Jesse, how do you look on that, as a good hard earned point or two points dropped?
First the group is disappointed because they really felt that they played well and they wanted to be rewarded with the points. But for me, I've been really focusing on the performances, the tactical clarity, the individual confidence, and for me, it's clear, it's very, very clear that we're moving in the right direction. So, you know, we’re maybe a few moments where we have a little bit of an advantage in the attacking third and maybe a clever little combination or a little bit more cleaner quality in the last third from getting three points out of that match, but very stable defensively on set pieces very stable.
A strong performance from a lot individuals so a big positive for me, a big positive.
You talked about defending set pieces, clearly a clean sheet suggests you did that well today, how important that was the Koch and Wober combination?
I would say that both of them growing up in either Germany or Austria have had really good formation in terms of understanding tactical responsibilities and nuances. And both are very intelligent players. I knew that about Max before he came, that he's special that way, very intelligent, very clear with exactly what his role is. I think he's fit in seamlessly with the group and so both of them I thought had very very strong performances. Obviously that was a big reason why we were able to get the clean sheet.
Read more: Signs of progress for Leeds United as Jesse Marsch handed food for thought
How tempted were you to throw on Georginio Rutter for his debut?
We thought about it, you know, I could have done it. I just want to integrate him the right way and I felt like the guys on the field, I felt like Willy was close to pulling off a play so I felt like leaving him on. I thought Jack's performance was really strong. When you have new players, you always want to set them up to succeed and so I just in the end decided that maybe we wait one more week until we unleash him.
What about Liam Cooper not involved in the squad, what's the situation with him?
He has a little bit of the same injury that he had last year when he got hurt right before the match in warm-up with Man City and we've it's just with his knee, like a minor muscle injury that we've kind of felt like it was going to recover faster than it has. But yesterday we tried to see if we could get him going and training and he didn't feel right so we just made the decision not to go with him. But I think this week you should be back in training.
When you brought Greenwood on, was it with the thought of trying to make sure you got the point at least?
It was also for set pieces to see if he could put a couple, we were getting a lot of fouls then, we were pushing them back, we were getting corners and I felt like you know he's still a guy that can serve a really good ball and he did serve some really dangerous balls. So just trying to push the game from that perspective.
Ayling has obviously got quite an attacking profile as a full-back and it gives you quite a lot. What is it, aside from that, that is keeping him in your side?
Yeah, I think it's a combination of his leadership, his fearlessness, his and the quality of which is the level at which he's playing right now. So been really happy with him.
I thought we could have found him a few more times in the attacking third to get him going. But and maybe when he gets in the final third, we can pull one play off or get one of these plays multiple short crosses in the box, right. But I think Luke's playing really well, really well and we have to be fair, we went with Junior and Diego and Rasmus more midweek and I thought all those three played really well. So the group is coming together. There's momentum and I know it doesn't feel necessarily so strong because we're not having a bunch of wins lined up in a row. But this is a little bit what the league is and you know where we're at, we have to earn everything right now. We're not afraid of it. And the best part is, again, when I look all of our men in the eye right now in the dressing room, they know they know it's coming together and they know we're getting better and they know we're going to be a good team.
The start of the second half seemed to be the best phase of the game, there was a flurry of chances if you like, were you tempted to change things earlier when that momentum seemed to seep out?
Well, I didn’t change early because I felt like we were on top of the match. Normally I like to get more, especially when we've got some real weapons on the bench, I'd like to get guys into the game more, give them a chance to go. But I just felt like even when we talked about the Georgi sub, I felt Jack and Willy were playing really well. I thought it wasn't easy to take Rodri off the pitch. I thought Brenden had one of his best games but I do believe in now putting more energy into the matches and having those guys ready to go.
So we've got to push now this next two weeks to get everybody really close to 100% and playing at a high level like we already have many guys and then we'll really be able to have some fun with the whole group.
You felt Brenden had one of his best games, can you talk more about that?
