Here are the latest Leeds United evening headlines on Wednesday 2 March 2022.
Grayson’s Marsch warning
Former Leeds United manager Simon Grayson believes that Jesse Marsch must be prepared for the continued support the recently fired Marcelo Bielsa will receive from fans.
Bielsa was relieved of his duties on Sunday after over three-and-a-half highly memorable years at Elland Road and was swiftly replaced by Marsch the following day.
Speaking on Sky Sports, Grayson issued a warning to Marsch that he may have to get used to Bielsa ’s name ringing around the stands for the time being.
He said: “It’s going to be really tough. They play Leicester at the weekend and the first home game will be next Thursday against Aston Villa.
“You can imagine what it’s going to be like. Full house at Elland Road singing Marcelo Bielsa’s name. Jesse Marsch will be wondering what has hit him. The love Marcelo has had since he has been here.”
Leicester injury blow
Leicester City were dealt another defensive injury blow in Tuesday’s 2-0 win at Burnley as Brendan Rodgers confirmed Ricardo Pereira’s half time substitution was fitness related.
Pereira has been unable to string together a run of matches since suffering an ACL injury in March 2020.
The Foxes are already set to be without Timothy Castagne, Ryan Bertrand, James Justin, Wesley Fofana and Jonny Evans, meaning another blow to Pereira would leave them very short at the back this weekend.
Speaking after the match, Rodgers said: “He felt a tightness in his hamstring, we couldn’t risk it. We’re trying to keep him fit. Marc [Albrighton] goes back and does a great job.”
Marsch’s youth trust
Leeds United supporters will be excited by new manager Jesse Marsch’s impressive track record at nurturing youngsters.
Marsch has improved a number of the most talented youngsters in the Europe during his previous jobs at RB Salzburg and Leipzig, including Erling Haaland, Dominik Szoboszlai, Patson Daka and Christopher Nkunku.
The Whites have a number of youngsters such as Joe Gelhardt, Lewis Bate and Charlie Cresswell all ready to burst on the scene at Elland Road.
Just over a year ago, in a live webinar with highly-acclaimed coaching platform, the Coaches Voice, he explained his methods when it comes to developing young talent.
Marsch said: “First of all, one of the reasons why we love young players is not just because they’re adaptable and they grow so quickly but because we need young legs on the pitch because they can usually run faster and longer and more repetitively than older legs. I learned that as an older player!
“I find that it’s about controlling the environment, ultimately in training what we’re doing is trying to raise the speed of play by how big the spaces are, what the numbers are, by how many neutrals and what the rules are.”
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