Richard Keys hails Leeds United move amid Premier League safety, excited at Jesse Marsch future
It was “too soon” for Leeds United to leave the Premier League again, and survival vindicated the decision to get rid of Marcelo Bielsa, says Richard Keys.
Jesse Marsch replaced the iconic Argentinian at the end of February with the club apparently in free fall, and managed to keep the club up on the final day following 2-1 victory at Brentford.
A run of 11 points from 15 between March and April appeared to have already done the job, but revivals from Everton and Burnley meant it took a draw and a victory in the final two games to get over the line, and Keys is now eager to see what the American is capable of going forward.
He wrote on his blog on Monday (23 May): “I was pleased Leeds made it. It was too soon to lose them again.
“I’m certain they’d have gone had Bielsa been left in charge so the change was both smart and needed. Bielsa had run that squad ragged. They were shot.
“I’m looking forward to finding out a lot more about Jesse Marsch. Now we’ll get to see what he’s really made of.
“Is he Ted Lasso or is he about to blaze a trail for other American coaches?”
Right and wrong
It was a close call but Andrea Radrizzani can now point to Premier League survival and say he was right to make the managerial change.
As with so much in football, the difference between being hailed as a genius or derided as a failure is often marginal and frequently decided by what someone else does.
Had Burnley won against Newcastle, which they would have had a much better chance of doing had they not conceded an insane penalty for deliberate handball, the Whites would be down, Marsch would be a pariah, and the owner would have been public enemy number one.
The American has done some sort of job, in that his positivity appeared to instil some belief in a battered squad that was losing heavily game after game under Bielsa.
His record of four wins, three draws and five defeats suddenly looks quite solid now that he’s kept the side in the top flight.
But the majority of those wins were chaotic to say the least, so it is difficult to get a full picture on how well he has done.
In fairness to Keys, he said at the time it was the right move to sack Bielsa, although he heaped doubt on the appointment of Marsch.
Clearly he is not Ted Lasso, and the quicker everyone can move on from that cliché the better, but whether he is the man for the long-term remains to be seen.
He has done the job asked of him this season, which will have bought him and the board some capital, but significant improvements need to be made for next season if the club is to avoid a repeat of a nightmare year.
In other Leeds United news, Phil Hay had noticed a significant chance in the manager over the three months he had been in the job.