Leeds United boss Jesse Marsch backtracks on Marcelo Bielsa training criticism
Jesse Marsch has made a point to address any controversy at Leeds United over his criticism of former manager Marcelo Bielsa’s training methods.
The American had told talkSPORT that the reason that so many of the squad was injured this season was because they were “overtrained”, which was widely perceived as an attack on the Argentine’s physically taxing way of working.
But in his first comments since that interview the United boss was at pains to express respect for his predecessor and show he meant no harm.
Speaking to the media in his pre-match press conference ahead of the trip to Crystal Palace the Whites boss made a point to say: “I haven’t spoken at all since the comments I made on talkSPORT about overtraining and Marcelo.
“Listen, I want to say this was not intentional to attack Marcelo in any way.
“It was a little bit careless. I can see how it was interpreted in some ways that way, but it was more about the state of the player pool, and what I had observed.
“I think you’d be hard pressed to find any incoming coach that has spoken more positively about the person that he replaced than the way that I’ve spoken about Marcelo.
“It’s because I have major respect for him.”
Cat’s out of the bag
It certainly looks like Marsch is worried that all his hard work in not stepping on the former manager’s toes might have gone to waste.
He is right that you don’t often hear the incoming man speak so glowingly, or at length, about the person who went before.
But the former Red Bull boss knew he was coming into an environment where the love for Bielsa was so strong that he risked being completely rejected if he challenged it.
In fairness, he didn’t say anything overly controversial since it is widely accepted that the “murderball” training that the former Chile boss favoured was notoriously draining.
It may well have contributed to injuries, but probably not without other factors adding to it.
And whatever happened this year, it can never be denied that it worked to a spectacular extent in bringing the club back to this level.
It was a momentary lapse that let out what Marsch honestly feels, but it shouldn’t undo the good work he is producing, with the team currently one of the form sides in the Premier League having taken 10 points in four games.
In other Leeds news, the manager confirmed some good news alongside a major new injury blow for the club.