Leeds United coach Jesse Marsch has indicated that he ‘tried’ to sign Jack Harrison during his time at New York Red Bulls long before the winger joined the Premier League outfit, speaking to Leeds Live.
It’s fair to say, prior to his appointment as Marcelo Bielsa’s successor last week, Harrison didn’t have particularly good memories of Jesse Marsch.
Harrison’s New York City debut in May 2016 came during a 7-0 home defeat to local rivals Red Bulls after all. A Red Bulls side then under the stewardship of the reigning MLS Coach of the Year.
Six years on, Harrison and Marsch are sharing a dressing room these days, working alongside each other rather than going head-to-head.
“He reminded me that was his first game and I said ‘okay we won’t talk about it’,” Marsch quipped when asked about that 7-0 hammering.
Harrison joined New York City as part of the MLS’s college draft system, having caught the eye with his impressive performances at university outfit Wake Forest Demon Deacons.
And if you can find a more typical American sports team name than that, then we’d be glad to hear it.
Will Jack Harrison be reborn under Jesse Marsch?
Speaking ahead of Leeds’ Thursday night clash with Aston Villa – a game rescheduled because of a previous COVID-19 outbreak – Marsch admits that the Red Bulls attempted to sign a teenage Harrison before he put pen to paper with their New York neighbours instead.
“We tried to find a way to draft him from university,” says the Wisconsin-born tactician. “I knew who we was. It’s nice to be on the same team now.
“I followed Leeds so I could see Jack. I’ve followed players from MLS and their adaptation. I could see Jack had taken a lot of new responsibility here. He was always the type of player after the game was always very respectable and would shake your hand.
“‘It’s okay to be a good young man and a son of a b**** on the pitch’, I’ve said to him.
“He can run all day. He is explosive, he’s effective in 1-v-1s, he’s dangerous, he’s smart. I’m asking him to play a different role. I want him to play a little bit more of an interior player. I just want to give him the confidence to apply our ideas of football and achieve.”
Can Leeds survive?
Leeds lost 1-0 to Leicester City during Marsch’s first game in the dugout.
The performance, however, was much improved from the final days of the Bielsa era.
Leeds look far more solid out of possession – restricting Leicester to a mere handful of chances after conceding 17 goals in their last four matches – while that much-maligned man-marking system was finally put out to pasture.
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