Angus Kinnear has defended Jesse Marsch during a long-winded interview with The Square Ball this week, despite the American gaffer struggling to get it right during his time as Leeds United manager.
Marsch, 49, lasted just under a year in the dugout at Elland Road. Replacing Marcelo Bielsa in February 2021, the ex-Leipzig and Salzburg boss was seen as the ideal replacement for Bielsa. Big shoes to fill.
He kept Leeds up, just. A 2-1 win away at Brentford on the final day, saving Leeds. But the belief is that was more down to the players – the likes of Raphinha, Kalvin Phillips, Jack Harrison and other players.
But they have all gone – as has Marsch. He left in February, and we have since had four other managers in the dugout – and, in the Championship. But CEO Kinnear gave a defence of Marsch in this interview.
“Jesse worked very, very hard. He was very committed. He was always, as he said, ‘all in’. Jesse would hold his hands up and say it didn’t work. He had a very good track record as a coach,” Kinnear said.
“But you have to accept it failed. The Bournemouth and Liverpool games, we thought we were moving in the right direction. Perhaps if we hadn’t had those two results, we might have made the decision earlier.”
Kinnear defends Marsch despite struggling as Leeds manager
There’s working hard – and there is working well, and in a profitable manner. Ultimately, Marsch got lucky in keeping Leeds up in his first six months. The second saw him spend big, and ultimately, fail.
Victor Orta backed him and that was seen in signings such as Max Wober, Rasmus Kristensen, Tyler Adams, Brenden Aaronson and others. Leeds were under-coached under Marsch. Not good enough.
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