Jesse, all things considered and there's a lot to consider, what's your reaction to that point with 10 men?
First half I thought we could have been more assertive in the match. Wasn't sure, it was hard to tell a little bit if our rhythm and confidence was lacking a little bit because we've been off for quite a time and that could have been a factor.
I always want the group to play brave and to look to play forward and to understand how to be calm at times. But first half I thought it, all in all, was satisfactory and then I thought we could make some adjustments at half-time to push the game a little bit more. The second yellow I think is not an intelligent play and gets Luis in trouble and then gets us in trouble.
Read more: Leeds United winners and losers as Whites hold firm vs Aston Villa after Luis Sinisterra red
We worked on man down tactics two weeks ago, and we even submitted a video for them to watch last night so I was joking that next time it's going to be man up tactics and it's hopefully not a self-fulfilling prophecy when you do things like that. However, the preparation helped and then you also see, which I know we have here, the character, the character of our team, the fight, the willingness to run and do whatever it takes for each other, that I know we have and we always have had so just need to continue to grow, get better, play brave and be a little smarter.
Jesse, most of the comments we’ve had since the game are on how it was officiated. I don’t want you to get into trouble…
Ask another question because I'm not commenting on the official.
Was it difficult to get into the flow of the game?
Yes. I will be speaking to somebody from the league or I've already spoken with the referee committee that this is clearly a tactic. I was told, managers were told, and by the way, they took up another hour and a half of our time this past week to remind us that they're going to do better with controlling the play, the run of play in matches. I didn't create that dialogue, that's not my agenda, that's the league's agenda.
I feel bad for our fans when they have to come to this match and they have to watch that, they want to see an energetic game that has a lot to see. So, I will be discussing that was somebody and we will as a club.
How would you feel the influence of Liam Cooper told today in terms of that sort of resiliency?
This is one of the reasons we put Luke on the pitch, because we know between his intelligence, experience and resolve and character and mentality and then you see that with Coops. I thought in general, especially once we were a man down, everyone exhibited that and the guys that came off the bench gave also a big effort to do whatever it takes. We almost get a big chance for Klichy at the end. There’s moments in there where I think we can be smarter and manage moments in the game and the referee and everything but in the end, we'll continue to work toward that.
We'll continue to try to grow as a team, tactically what we want, the intelligence in which we play, how we manage games, and then always draw, like we did again today, on our mentality so good clean sheet, I think in the end a good result, but more certainly more to do.
Joe Gelhardt was doing a fitness test, it would appear, before the game. Were you intending to start with him or was he just part of the squad?
No, no, he's perfectly healthy. We decided not to have him in the squad and so we wanted to get him a little fitness before, knowing that he wasn't in the squad. It wasn't a fitness test. It was giving him a little bit of running just to boost his fitness levels.
Rodrigo got the nod today over Patrick, just how fit for the Premier League is Patrick?
Patrick had a little bit of a knock that he took and wasn't able to train all week. So he was a little bit in question whether he was going to be available or not. I decided not to tell you guys that two days ago.
I hope you don't hold it against me that I hold you held some information back but in the end, I felt like he was going to be available and I didn't want to put any information out that he was maybe a little bit injured or picked up a little something. I felt pretty strongly that he would be ready to go today.
Do you think with the time-wasting that there’s an element here, at Elland Road, of trying to turn the crowd or trying to rile the crowd perhaps?
I think it's respect for how we play against the ball in the aggression that we show and the quality that we have against the ball and then it's that our fans like to see our team play with aggression and play with power specifically against the ball and teams are trying to flip the script a little bit on how to play that it's not new.
First of all, in my career playing this way, I've encountered that a lot and we've already seen it this year, and discussions have already been had. I've, in the past, had more referees that were able to manage it better than what we're getting here and so it leads to frustration for everyone in the crowd, but the key for us is not to allow it to be frustration for us.
Will you have words with Luis, it seemed to be a daft decision?
I already spoke with the team about the fact that we need to be smarter in these moments and not dig holes for ourselves. Yeah, I'll speak with Luis but I don't think any big statement needs to be made. I think he's pretty clear that that was not an intelligent decision. But he's, you know, he's important for us and we really like Luis as a guy and as a player. We really like him
Was there a purposeful change with Rasmus today, he seemed to be noticeably more attacking?
Yeah, it was just like I said, I wanted to get Luke into the match, especially when we were defending in some of these moments, and then again, his experience and his understanding of how to handle the match and I thought Luke came in and had a really good performance.
How easy was it for you to control things in the second half, you'd obviously linked up. But that struck me in the end is a game where you really rather than been right at the coalface?
Yeah but Jacko and I were talking and I tried to not be in his ear every 30 seconds. I tried to measure that carefully. I think we had good communication and I think that the staff and the players carried out the plan and I thought we were even discussing subs as we were having different discussions.
I think that the changes that we made were good. I thought that the players that came on were good, and I think the staff did an outstanding job of managing the situation. I prefer in the future to not put anyone in that situation again, so I will try to behave myself a little bit better.
With Gelhardt, is it a pecking order thing, is he just down the order?
I can tell you this, it's not based on performance because I think he's playing well. But we think that we have a lot of guys performing well right now. So I guess, in that sense that maybe you could say it's a pecking order but I don't look at it that way.
I look at it as I really like Joffy, his mentality is great. Maybe we'll use him or a few guys on Tuesday in the Papa John's tournament to try to make sure that we're keeping rhythm and fitness and everything. I think you can see that a lot of our players need some match time. Please don't take it as a negative on Joffy, I believe in him and I really like him and we're going to keep pushing him.
How much does it add to the frustration with Luis that you seem to start the game so confidently and not rusty as he might have been from the plane journey?
We have a young team. We've made the decision strategically to go after players that we believe have high potential and fit the way that we want to play and we haven't gone as much with Premier League experience. That means I have to be patient at times. I have to.
By the way, I don't have a tonne of Premier League experience either so I think we're all growing through this together and we're trying to be intelligent and savvy but be aggressive and clear and develop as individuals and as a group and always staying true to the identity of what this club is, which is fighting and running and doing whatever it takes for each other so that our fans can walk away from every match feeling proud. So that's, in a nutshell, the strategy.
We talked about having to be patient with young players, but is part of it when they're young and immature and inexperienced that they will make mistakes like Luis made?
I've now become a manager that coaches a lot of young players and I've coached a lot of really, really good highly talented young players and helped them in their lives and in their careers. You have to be patient and at times understand that they're going to make foolish mistakes and in the process, help them learn from those mistakes and help them understand that it's part of the process and try to accelerate the process and the learning curve as much as possible. We are doing that. I believe we are doing that and I really like our team. I really like our group, and we certainly can help ourselves by managing things and having more savviness on the pitch no doubt.
Jesse, what do you make of the atmosphere, sat amongst the fans it was very emotional?
Again, I almost feel like we have to apologise because they don't get an entertaining match. They get a match that's totally slowed down from the opponent from the very first whistle and then they don't really get to enjoy coming to Elland Road the way that they can and should.
READ NEXT:
'Dreading Boxing Day' - Leeds United supporters react to Haaland hat-trick and Man United thrashing
Leeds United supporters make depth claim after Jesse Marsch confirms side to face Aston Villa
'So special' - Leeds United defender Robin Koch opens up about moving to England
Leeds United should use Raphinha as an example to combat Luis Sinisterra interest
How Jesse Marsch will turn his Leeds United touchline ban against Aston Villa into a positive
