The Athletic’s Adam Crafton has praised Leeds United in hindsight for their ‘massive call’ to sack Marcelo Bielsa and hire Jesse Marsch.
After beating Watford 3-0 away from home on the weekend, the Whites are now nine points above the bottom three with just six games to play.
Back in late February when they fired Bielsa and brought in his replacement, the club were just two points above the relegation zone.
Will Jesse Marsch keep Leeds in the Premier League next season?
Yes
No
That they have managed to all but secure their status as a Premier League side in such a short amount of time speaks to how well Marsch has done so far with Leeds.
It seems Crafton certainly feels that way, as he recently sent out a tweet claiming that the club’s hierarchy have been proven right in their decision-making.
He said: “If you’d had told me – the night I saw Leeds lose 6-0 at Liverpool – that they’d be nine points clear of the drop six weeks later, would never have believed it. Club made a massive call on Bielsa and hard to argue against it now.”
TIF Thoughts on Jesse Marsch and Leeds…
Bielsa’s last game was a 4-0 home loss against Tottenham Hotspur. At the time, their defending was terrible and they became only the second team in Premier League history to concede three or more goals in five consecutive matches in the competition after Sunderland in November 2005 (via Opta).
Under Marsch, though, things have steadily improved, and after losing his first two games in charge, the club are now unbeaten in four – winning three of those matches.
Bielsa was certainly a much-loved figure at Leeds for what he achieved with the club. With that in mind, it was a pretty risky call to sack him even when things looked so bleak.
In the end, however, as Crafton points out, you can’t really argue with that call now.
In other news: ‘A sensitive decision’ – Marsch now reveals secret ‘meeting’ with Leeds duo