Changes may not be being made at the top of Leeds United’s coaching tree, but the board is taking an unprecedented step in the American’s career to turn the club’s fortunes. Jesse Marsch is under immense pressure after an eight-match winless run and while he retains the backing of his bosses, United have acknowledged changes are needed to halt this slide.
Marsch has confirmed the club has added a psychologist to the coaching staff at Thorp Arch for the benefit of the backroom team as well as the players themselves. It’s a role Marsch has never had as a partner before, but he hopes it will unlock insecurities and reinforce confidence.
“I've always tried to incorporate mental coaches, psychologists into the work I do and it's often been with the team or with the players,” he said. “When I talked about getting the red card [at Brentford], I said I wanted to get a little bit more support in that area.
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“I've never personally had someone next to me like a partner. I've had people that have worked with the club, worked with the players and then had communication with me, but for psychologists, it's always a little bit of a tricky situation to get the trust of the players and also the staff and to be able to work from all angles.
“The players know the way I treat them is not about judgement of them and more about trying to improve them. That would be the purpose of adding someone to help us from a psychological perspective, for me, for us, for them as individuals to have a little bit more support.
“It's funny, people talk a lot about metrics and physical and tactical and psychological, I think, often gets neglected. The most important thing is we are able to unlock insecurities and reinforce confidence in people in ways to help them perform.”
Marsch has likened the partnership to what he already has with colleagues like head of medicine and performance Rob Price on the medical side or director of football Victor Orta on the recruitment side. The head coach has said he will make use of the psychologist too, in an effort to get the most out of himself through this torrid run.
“The goal is she is a partner with me and certainly she's employed by the club, but when you're a manager, sometimes you have different areas,” he said. “Like what I do with Rob Price.
“He's a partner with me and the physical work we do and how we analyse everything. The staff and my assistants are obviously partners with me and how we analyse tactics and training, the playing style.
“Victor, in terms of how we manage the squad. So you have partners whenever you're a manager. The partnerships I have here are fantastic.
“I love the people I work with here, but if I could also find the right person to be a partner with me so we're on top of the psychology of what we're doing every day and how we're maximising the potential of myself, messaging and behaviour along with the players. That would be a massive goal and a massive benefit.”
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