When Jesse Marsch moved into the manager’s office at Elland Road last March, two Norwegians were at the front of the queue to congratulate him.
Marsch has been close to Erling Haaland and his father, the former Leeds midfielder Alf-Inge, since he coached the former at RB Salzburg but, for once, the American is not exactly looking forward to their latest reunion on Wednesday night.
His team’s sometimes vulnerable defence will certainly need to maintain maximum concentration when Haaland junior and his Manchester City teammates arrive in West Yorkshire as the curtain rises on Leeds’s first home match for 53 days.
“Erling texted me as soon as the schedule came out last summer and said he was most excited for the game here,” says Marsch. “I gave him permission to have a small hamstring injury for it!
“The time I had with Erling in Austria was outstanding. We had an incredible relationship and, when I got the job here, he and his father were incredibly supportive and excited for me. Erling was born in Leeds and his father has history in this city. Due to that, Erling has this club in his heart but I fear it will motivate him a little bit more against us.”
Marsch has become well accustomed to facing endless questions about how best to contain a striker who has not stopped scoring since joining City from Borussia Dortmund but, even equipped with his detailed inside knowledge, he accepts there are no easy answers.
“It will come down to luck in certain moments,” he admits. “Erling’s instincts are incredibly unique. Containing him involves a keen awareness of where he likes to be.”
Back in 2018 Haaland appeared keen on a return to his birthplace. The then Molde striker was invited to Leeds and toured the club’s facilities ahead of a potential transfer. Yet in a classic “sliding doors” moment the enticing prospect of one of Norway’s most famous exports working with Marsch’s predecessor, Marcelo Bielsa, was snatched away as directors quibbled over the £4m asking price and Salzburg stepped in.
How Marsch could do with a centre-forward even half as efficient as he endeavours to banish his team’s enduring relegation worries. The 49-year-old remains acutely aware some Leeds fans wanted him replaced before the World Cup-induced domestic hiatus but Haaland junior is unstinting in his praise for a former colleague he describes as “an amazing manager” and an “amazing guy”.
When the pair worked together at Salzburg in 2019, heading was Haaland’s sole discernible weakness but, after devoting long training-ground hours to honing the forward’s aerial skills, Marsch is credited with filling that key gap in an otherwise formidably intimidating armoury.
Over Christmas an important off-field space opened up at Leeds. With Mark Jackson, the first-team coach, heading south to manage MK Dons, Marsch is presiding over a changing of the backroom guard at a club where, sooner or later, the minority shareholders 49ers Enterprises – an investment group connected to the San Francisco 49ers – are expected to exercise an option to buy out the current chairman and majority stakeholder, Andrea Radrizzani.
When, and indeed whether, this happens could hinge on the team retaining Premier League status. If a point against City would represent cause for celebration – and particularly on a night when Tyler Adams, Leeds’s influential United States central midfielder, is suspended and the similarly impressive goalkeeper, Illan Meslier faces a late fitness test to assess the extent of his recovery from a debilitating bout of glandular fever – the manager will not be offered the benefit of the doubt indefinitely.
With a daunting trip to Newcastle beckoning on New Year’s Eve and West Ham visiting West Yorkshire next Wednesday, Marsch could soon be back under intense scrutiny. Much may depend on the continued progress of his exciting young forwards Wilfried Gnonto and Crysencio Summerville; not to mention the outcome of Patrick Bamford’s longstanding mission to recover the sort of fitness and form capable of transforming his side’s fortunes.
Given that Victor Orta, the director of football, is never enthusiastic about January spending and looming takeovers invariably inhibiting investment, Marsch is unlikely to have much transfer-market room for manoeuvre next month. Any available funds will be directed towards securing a new, much-needed left-back and, possibly, a central striker.
Perhaps hoping tactical tweaks can camouflage the shortfall, the manager has been experimenting with 4-3-3 in training. “I think 4-3-3 gives us a bit more flexibility, especially against the ball,” says Marsch, previously a committed 4-2-3-1 advocate. “We can press differently, in ways where we can both attack and protect ourselves. And, depending on the opposition, 4-3-3 is easy to manipulate with small tactical subtleties.
“The group’s togetherness has always been strong but I think we’ve made progress over the last few weeks.”
Leeds fans must trust he is right.
