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Jesse Marsch’s worst defeats as Leeds manager
Leeds have sacked Jesse Marsch less than a year after choosing him as the man to replace Marcelo Bielsa at the Elland Road helm.
The decision from the club hierarchy follows a few months of poor results, with Leeds win-less in the Premier League since before the World Cup break began in November.
That run of form has left them 17th in table, out of the relegation zone on goal difference alone.
Marsch steered Leeds awa from relegation last season, but failure to impart lasting improvement on a team that had already been on a downward trajectory under his predecessor was never going to keep him in the job for the long-term.
Since returning to the Premier League in 2020, Leeds were always massive underdogs against Manchester City, so few would ever have expected to take anything from games against Pep Guardiola’s team of world beaters.
However, this was literally the biggest margin of defeat during Marsch’s tenure.
It actually came off the back of a run of games during which Leeds had taken 11 points from possible 15, which was ultimately responsible for keeping them in the Premier League.
In fairness, despite conceding early, they remained in this game until early in the second half and it was only a couple of late goals that really racked up the goals for Manchester City.
Still, the biggest defeat, regardless of the opponent, is still a bad result.
From biggest margin of victory to most goals conceded with Marsch in charge.
Although scoring twice themselves, Leeds were hit for five Brentford in September. Defensive resilience proved a significant problem throughout Marsch’s reign, albeit one that wasn’t exclusively his given how open the team often were under Bielsa before.
Leeds managed only six clean sheets 32 Premier League games under Marsch.
An Ivan Toney hat-trick was the difference here.
After what had generally been a positive first month of the season, Leeds were starting to really slide down the table by the time they visited Leicester in October.
At that stage, the Foxes had only recently won their first game of the campaign but were still in the bottom three and hadn’t kicked on from that sole victory over Nottingham Forest.
This was therefore an opportunity for Leeds to claim an important win in what could probably have been deemed an early ‘six pointer’ near the bottom.
In the end, Leicester had the result sewn up in the first half due to a Robin Koch own goal and one from Harvey Barnes inside 35 minutes. In reality, the Foxes only had one shot on target and saw less of the ball. So how did Leeds actually lose?
Ignore for a moment that Fulham are having an outstanding 2022/23 season. Losing at home against a newly promoted team is always unacceptable for any Premier League club.
It is also worth noting that when this game was played, Fulham were doing just okay rather than flying as high as they later would due to four successive wins after the World Cup.
Defensive frailties were again to blame for Leeds. They even scored first through Rodrigo in the first half, before conceding three without reply. By the time Crysencio Summerville pulled one back in stoppage it was already too late.
By November, the goals were still flying in at both ends for Leeds, but at least in their favour with back-to-back wins over Liverpool and Bournemouth that did plenty to relieve some pressure on Marsch after failing to pick any league wins since August.
That momentum appeared to be carrying them to a third win and what would have been an impressive result away at Tottenham. Despite conceding twice, goals from Summerville and Rodrigo (2) had Leeds 3-2 ahead in the final stages.
Then it fell apart. A quick fire double from Rodrigo Bentancur near the end not only cost them two invaluable points, but all three.
A 2-1 defeat against Aston Villa isn’t particularly dramatic on the face of it. Until you consider that Marsch considered this game the ‘most complete performance’ he had seen from his players since arriving at Elland Road just under 11 months earlier.
It had taken the best part of a year to reach a point where his team were…still losing.
Villa saw more of the ball that day and had more shots on target too. Leeds probably deserved more from the game, but if conceding was what again let them down, how much did they actually deserve in reality?
The final straw came at the City Ground. This was to be Marsch’s final game as Leeds boss, a ‘six pointer’ that could have prolled them level with Nottingham Forest and Leicester, above Wolves and out of immediate danger.
Instead, it gave Forest the chance to pull further towards mid-table and left Leeds precariously above the bottom three, kept in the safety of 17th place on goal difference alone.
The board could take no more and Marsch’s exit was confirmed the next day.
Barcelona are said to be ‘confident’ that they will avoid a ban from the UEFA Champions League amid their ongoing corruption case.
Barça have been charged with ‘continuous sporting corruption’ by Spanish courts, with it alleged that they made several payments to Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira – the former vice-president of Spain’s refereeing committee – over information and analysis of match officials which could benefit them.
It had previously been speculated that any wrongdoing could result in Barcelona being barred from entering the Champions League, with UEFA confirming on Thursday they are launching their own investigation into the scandal.
UEFA’s statement read: “In accordance with Article 31(4) of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations, UEFA Ethics and Disciplinary Inspectors have today been appointed to conduct an investigation regarding a potential violation of UEFA’s legal framework by FC Barcelona in connection with the so-called ‘Caso Negreira’.”
