ve seen, I’ve seen two of the games since he took over and they set up quite nicely and did okay in both games. They were more stable and more rigid in their formation which is important but there was still a good intensity.
“There’s still a big battle on for them. They are still conceding chances and if it wasn’t for the sending off they probably would have lost the game. So it’s a big job for him to do. It’s certainly not done just because they won.”
Reality check
Leeds and Marsch are in a much better position than they were ten days ago, but as Murphy says the job is not done.
There are still eight games to go for the Elland Road faithful, but the clubs below them have all played less games at this stage and so the race isn’t over.
Leeds have to avoid any complacency and while they should be delighted by the end result against Wolves, they should also pay attention to the fact that they were largely outplayed in the game.
At 2-0 down and 11 v 11 the performance was largely unacceptable for the fans and that must be addressed to avoid a repeat, because they won’t be scoring injury-time winners all the time so they can’t rely on that.
Marsch is beginning to win over the media and the fans with his passion and enthusiasm for the game, so it’s all going up right now. But it could just as easily go back down, so a realistic take was needed.
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