Jesse Marsch was hit with a familiar feeling of frustration on Sunday afternoon as he watched his Leeds United side fall behind against Cardiff City. The Whites started relatively quickly against the Championship outfit but they lost their way in the game and went in at the break with a two-goal deficit to claw back in the second half.
The Whites did eventually fight their way to level pegging, but they had to rely on a late equaliser from youngster Sonny Perkins, who poked the ball home to set up next week's FA Cup replay on home soil. It was a similar story against West Ham United just a few days previous.
That time Leeds hit the front through a piece of individual brilliance from Wilfried Gnonto, but West Ham were allowed to wrestle that lead from them at Elland Road as the Whites’ performance slumped and mistakes were made. Rodrigo found a leveller in the 70th minute and to their credit United had chances to go on and win the game before taking the point, but they still made life hard for themselves in a game and that’s what Marsch is getting sick of.
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Last Wednesday’s clash with the Hammers was certainly two points dropped rather than one gained and given the form and league position of their visitors, they fancied themselves to claim the victory ahead of kick-off. That wasn’t the first time the Whites have struggled to play their game against a team in and around the bottom half of the table, either.
Leeds have had no such problems digging out controlled, disciplined and impressive performances against the league’s best, rattling more than a few cages along the way, but they haven’t been able to replicate those displays against those sides in a similar position to their own. So far this season Leeds have dug out wins against Wolves and Bournemouth after falling behind, but points have been dropped against the likes of Fulham, Leicester, Crystal Palace, Everton and Southampton.
Therefore Marsch has been urging his side to play with more bravery, enterprise and consistency in those bottom half of the table encounters and Friday night’s clash against Aston Villa at Villa Park very much comes into that bracket. Villa seem to have turned a corner under new boss Unai Emery, but they sit just five points above Leeds in the table and the Whites have every right to believe they can leave the Midlands with something to show for their efforts should they perform.
It’s that sort of confidence and fearlessness that Marsch will be attempting to breathe into his team this week, as they look to avoid dropping into the bottom three.
“What we've seen from our group a lot this year is that against the big opponents that we play aggressively, especially against the ball and defensively,” Marsch said. “Then we try to find ways to capitalise the transition and still try and find ways to command the game with the ball.
“Then there are other opponents that we play that on the day we think we can be better than and I want to see our team playing from the beginning of those matches with more courage, with more endeavour, and to be able to, in those kinds of matches, push our level to be better.
“At 2-1 and at 2-2 (against West Ham) I thought we were really strong in the match. The question I posed to the team this week, or after the match is why can't we look like that at 0-0 and why can't we find a way to believe in ourselves and play with that kind of confidence and aggression from the start and let teams know that when they come to Elland Road that we're ready to suffocate them, that we're ready to be on top of the match.
“Now obviously West Ham has quality, every team has quality so it's not so easy, but we still, in my mind, play a little bit too passive and too safe. So we've got to continue to build that mentality and the tactics of that mentality into what we do.”
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