Phil Hay has revealed that Jesse Marsch and Leeds United are set to change their plans for the World Cup break.
According to Hay, the plan over the winter break was for the Leeds players to be handed two weeks off to rest and recharge, before then heading off to America and working with their minority stakeholders, the 49ers, and increasing their brand and image over there.
However, given their atrocious run of recent form that’s seen them slide into the bottom three and are now on a run of eight games without a win in the Premier League, that will now seemingly be changed, according to Hay.
Hay has now suggested on The Phil Hay Show that the Leeds players won’t be afforded a two-week break when the World Cup comes around, due to their poor form this half of the season.
(9:00) “The message he’s trying to portray is that it isn’t mutiny inside the training ground and inside the squad, he said there might be tweaks and changes to his staffing, his backroom staff and it certainly seems there’s going to be changes to the World Cup plan.
“The idea was, to initially have two weeks off after the Tottenham game in two weeks time and then at some point head to The States for at least one friendly, go to California and go to the 49ers’ patch for at least one friendly, probably two.
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“I think it’s highly unlikely they will have two weeks off now. I think the holiday they’re planning will be reduced because it doesn’t look great for one thing, but I think there’s so much to work on you’ve got to make as much use of the time as you can.”
TIF Thoughts on Leeds’ situation…
Hay’s very right that if fans saw players who had won just twice in the league all season and not picked up a victory since August, to then be afforded a two-week holiday instead of trying to get things right on the pitch, they would likely be angered.
Therefore, perhaps just a week off and then straight back into training and trying to understand Marsch’s tactics more succinctly and be able to carry out what he’s demanding, otherwise it could be a very long and bleak season for Leeds.
As things stand, it would appear unlikely that Leeds climb out of the bottom three prior to the World Cup break given there’s already a two-point gap and they still have to play both Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur in the league before the World Cup halts play, so things certainly aren’t looking great for Marsch.