Jesse Marsch spoke in depth with the media on Thursday, prior to taking his side to Leicester City on Saturday lunchtime for his first match in charge.
The new Leeds United head coach discussed a number of topics. Here are five key questions Marsch answered on his first week with the club.
On settling into the job…
“The last week has been a bit of a whirlwind. I've taken over enough manager roles in enough places to know that in the first couple of days there can be a million things in your mind, and then over time things start to slow down a bit. You can start to understand how you can help whatever team you're going to be working with, get to know the club, the people, the players. I would say the adaptation process here has been incredibly smooth because the people are so amazing. Everything from working with Victor Orta and Angus Kinnear then what it's been like here in our training centre, working with all the people around the team and then the players. Honestly, I've worked with some incredible teams and good young men, this group here are remarkable. It gives me hope that we can adapt things quickly and I can help them to be successful.”
On his coaching staff appointments….
“Starting with Frankie Schiemer, we know each other really well. He's very connected with me in terms of what our philosophy is, what our playing style is, how to implement it day to day, so I think clearly that will be a big advantage. Cameron Toshack is the type of person who is very observant, understands the kind of tactics and ideas we have behind our football and has a good way of relating with people.
“I can tell you it's only been two days with Mark Jackson but it's like we've known each other for years! Jacko is an amazing guy, he's very flexible and adaptable. He reminded me, which I didn't know, that Leeds took a summer trip for pre-season to America in 1997 and we played against each other. I asked him if I'd fouled him at any point because I was good at that, but he said he couldn't remember that much.”
On pressure to have a good start…
“Pressure is what you make of it. I understand this is a big league in a big moment and we have to find ways to get points, get results, that this club deserves to be in the Premier League. I understand all those things. But, if I focus on that it doesn't help anybody or help me do my job. My entire focus is on what we can control and what's important for us, so we can get to where we think we deserve to be. It's about the daily work, it's about investing in the process here, it's about investing in the people and the players and helping them understand how they can be at their best.”
On Saturday’s trip to Leicester…
“The thing I loved about this team in the past is their fight, their ability to run for each other, to do whatever it takes on a day no matter what the result was. This will have to remain a big part of our DNA. Certainly, modifying our tactics, having a clear understanding of what we're trying to achieve, what our strategies are, the clarity to work as a group and not just as individuals in certain situations and transforming that tactical understanding and group mentality into something that will benefit us now and in the future. Those are the things I think are important but I think my ethos fit well with this club and the community here in Leeds.”
On first week of training and new tactics…
“Getting away from the man-marking. Also with the ball, creating tactics that don't expose us to transition moments as much. The clarity of the tactical model, without going so deep into every little detail, it's introducing important topics, I can say it's an intelligent group, they can understand and put into practice. That has been the focus this week. Continuing for them to understand my personality and how we're going to move forward as a group. These are the short term challenges. But, I told them yesterday after training, some of the things that we did in training I'd worked with teams for six months and they didn't perform the topics on the pitch as well as this group had done. That's a very positive sign.”
