Jesse Marsch
All eyes will be on Leeds United’s embattled head coach today. The boardroom and dressing room remain firmly behind him coming into today’s match, but events on the pitch surely influence what comes next.
The American talked up the unity in the immediate aftermath of Thursday’s loss, but he has to know today’s game is effectively a must-win for him. Leeds have already made a worse start than last season and Fulham represent one of two remaining, realistic opportunities to find a win before the World Cup.
Should the winless run stretch out to eight matches, Leeds would then be left with Liverpool, Bournemouth and Tottenham Hotspur before the pause. Even beating the Cherries might realistically leave them with one win from 11 matches.
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Marsch’s demeanour, his tactical choices and how he interacts with the home support will be intriguing.
Elland Road’s acid test
If a core, loyal away following is an accurate barometer for fan feeling, the tens of thousands packing into Elland Road today will be the ultimate acid test for where this experiment stands. As we saw in pockets of last season down the final stretch, the home support is not afraid to let the board and head coach know how they feel.
If Sunday’s match disintegrates around them in the meek manner we saw on too many occasions last season, they are sure to air their grievances. A head coach’s position can swiftly become untenable if the terraces become too loud for the directors to ignore.
On the flip side, Elland Road will be fully behind Marsch and the players from kick-off and provide the kind of atmosphere the team needs to overwhelm Fulham.
Marsch to reverse his changes?
The head coach may have had his reasons for making the changes he did at Leicester, but in the days after what he called the best performance of his tenure, Marsch lost the momentum of the Arsenal display. The smart money has to be on him reversing all but one of those switches.
If Pascal Struijk is fit to come back, Patrick Bamford should be the only one of the four changes to stick around for the visit of the Cottagers. If the American doesn’t change his mind or doubles down with even odder selections, he’s only making a rod for his own back.
Mitrovic to be nullified?
Aleksandar Mitrovic has developed a fearsome reputation with Fulham since his initial arrival in January 2018. The only blots on his copybook at Craven Cottage came in the previous tries at top-flight football.
Those two campaigns, which ended in relegation, have been the only chapters to slow down the Serbian striker’s goalscoring record. However, this third attempt at the top flight has been different.
Mitrovic already has eight goals in 10 appearances and he seems to be carrying that outrageous Championship form into the Premier League at last. Robin Koch and, probably, Liam Cooper will have to keep him quiet to have any chance of winning the match.
Avoid unwanted record?
Leeds may have already beaten last season for a worse set of results from the opening 10 matches, but avoid victory today and they will equal the worst run of last year entirely. The Whites went eight matches without a win in a run which included Marcelo Bielsa’s sacking between January 22 and March 10.
If Leeds really do want to dispense with any notion of being in another relegation scrap, they have to avoid repeating the more worrying statistics of last season’s desperate, 17th-placed campaign.
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