Brad Friedel hits out at views of American coaches after Jesse Marsch’s first Leeds United game
Brad Friedel has dismissed doubts over Leeds United coach Jesse Marsch’s ability because he’s American as “incredibly unfair”.
The new Whites boss made a point of distancing himself from comparisons with the fictional American manager Ted Lasso, and the use of the word “soccer” in his opening press conference this week.
But highly-experienced former Premier League goalkeeper Friedel has defended his compatriot against the attitude that he is any less able to operate in England because of his nationality, and compared criticism of terminology to former boss Marcelo Bielsa not speaking English when he arrived.
Speaking to Stadium Astro on YouTube Friedel said: “If he has a struggle or a difficult time at Leeds it’s not because he’s American, it’s because he has taken over a team that’s low on confidence, that’s been in freefall.
“Jesse’s knowledge of football is just as good as any European’s, just because his accent’s a little bit different, it’s not going to make him a bad coach.
“The players will respect him, they will like him, his training sessions are very good.
“By no means will he be anything similar to a Ted Lasso.
“It’s very unfair. What is the difference if a manager comes in and doesn’t speak English at all and has a translator, why wouldn’t you give them the same grief that you give an American?”
Non issue
The former Liverpool and Blackburn player was asked the question so he had to give an answer, but it really should not be a point he has to address.
We like to claim ownership of football in Britain, but it is a global game and there are figures of supreme ability from all around the world.
The fact that no English manager has ever won the Premier League should cut down criticism of perceived outsiders in its tracks.
Marsch will be judged on results like everybody else, and if he is a success then the point that he is American will soon be forgotten.
But as Freidel says, him being a success is not going to be because he is American or not.
Bielsa not speaking English is a red herring, because he can speak much better English than he tends to in interviews, and because plenty of fans do take against the use of interpreters anyway.
People from other nations and cultures are unfairly forced to put up with doubts over their ability in all sorts of different industries every day.
There is a particular snootiness against Americans in football because there is not the same history of the game there in comparison to other sports.
But, leaving aside the fact that there now is a thriving football culture in the US now, people generally don’t get multiple management jobs in European football by accident, so he should have the ability.
If anything, the chances of someone who isn’t any good being handed the Leeds job would be much higher if they were English, based on the assumption that they know the game, so the relevance of Marsch’s nationality is very low.
In other Leeds United news, the Match of the Day panel all disagreed with Marsch for his comments after the Leicester game.