Leicester 1-0 Leeds: 'Marsch so close to perfect tonic for Leeds' Bielsa blues'

There has been a joke doing the rounds among Leeds fans this week that Jesse Marsch's first interviews as manager have felt like meeting your mum's new boyfriend.

The American has certainly been on the charm offensive as he begins the daunting task of ingratiating himself to a fan base still pining for their football father figure Marcelo Bielsa.

In Marsch's welcome video he spoke of the things he and the supporters have in common, of demanding his players «fight for the fans and each other» — music to the ears of those who have Billy Bremner's mantra 'Side over self, every time' running through them like a stick of rock.

He also explained he is not here to replace his predecessor in their affections and instead wants to build a fruitful relationship with them all of his own. In fact, he went so far as to suggest Bielsa should have been allowed to see the season out given all the Argentine achieved in his three and a half years in charge.

Most importantly, at Leicester's King Power Stadium on Saturday, even in defeat Marsch demonstrated that he and Leeds United might just be good for each other.

To many, that will be all that matters.

For Bielsa's debut as Leeds boss — a 3-1 home win over Stoke on 5 August 2018 — Whites fans had never witnessed such a gulf between their then low expectations and the lofty performance to which they were treated.

Plodding, directionless football was replaced by purpose, poise and pressing by players unrecognisable from just a few weeks earlier.

Saturday's bow for Marsch was nowhere near as mind-blowing. How could it be? And it ultimately yielded no points at a time when Leeds are desperate for them to ease the defensive deficiencies and relegation concerns that cost Bielsa his job.

What it did