Here is a look at the Leeds United morning headlines on Friday, March 4.
Lalas opens up on Marsch
Like Marsch, the name Alexi Lalas is one extremely well known in the footballing world over the other side of the Atlantic.
With 96 caps for the USMNT, he is an ex-player very well respected in the USA and he has had his say on the new Leeds boss, a man he knows well.
“I’ve known Jesse for a long, long time and he’s one of the most interesting, articulate and knowledgeable and inquisitive people I’ve come across in the game,” he told the Independent. “He’s a product of the Red Bull system to a certain extent.
“The way Bielsa’s teams play is very unique and it will be interesting to see how much of that he wants to keep, how much he wants to throw away and how much he feels he just needs to tweak and get a little bit more out of.
“I can’t say enough good things about Jesse Marsch. We’re incredibly proud of him from an American perspective but his biggest task is going to be to prove to people that a coach from the USA can cut it in English football.”
Marsch outlines Phillips plans
Kalvin Phillips has not been able to have nearly as much influence as he would have liked this season as a result of the hamstring injury he sustained at the beginning of December.
Although, the England midfielder has been back training with his team mates recently and shouldn’t be too far from being reintegrated in the squad at Elland Road.
In his first pre-match press conference, Jesse Marsch was discussing the leaders in the Whites dressing room and admitted that he wants Phillips to take up a bigger role.
“There's been a bunch of great young men,” he said. “Speaking with Liam Cooper and Luke Ayling, it's easy to see they are comfortable in front of the group, comfortable in leadership roles.
“Adam Forshaw has been also fantastic, there's a guy like Patrick Bamford [who] has a lot of personality.
“I want to challenge Kalvin Phillips to take a bigger and bigger role within the team and he's obviously so important, getting him healthy, but also getting him to take a bigger role in the team will be massively important as well.”
Read more of what he had to say about the dressing room here.
New Leeds backroom staff explained
With Marcelo Bielsa’s coaching staff leaving when he was relieved of his duties, Marsch has had to re-construct a new look backroom staff at Thorp Arch.
Both Franz Schiemer and Cameron Toshack have come in as assistant head coaches while Mark Jackson has been promoted from his role as U23s manager into the first-team coaching set up.
The new boss was explaining his decisions yesterday, he said: “Starting with Frankie Schiemer, we know each other really well.
“He's very connected with me in terms of what our philosophy is, what our playing style is, how to implement it day-by-day so clearly that will be a big advantage.
“Cameron Toshack is the type of person who is very observant, understands how to inject himself in the right way, understands the kind of tactics and ideas we have behind our football and has a good way of relating with people.
“I can tell you it's only been two days with Mark Jackson, but it's like we've known each other for years. Jacko is an amazing guy. He's very flexible and adaptable.”
