Leeds United

Leeds United: Conor McGilligan claims that Jesse Marsch must be more ‘pragmatic’ with defensive tactics

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Image for Leeds United: Conor McGilligan claims that Jesse Marsch must be more ‘pragmatic’ with defensive tactics

Presenter and YouTuber Conor McGilligan has warned that Leeds United manager Jesse Marsch must improve the defence and be more ‘pragmatic’ with his tactical setup.

Up to this point in the season, the Whites have struggled for consistency and consequently find themselves two points and three places above the relegation zone heading into the Boxing Day fixtures.

However, Premier League football was put on pause for a number of weeks while the World Cup took place and is only now just returning. This break has allowed Marsch plenty of time on the training ground to review what hasn’t worked for Leeds so far this season.

And according to McGilligan, the Whites have been conceding too many goals at the back post, and something must change soon to help resolve that ‘huge problem’ with his system.

Indeed, while speaking on the One Leeds Fan Channel, he said: “Obviously, the system’s a huge problem when it comes to Leeds United, when it comes to Jesse Marsch. There’s a video going online at the minute, a compilation of Leeds for five minutes conceding a goal at the back post.

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As per FBref, Leeds United are scoring 1.57 goals per game in the league but conceding at a rate of 1.86 per match. Evidently, such a rate will see them drop points more regularly than pick them up.

So Marsch really does have to fix something in his backline and it remains to be seen how exactly he will try and address the problem. However, following the break for the World Cup, the Whites return to action on 28th December with a home game against Manchester City.

Nobody has scored more goals in the division this term than Pep Guardiola’s men, so this certainly will be a major test for the Whites and their defence, and it will be interesting to see if Marsch changes anything defensively in a notable way during the second half of the season.

Does Jesse Marsch need to be more defensive with his tactics?

Yes

Yes

No

No

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