The Pressing Question for Jesse Marsch at Leeds United

After replacing the legendary Marcelo Bielsa, the American manager has had his methods take hold. Can they steer the storied club to Premier League safety?

Well after the final whistle on a cold night at the King Power Stadium, a gathering at midfield drew the attention of the spectators, and soon the broadcast crew.

Having just fallen to Leicester City 1–0 in his first game in charge, new Leeds manager Jesse Marsch congregated his entire squad in front of what remained of the 32,000 or so fans in attendance, urging them to move forward from a disappointing result.

It was a gesture that resembled something you’d more likely find in American college sports than one of the most-watched professional leagues in the world. But what could’ve been a moment of panic was instead turned into a moment of panacea for a team that still believed it belonged in the top flight but needed someone to lead it there. As Leeds still tries to stave off relegation heading into a massive battle with Watford on Saturday, Marsch will try to prove that he’s that guy.

Two years ago, that man was Marcelo Bielsa. One of the 22 founding members of the Premier League and a team that had won the English first division the season before the breakaway in 1992, Leeds hadn’t been in the top flight since 2003–04. It had mostly middled around in the Championship without sniffing promotion until Bielsa came around before the ’18-19 season. The enigmatic Argentine immediately turned fortunes around with an aggressive man-marking defensive style and positional play with the ball. Leeds finished third, nearly earning promotion. It won the Championship the year after. At long last, Leeds was in the Premier League again, and Bielsa was rightfully revered by fans.

His style worked magic in Year 1 in the top flight. Leeds wasn’t the plucky underdog that wanted to eke out 1–0 results. It went at teams, playing the same brand of soccer that got it there. Bielsa’s squad finished ninth in 2020–21.

But this season, the Argentine magician had run out of tricks. The league’s top sides began to pick apart his man-marking approach. A 5–1 loss to Manchester United in the season opener foreshadowed the trouble that would grow for the rest of the season. Liverpool won 3–0 in Matchweek 4 in a game that could’ve been much worse. A 7–0 loss to Manchester City was followed by 4–1 defeat to Arsenal to end the calendar year. Then, after a two-match reprieve (which sandwiched FA Cup elimination), six consecutive winless matches during which Leeds was outscored 21–5 spelled the end of Bielsa’s tenure. The once-proud club was once again in the relegation zone.

Graham Wilson/Action Plus/Imago Images

Enter Marsch, the charismatic American manager who had most recently led German side RB Leipzig. A product of the Red Bull system, Marsch had worked his way up from the New York Red Bulls to Austria’s RB Salzburg to the German Bundesliga. But his final job didn’t go as planned. Marsch was sacked after just five months marked by COVID-19 complications, injuries and a team that just never seemed to take to his tactics.

So when he was hired at then-18th place Leeds, the concerns weren’t kept quiet. How does a manager who has coached 21 matches of a “top five” team go about stepping into the shoes of a club legend, a man who oversaw its most successful stretch of play since before the advent of the iPhone? There were also the doubts that came with being an American coaching in the Premier League—Bob Bradley knew far too well the skepticism that comes with managing a team across the pond.

It started that night in the King Power Stadium. Marsch’s zonal marking—a key tactical shift from Bielsa’s days—seemed to provide more stability in the back, but the continued high pressing and a vertical attack led to bountiful scoring chances. Yet Leicester broke through in the 67th minute and held onto its 1–0 lead. Leeds out-created the Foxes 1.9 xG (expected goals) to 0.5, but the promising start to Marsch’s tenure went without a result to match.

The next week provided real cause for worry. A 3–0 loss to Aston Villa meant Leeds was still in the relegation zone with 10 matches to play, having grabbed just one point out of its previous eight games. Yes, Marsch was hired to improve Leeds’s performance. But improvements meant nothing if he couldn’t keep the club in the Premier League.

A battle with relegation-bound Norwich set the stage for the most important results of the season for Leeds. An early goal (and more unfinished chances) saw Marsch’s side dominate but cling to a slim lead until Norwich, desperate for any sort of result, equalized in the 91st minute. Heartbreak briefly set in at Elland Road until 92nd-minute substitute Joe Gelhardt won a header then poked home a beautiful ball from Raphinha. Somehow, at the death, Leeds had gathered three points from a match for the first time in two months.

