‘I knew I was getting into the fire’: Jesse Marsch battles to keep Leeds up

“The person in this position, when things don’t go well, always gets blamed,” says the Leeds manager, Jesse Marsch. The club have two games to save their Premier League status, not because Marsch has failed since taking over in February but because of a collection of errors that has left them in a perilous position.

Marsch finds his side in 18th place heading into Brighton’s visit on Sunday for a game Leeds will see as their best chance to secure maximum points. Unfortunately for Leeds, Brighton have lost once – a 3-0 defeat away to Manchester City – in their past seven games. They have beaten Arsenal and Tottenham away in that period, so will not fear a trip to Yorkshire.

If you speak to those who know Marsch best, they talk of a highly intelligent man, someone who can change the narrative and outsmart opposition managers. The focus since his arrival 10 games ago has been on his words rather than actions.

Marsch is constantly analysing his own performance and that of his team to find improvements. Leeds have been reduced to 10 men in the first half of their past two games, leaving Marsch to wonder if he is overstimulating his players.

“The key for me is to understand what I’ve learned in this business, what this particular team in this situation and these particular players need and how do I best provide that for them so that they can be all that I believe they can be,” he says. “That’s what the project is from a mentality perspective. Then there is applying the football tactics and style of play so that they understand what their roles are on the pitch.”

Marsch has been hamstrung by those available to him. Leeds failed to make a signing in January. When battling relegation, improving a struggling squad seems a