Seven Leeds United players are right at the heart of delivering Jesse Marsch’s vision to the rest of the squad as quickly as possible with eight games left to ensure Premier League survival. The head coach has discussed the leadership council he has promoted at Thorp Arch on several occasions, but recently pulled back the curtain on who is in it and what their role is under him.
Stuart Dallas, Luke Ayling, Liam Cooper and Adam Forshaw combine experience and longevity at Elland Road to form an obvious leadership group, but there are three names Marsch gave which may have raised some eyebrows. Rodrigo is the second-oldest member of the squad, but has only been with Leeds since summer 2020, while Patrick Bamford and Kalvin Phillips are still a few years younger than Cooper et al.
“So right now, you know, again, these are the initial phases, so I'm happy,” said Marsch. “I first met with five guys and then I added two more. So right now it's Liam, it's Luke, who I've also learned his name is Bill. Okay. It's Adam. It's Rodrigo. It's Kalvin. It's Stuart and it's Patrick. So those seven guys right now.”
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Marsch went to flesh out the importance of that council and how they work as intermediaries between him and the rest of the squad. Marsch said: “I'm trying to get the whole team to know me, but it's really important for them to have their finger on the pulse of who I am.
“So that we can, kind of, they can translate to me what they think is important for the team from what they're hearing from other players and I can translate to them. They can, kind of, disseminate and help give information that's important and they're fully in, they've committed 100 per cent to what we're trying to develop here.
“The more those seven guys can do that, then it will disseminate and it will be easier for everybody to be all in and to understand what we're trying to accomplish here.”