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However, the Daily Mail report that Barcelona are ‘confident’ that UEFA will not hit them with a ban or financial penalty.
La Blaugrana maintain their innocence in the scandal and believe that any punishment from UEFA could be legally reversed or challenged if they are found not guilty by Spanish courts.
Barcelona are already in financial trouble having failed to reap the lucrative rewards of reaching the Champions League knockout stages for two seasons running.
Part of the charges against Barcelona claim that they paid Negreira and his company in order to receive preferential treatment from referees.
“Through presidents [Sandro] Rosell and [Josep Maria] Bartomeu, Barcelona reached and maintained a strictly confidential verbal agreement with the defendant Negreira, so that, in his capacity as vice-president of the refereeing committee and in exchange for money, he would carry out actions aimed at favouring Barcelona in the decision making of the referees in the matches played by the club, and thus in the results of the competitions,” Spanish prosecutors said.
This key detail hints at match-fixing, which is punishable by UEFA with a ban from European competition.
La Liga have already ruled out sporting sanctions against Barcelona as these charges are historic, but president Javier Tebas has claimed he will revisit the case if the club are found guilty.
Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani has submitted an improved bid to buy Manchester United from the Glazer family.
Bidders were granted an extension to the previous deadline of Wednesday this week in order to lodge improved offers to purchase the club.
A rival bid from Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS was confirmed in recent days, with Sheikh Jassim’s representatives now confirming that they too have upped their offer.
Reports claim United had expected to receive Sheikh Jassim’s latest bid by Friday night, though ‘finer details’ had to be sorted and it was submitted in the early hours of Saturday morning instead.
Raine Group, who are handling the sale, have also received a number of offers for a minority stake in United, with one notably coming from Elliott Investment Management – the former owners of AC Milan.
Meanwhile, Finnish businessman Thomas Zilliacus, who claims to have submitted a speculative offer earlier this week, called on Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim to join his bid on Saturday in order to act in the best interests of the club.
The Glazers are looking to sell United before the summer transfer window, though 90min has consistently reported that they will back away from deals if their £6bn valuation is not met.
Recent bidders are likely to hear back from Raine Group in a week.
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Alexis Sanchez has spoken at length about how he would have won the UEFA Champions League with Manchester City if he had joined them instead of Manchester United in 2018.
The Chilean arrived in England in 2014 from Barcelona, joining Arsenal off the back of a stellar FIFA World Cup campaign.
Sanchez cemented his place as one of the Premier League’s finest players during his first three seasons with the Gunners, but sought to leave in the summer of 2017 with one year left on his contract.
He was continually linked with a reunion with ex-Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola at Man City. A deal looked to be in the works late in the window, but Arsenal’s moves to replace him collapsed and the transfer fell apart – Raheem Sterling and Thomas Lemar were heavily linked with switches to the Emirates Stadium.
When the January window rolled around, Man City were again hopeful of signing Sanchez, but they were beaten to a deal by Man Utd.
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In an interview with TVN, Chile’s public broadcaster, Sanchez discussed this transfer saga.
“I was about to go to City. I spoke to Guardiola every day, he told me happy birthday. He was like my dad, He was my dad at Barcelona and he was like my dad at City,” Sanchez began.
“We talked, we talked every day, he sent me messages. And everything was ready, there was a player who was going to go to Arsenal. Then [Arsene] Wenger tells me you are not leaving because the other player did not want to come and they do not have another.
“Suddenly, the cell phone rings. [Jose] Mourinho tells me: ‘Alexis, here is the [number] seven available for you’.
“It wasn’t a money thing, so everyone knows. It was the same with United and City. And he said to me ‘here is the seven, we are playing in the Champions League and we are going to give everything’. I wanted to leave at that moment, but I had Guardiola’s word.
“That’s when I said to myself, a Chilean footballer playing for Manchester United, something that has never happened. With the seven of [Eric] Cantona, [David] Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo and now a Chilean had it, it was a dream.
“I don’t regret going to United, things happen for a reason. I would have liked to have gone to City, yes. We would have won the Champions League by now. In the final I would have done something.”
There were huge expectations for Sanchez at Man Utd, particularly after he was so prolific in Arsenal teams which underwhelmed for the most part.
Mourinho’s side needed a fresh injection of energy to reignite a flailing 2017/18 season, but were knocked out of the UEFA Champions League at the last 16 stage by Sevilla and lost the FA Cup final to a Chelsea team that finished three places behind Man Utd in the Premier League table.
Sanchez would score just five goals in 45 games for Man Utd before joining Inter, helping them win Serie A in 2021.
He now plays for Marseille in Ligue 1.
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Barcelona’s stance on potential UEFA Champions League ban
Sheikh Jassim submits improved bid
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