Leeds United fell to a sixth successive Premier League defeat on Thursday night, conceding three times to Steven Gerrard's Aston Villa.
The Whites were dispatched of rather comfortably in the end, as Philippe Coutinho's deflected effort, a Matty Cash strike and Calum Chambers' clincher sealed all three points for the visiting Villans.
Norwich City are next to arrive at Elland Road in two short days. Head coach Jesse Marsch was asked in his pre-match press conference whether he would be tempted to start Patrick Bamford, who featured for 31 minutes in the defeat to Villa.
It was the first time Bamford has played since December 5, 2021 due to a litany of troublesome injuries., however the England forward could not impact the game positively, as Leeds struggled as a unit.
Here is every word the head coach had to say ahead of Norwich City's visit to Elland Road this Sunday.
What happens over the next two or three days now? Is it watching DVDs, is it talking? What are you going to do for the next two or three days?
I mean, we're we're both a little bit old but we don't do DVDs anymore, my man. I mean, yeah, it won't be easy for me to sleep tonight. I'll be watching the game. And again, my focus will be on you know, understanding how to paint a picture tomorrow and Saturday. So that we can understand a little bit better, what we need the game on Sunday to look like and how we need to handle being in the moment. And I'm confident I already have some things in my mind about again some of the aggressiveness against the ball, some of the movements against the ball some of the ideas with the ball and enforcing discipline in how we want to play in all phases of the game. Because again, I felt like we lacked that massively. We just started trying a bunch of things that we never talked about and we have to stay to the plan. We have to stay to the plan. And if we don't do that, then we're weaker. We see the weaknesses of our players and not the strengths. So you know, that will certainly be a message.
How are you going to be with the players because I'm guessing the conference must be a bit fragile?
Yeah, you're right, but this is this is a business for men. Right? And so we need to look each other clearly in the eye tomorrow. I even talked to them about it tonight. We need to know that it's a difficult situation but we're not getting out of it by hiding or being afraid. The only way we're getting out of it is by being brave and having courage and belief so that they get - it that's what leadership is about.
Jesse, do you align this to any other part in your career particularly where it's very tough early on?
Maybe not. Maybe not, you know what [actually] my first job. We were an expansion team in Montreal. And so it was a totally new group and a lot of new ideas. And we really had to stick to the plan and work really hard and believe in the process. And and we went through then toward the end of the season, we went through a phase where we were really good that was six months - I have six days. But again, I'm not afraid. I came here because I believe I can help and I believe in the project and I believe in the people and that has not changed the one bit.
What about Norwich? You'll be going into that one favourites being at home.
Yeah, I would like to think at home in a lot of matches that we could be considered favourite. And I would like to think that we can perform it at a very high level and a lot of matches at home. We didn't get that tonight. Certainly going to the Norwich match, we already know that they're very good on the counter that they'll defend a little bit deeper that they'll make it difficult for us to find the goal. Since I've been here, we haven't found a goal. Most of the teams that I've managed over the years have scored a lot of goals. And again, part of the reason we're not scoring goals is because when we get to the final third, there's too many individual moments where players want to make something individually happen instead of understanding how to stick to roles and movements and ideas that we want to execute in the final third. So again, we'll look at that again. I'll try to not overwhelm them with too much information but also try to make them very clear as to what we wanted, what we want Sunday to look like.
Is the scale of the task bigger than you anticipated?
No, no. I mean, I was incredibly surprised with our match in Leicester that we played so well. But I think that was about the intelligence of the quality of the players. I was disappointed with the way the match went tonight but I think that was the moment and the pressure feeling like they had to get the result that they needed to get the result more than anything. And maybe I underestimated that a little bit but again, I have to find a way to free them and and allow them to understand how to play with each other.
How costly will the loss of Junior Firpo be when you've worked with certain players in certain roles over the first ten days?
Yeah, I think it will be costly and it is any time you lose a player, so now it's two games in a row with kind of, freak, little collisions that we'll have lost two players, so it's tough. With Junior, that probably means we'll have to play Stuart at left back. I think he can manage that. He's probably a six [in this formation]. That's probably his best position. We've asked him to play right back and now we're going to ask him to play left back but he's incredibly intelligent and a good player that he can manage that. But that's the situation we're in right now. And again, we have to find a way with adversity to get better.
Is positivity your only option right now?
Listen, for me, I've been often accused of being positive maybe, as I try to be real. Right? And I try to look at things for what they are, I want to find the truth. Not my truth, not your truth, not what the actual truth is, [but what] the truth of the situation is. There's stress and we need to find a way through that situation. The only way to get out is again to learn the lesson about what games require, what moments require, what the situation is and how to thrive in it. Not how to survive, not how to limp through it, but to thrive right now.
How tempted will you be to throw Patrick Bamford in from the start on Sunday?
Yeah, I think we all know how important the game is on Sunday, but we have to also be very calculated and we have to look at and observe how he is tomorrow and Saturday and then make a very educated decision, on what we think is best for him. So I would say he's looked great this week, really well, and that we could be optimistic, but we also have to be intelligent and find a way to get to the core of what the right decisions are.
Rodrigo off at halftime [vs Villa], Jesse, how are you getting the best out of him moving forward? Looked like he struggled with that stress and the pressure you were talking about this evening?
Yeah, I thought it wasn't his best performance. I like him a lot. I like his character. I like the type of player he is. I had asked him to play a little bit more like a striker, I know he likes playing a little bit like an underneath 10 and I've tried to get him to embrace the different things that we want to get from him. He's such a good young man and and I know we will need him as we continue to move forward and I just have to figure out the best ways to use him and then also, how to help him understand how to fit into into the tactics of what we're doing.
Do you have a message for supporters tonight? There was a little bit of resentment towards the director's box, what would your message be for fans for Sunday?
I understand their frustration and concern, right. But again, the most important thing is the belief and the courage that we have as a club and as a city and as a community. And we can't have doubts from every perspective because we will never achieve our goals. So I'm here to try to instil those things in the confidence. I know with fans, you have to earn it. It's not given, right. I mean, it's the same with players. It's the same with directors. It's the same with everything. But again, I am not afraid. I'm not afraid. I'm here for the right reasons. And I want to help this club be the things that I really believe it can be.