Then came a tilt at eighth-place Wolves, in which Leeds trailed by two. A month prior, this would have likely snowballed into another embarrassing defeat. But Leeds kept structure and kept hope. When Wolves striker Raúl Jiménez was sent off after a second yellow, Marsch’s squad sprung into action. Two goals in rapid succession brought the game level with nearly half an hour to play. Leeds pressed onward, creating chance after chance in search of a winner until Luke Ayling found it in stoppage time. Another late game-winning goal, another moment of elation and, vitally, another three points.

“This is transformational!” exclaimed match commentator Peter Drury as Ayling flailed around in celebration. “This is sensational! This is Leeds, from the dead!”

While it’s far too early to describe Marsch’s tenure as “transformational,” the last three matches have certainly given Leeds new life. The two-match turnaround, grabbing six points from what very well could have been two or fewer, encapsulates just what Marsch has done at Elland Road. The identity of a fast-paced, manically-pressing side that Bielsa instilled in large part remains. Tactically, the team is just a little more measured.

Leeds led the Premier League in pressures last season by a fair margin and is slated to do so again this year. But the shift from man-marking to a zonal system has already brought stark changes. Hailing from the frenetic Red Bull style of play, Marsch is not afraid to press (the league average is 146 pressures per 90 minutes; Leeds has averaged 208 since his arrival). The difference lies in how it is pressing. While it may not be more passive than Bielsa’s system, it is at least more controlled. In the final six matches of the Argentine’s tenure the team averaged 2.5 xG against. In the American’s first five, Leeds is averaging just 1.1.

Marsch has talked extensively about his defensive philosophy, which is largely aligned with the Red Bull way. He expects his players to sprint all the way to the player with the ball, while teammates fill in the passing lanes behind.

A quick look at the contrast between the two styles shows why Marsch’s setup may just help Leeds find its footing long term. Late in the 6–0 thrashing by Liverpool, Virgil van Djik had the ball in the back with Leeds defending high up the pitch, but without much pressure. Each Leeds man was roughly assigned to a player, but the defense collapsed rather quickly when one good through pass was made.

Screenshot: Premier League

Van Djik played an easy pass to Jordan Henderson, who, already having beaten his man, turned and found a wide open James Milner on the flank. Two passes from the back, and Leeds was already in desperation mode defensively.

Screenshot: Premier League

Milner took up the space and calmly slotted it to Divock Origi, who assisted Sadio Mané after a fortuitous bounce.

A key facet of Marsch’s press is the opportunities it creates in the attack. Leeds finished seventh in the Premier League in goals scored a year ago. But when the press stopped working early in 2021–22, the goals dried up, and the team was creating goalscoring opportunities about as poorly as it was defending.

In Marsch’s system, pressures in the middle and attacking third of the pitch have turned into quick transition scoring chances. It all flows together—an organized and aggressive defense turning into an attack that looks to get a shot on target as quickly as possible.

“We don’t press to gain possession. We press to score goals,” Marsch told the Coach’s Voice while at Salzburg.

While it was just his third game in charge, the use of Marsch’s pressing style was clear against Norwich. In the second minute, players converged on Lukas Rupp. Nobody was focused on defending a man, but instead the focus was on creating a numerical overload and squeezing possession out from Rupp.

Screenshot: Premier League

Then, they broke furiously, with four players making runs directly for the penalty spot. It petered out when Dan James lost possession, but the signs were there early that Leeds was looking to take control high up the pitch.

Screenshot: Premier League

In the two wins and last weekend’s draw to Southampton, Leeds completed at least 11 tackles in the middle third of the field, compared to the league average of seven. Like Bielsa, Marsch isn’t afraid to play his tempo. He’s just doing it in a way that appears to be sustainable, at least for now.

Now, the all-important question: Can Marsch keep Leeds in the Premier League? It won’t be an easy task. The seven points picked up in the last three matches have provided a six-point cushion over 18th-place Burnley with seven games to go, but the Clarets have two games in hand. Everton, now one point clear of relegation, will be fighting a battle of its own, but it has more than enough quality in its squad to make a late-season run.

The run-in is less-than-kind for Leeds as well. Saturday’s match with Watford will be crucial, because fixtures with Crystal Palace, Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea await.

If it needs inspiration, Leeds can always look back at that “sensational” moment in Wolverhampton, where Ayling’s goal sent Marsch and Co. into a frenzy and Drury into one of his classic poetic monologues.

“Never, ever, ever, never take football for granted,” Drury said.

Leeds surely won’t, and neither will Marsch.