Jesse Marsch’s success at Leeds United undervalued after Saturday Marcelo Bielsa news
The Leeds United fansโ tribute to Marcelo Bielsa published in Rosario yesterday shows the scale of the task for Jesse Marsch at the club.
The American took over for a manager who was an institution at Elland Road, and in the city of Leeds, and the attachment that so many still feel towards him was signified by the full page advert in newspaper La Capital.
The Argentine did so much for the club, and represented so much to everyone connected to it that he can never truly be replaced.
Plenty of supporters would have accepted relegation to the Championship as long as the 66-year-old was the man in charge.
And that appeared to be exactly where the Whites were headed at the point Andrea Radrizzani decided to replace him with Marsch.
United had lost five of six games and conceded 21 times since they had last won when Bielsa was removed at the end of February.
Lifted
Relegation looked unavoidable at that point, with confidence at rock bottom.
But despite a shaky start, the incoming manager has overseen an upturn in fortunes that almost has fears of the drop just memories.
Three wins and a draw in the last three outings have the side nine points clear of the relegation zone, and the mood around the club is significantly improved.
The speed with which things have shifted belies the scale of what the former Red Bull boss is achieving.
David Moyes, doing so well at West Ham now, wilted under the pressure of attempting to replace Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United to the point where his career was in the wilderness for years.
Clearly the timescale of the reigns of Bielsa and Ferguson are incomparable, but the impact they had on their respective clubs is less so.
Not only was the former Agentina boss a towering figure in Whites history, he had a famously rigid way of playing.
Marsch has taken over a team in turmoil and implemented a change in philosophy without any chance to add to his squad.
He has brought an improvement out of a set of players that were fiercely loyal to this predecessor, for the most part.
And he is operating under significant pressure not to tread on Bielsaโs toes.
He had largely done that, which is an achievement in itself, but by suggesting on talkSPORT that the injury issues at Elland Road this year were due to โovertrainingโ he deviated for the first time.
The furious reaction from club legend Johnny Giles (Off The Ball) was illustrative of how Marsch is obliged to tread on eggshells while doing his job.
In the circumstances his performance is going under the radar, as he looks like he is forging his own identity already, and if he secures Premier League survival he is due major praise.
The Moyes example is just one of many, as it is notoriously hard to follow a giant name in a clubโs history.
Names as illustrious as Brian Clough found that out at this very club, so what Marsch looks set to do is no mean feat.
In other Leeds United news, a recent update via Fabrizio Romano suggests the exit of one star may have become less likely.