Yeah, I thought he just looked more confident and more willing to get himself into the attack and a couple of moments early on where he gave balls away a little bit earlier but then he calmed down into the match and he was in the box a little bit more, almost got of goal in the first half. He’s trying to continue with all the good work he does just to continue to push him to be aggressive to get himself in the final third and in dangerous positions.
What did you do on Toney and how pleased are you with the way the defence handled him?
We had a very clear strategy in this match that Brentford likes to play a lot of long balls, they like to play in the opponent's end, that they'd like to put balls in the box, that they'd like to create a lot of set piece situations. We talked about how we failed ourselves last match in Brentford and even in moments when we thought we had control the match, we didn't and Brentford was just waiting to hit us on the counter. To be fair, today, we had a lot of big control of the match and a little bit sharper in the last third and it's a win. This is the feeling, it's just like you have to earn everything right now. We have to work for everything, but that's okay. It will make us better and we're moving in the right direction.
What are Wober’s strengths because his all-round game looked very good today?
Yeah, I mean, his greatest strengths are his intelligence, his communication and his ability on the ball. He's probably the best passing centre-back I've ever had.
But it's also about his communication and intelligence and I think that that's helped the whole group. Until he came off we were up 3-0 against Cardiff. He came in the match and played as a six against Cardiff away. He came on the pitch and played as a left-back at Villa. We haven't given up a goal when he's been on the pitch.
So I think that says a lot about his performances and his clarity as to what we expect from him.
Jesse, we know Liam Cooper is an important player and leader, when he gets back, how much will the chemistry there was between Koch and Wober come into consideration?
Yeah, well, I think there's good chemistry between Liam and Robin as well. But even when I spoke to Liam about Max coming, that it was another player of similar to Pascal that can play left back or centre-back, I said that one of the strategies is that Liam, as we see right now, it's been hard for him to train all week, and then be ready for a game and then train all week and be ready for a game and we need to get him more of a rhythm where he's training and at a top level of fitness and not just preparing him for matches.
Hopefully, if we can provide him with a little bit more pause, that we can then create more longevity and top fitness and health for him along the way. But Liam will continue to be a very important player for us, no doubt.
Generally managers tend to look for central partnerships at the back, are you saying that because of Liam’s circumstances that it might be more chopping and changing to get the best out?
Right now we're playing a lot of matches in a short amount of time. Hopefully we can continue this cup run. We're really excited about the prospect of pushing ourselves in that tournament.
Then you need to have a full squad and you need to have a lot of guys clear and ready. And right now we feel like we have that. So that part's been good. There's just better, it's just clear. When you're in this business, you know what you're looking at, and for me for 10 months, it's been about trying to get the group so that we're really starting to push, real momentum, to feel like on the inside, there's clarity and belief and confidence and understanding.
It's taken a long time for me to get for us to get to this point but now we feel it. We feel it and I think it's going to continue to go from here.
This afternoon must have been really frustrating for you, Jesse, what did you make to Brentford’s approach they were in no rush?
This is sort of the playbook for coming to Elland Road. I saw Thomas Frank's press conference as well and he talked about coming here. There are teams that do this. To be fair, it's an intelligent way to manage coming here and playing against a team that likes to play with tempo. But our group has learned now and myself as well to not get frustrated and to stay focused on exactly the match. And so I thought we did that well today.
You know, there were a couple too easy fouls when I thought we were really on top of them and locking them into their half, where they go down easy or take a fall to easy where they felt the ref left let them off the hook. Then it takes a long time for them to get the match going again. But in general I thought the intensity the concentration, the intelligence, the understanding, the belief, the confidence in which way the way we played is absolutely moving in the right direction and we have to keep pushing them.
READ NEXT:
Premier League sacking verdict as Frank Lampard tipped to leave and Jesse Marsch call made
Leeds United head coach Jesse Marsch opens up on prospect of managing USA national team
Steven Gerrard highlights top-flight 'pressure' Leeds United and Jesse Marsch will be familiar with
Georginio Rutter opens up on Leeds United pricetag as he outlines immediate Elland Road goal
