Jesse Marsch has not been brought in at Leeds United to knock down the house that Marcelo Bielsa built.
Instead, the American will be expected to build upon, not destroy, the foundations laid down by three-and-a-half mostly glorious years of Bielsa-ball. To polish up the fittings. Provide a new lick of paint.
To restore a dynasty that, during a month in which Leeds lost four times and conceded a Premier League record 20 goals, looked in danger of crumbling into dust.
“We are delighted to welcome Jesse to the club and excited for him to lead us into this new chapter,” director of football Victor Orta tells the club’s official website.
“Jesse is someone we identified a number of years ago during his time at Red Bull Salzburg. We believe his philosophy and style of football aligns with that of the club and will suit the players very well.”
Orta’s comments offer an insight as to why Leeds turned to a 48-year-old American without a shred of English football experience on his CV. Despite the growing and very real threat of relegation.
Marsch represents not a departure but a continuation. This is not a James Bond-style reboot. A hard reset. More a Doctor Who-esque regeneration. The same story, just continued with a new main actor.
How many of the side characters remain on the payslip, however, only time will tell.
Who will Jesse Marsch replace at Leeds United?
Marsch’s philosophy revolves around high pressing, possession-based football. To quote Orta, it ‘aligns with that of the club and will suit the players very well’.
In theory, a change of manager does not necessarily mean a change of system. This, after all, is a squad built in Bielsa’s image, one designed specifically to suit his unique tactical demands.
It would make little sense for Leeds bring in a new head coach who’s style of play did not at least follow on from Bielsa’s. Marsch is no survival specialist, he does not guarantee Premier League football in 2022/23. But he does represent a stable bridge from one wonderful era to a bold new one.
Reports from Jeunes Footeaux suggesting that Djordje Mihailovic could be one of the first new signings of the Jesse Marsch era, however, should set alarm bells ringing for one of Bielsa’s most trusted lieutenants.
Mateusz Klich famously started 111 league games in a row under Bielsa. He missed just one between August 2018 and early 2021. And, after celebrating long into the night following the confirmation of Leeds’ promotion, he wasn’t exactly in a fit state to play on that glassy-eyed afternoon against Derby County anyway.
But if any player epitomised the rise and fall of Bielsa, it was Klich.
He’s played the full 90 just once since mid-January.
And, with his influence waning and his shooting boots going missing, the Polish playmaker become something of an unfortunate scapegoat for supporters looking for someone to blame as the results started to turn.
Leeds’ new Klich?
Mihailovic, the 23-year-old, six-time USA international, is a versatile, hard-working attacking midfielder capable of creating and taking chances. He produced four goals and am impressive 14 assists for Montreal in the 2021 MLS season.
Maybe it’s too simplistic to call Mihailovic a younger version of Klich. But the similarities between both players, given Klich’s poor run of form and the sudden departure of the man who rescued his Leeds United career from the scrapheap, feels difficult to ignore.
Marsch, a former MLS Coach of the Year, will be well aware of Mihailovic’s talents.
Klich was Bielsa’s go-to man, his eyes and ears on the pitch. Perhaps Mihailovic can be to Marsch what the Pole was to the Argentine.
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