Victor Orta's Leeds United head coach pitch has risks…

Victor Orta's Leeds United head coach pitch has risks but six enticing rewards

In a world where everything in football needs to have happened yesterday, a head coach search heading into a fourth day can start to concern some supporters. Why have we sacked someone without a replacement ready? Why is our club being rejected by all and sundry? Are we realistically looking at an interim option until the end of the season?

When people speak about a topic as emotional as their football club (Leeds United), you can understand irrational responses, requests or hypotheses. With a lot of the reporting on Jesse Marsch’s replacement framed around Carlos Corberan and Andoni Iraola’s supposed knock-backs, along with Feyenoord’s public resistance to losing Arne Slot, concerns are bubbling up.

From what we understand, neither Corberan nor Iraola rejected the Whites. The former was never on the initial four-man shortlist, while the stalled pursuit of the latter is more down to Rayo Vallecano than the Basque.

There is also no appetite at Elland Road for an interim arrangement until the end of the season when they would go out and get their preferred target in a more open market. Leeds want a permanent replacement for Marsch and they want them in place as soon as possible.

And there is every reason to believe they will get someone in too. United remain a very attractive proposition for any ambitious head coach in Europe. There is a lot to get their teeth into.

Thirteen of the 18 most frequently used Leeds players in the Premier League this season are 26-years-old or younger. That’s a lot of potential talent to mine with good coaching on the training pitches at Thorp Arch.

This is a group which has been heavily invested in across the past two transfer windows, to the point where the only direction the finger of blame could be pointed was squarely at Marsch. This is a squad worth far more than 17th in the table (when Marsch was sacked) on paper.

Illan Meslier, Tyler Adams, Wilfried Gnonto and Luis Sinisterra have the potential to be among the very best players on the continent in their respective positions. It’s a huge amount of talent to work with for any coach worth their salt, and that’s before you even consider lesser-used players like Joe Gelhardt, Weston McKennie, Cody Drameh, Georginio Rutter, Darko Gyabi and Sonny Perkins.

Then there is the fan base, plans for stadium expansion and an ambitious set of new owners very keen to flex their muscles when they eventually take charge. Also, it’s the Premier League, a competition virtually everyone in football dreams of playing or coaching in.

The one wrinkle is United’s current league position coupled with the presumed success each candidate is having with their existing club. Assuming they back themselves to take this club away from the bottom three, it’s the ideal entry point to the English top flight.

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