Good Morning. It's Wednesday 13th April, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road...
Marsch criticises Bielsa's training methods
Leeds fans were left shell shocked following an interview on the talkSPORT Breakfast show yesterday with Ally McCoist, Natalie Sawyer and Darren Bent where Jesse Marsch criticised his predecessor's training methods. Marsch revealed that when he arrived at Elland Road, the stress levels were incredibly high, and he spent the first few days building up the player's confidence. It was when the gaffer was asked how near he was to having a full squad to pick from that listener's really were taken aback. The American point-blank linked the Elland Road injury crisis with Bielsa's training methodologies, in particular over-training. He claimed that in some games, the players had reached maximum output by the 15th minute, and that shouldn't be the case.
The injury issues had a lot to do with the training methodologies, the players were over-trained. That led them to being physically, mentally, psychologically and emotionally in a difficult place to recover from week-to-week and game-to-game. I have a very specific methodology in the way I work and I've had a reputation for having high running data in the way we play, but also having healthy, fit and strong players so we can meet the demands we want. So, we tried to put that into place to help the players, I think that has helped a lot.
The one with Patrick I felt terrible about because the responsibility of a coach to take care of players and to make sure you're not injuring them and putting them in harms way In the end, it didn't go the way I wanted with Patrick and I always feel like it is my responsibility to get that right. But for the most part, we are getting healthy and strong with almost the entire group. The other part of that is the playing style. Marcelo had such strong man-to-man demands and trying to rip apart three-and-a-half years of work structured exactly to do that, to now transitioning into what I want to do moving forward has been challenging for the players to adapt to.
From afar, you could see it on their faces and you could see in the 15th minute of some of those games that they were already at the maximum, and that shouldn't be the case. I know there were a lot of games where the guys had to play over and over again because of injuries, but I find that in this sport, you have to have a fit team. But the more your team is fit, healthy and performing at a high level, that is how you create success. Again, I have worked very carefully through methodologies of how we train, how we play, how everything fits together to make sure that we have a healthy group that is at top fitness and form so we can compete for as many points as possible.
Former player, now pundit Darren Bent was quick to Praise Marsch for his honesty following the interview...
He talks really well, and honest; when he spoke about the players fatigue and stuff, really honest.
Was Marsch right to criticise Bielsa?
Social media lit up following Jesse Marsch's interview on talkSPORT yesterday morning. The American was heavily criticised by some sections of the Elland Road faithful for throwing Marcelo Bielsa under the bus, whilst other fans praised the 48yo for his honesty and openness of the situation. Marcelo Bielsa will always be a legend in West Yorkshire. What he achieved during his three and a half year tenure was truly remarkable, and he will long be remembered with fondness and admiration. Recently, Citeh Manager Pep Guardiola paid Bielsa a glowing tribute whilst speaking to Telemundo Sports...
Give Bielsa my Barcelona and see how much [more] he wins. Give me his Leeds side and we would be in the Championship.
Was it fair for Marsch to link the injury crisis to over-training? Whilst we may never know whether the knock on effect Bielsa's strict training regime had on the players, we must remember that during previous campaigns, our injury list was no longer than our competitors! Searching through the archives, there was an interesting interview with the Argentine back in 2018. He was asked whether he was concerned that his training methods could lead to long term injury problems. Bielsa replied:-
We should analyse case by case. Actually, we are the team who has least injuries in the Championship. If we take some parameters, if we take into account the number of players used, we are a team with few injuries.
Leeds eye Forest Midfielder
Leeds have been monitoring the progress of Nottingham Forest midfielder Brennan Johnson according to freelance journalist Pete O'Rourke. Johnson, 20, has caught the eye of several top flight clubs, having netted 14 goals and seven assists from 39 Championship games so far this season. The 20-year-old first caught the eye of the Leeds scouts whilst playing alongside Robbie Gotts, (both on loan) at Lincoln City. Unfortunately for Leeds, their career's went in different directions. Whilst Johnson flourished, Gotts found himself down in the pecking order, and was later sold to Barrow following an equally unsuccessful loan move at Salford.
Johnson has fifteen months left on his contract, and is desperate to play top flight football. Forest find themselves 4th in the Championship, and are the form team in the division with six back to back wins. Should they win promotion, the Welsh International may be tempted to put pen to paper. Johnson is versatile. He has played every position in midfield, and up top for Forest this season, and according to O'Rourke, won't interfere with Leeds pursuit of Brenden Aaronson.
