End of an Era

Well, where do we start? That’s been some week even by Leeds United’s standards.

We lose 4-0 at home to Tottenham, Marcelo departs, a new manager is appointed almost immediately in Jesse Marsch, and now we go to Leicester for the live TV game tomorrow lunchtime.

Starting at the beginning, I have to say that the Tottenham game came as a shock, even after the hammering we’d had at Liverpool a few days earlier. The manner in which we conceded the goals and rolled over at Elland Road was nothing short of unbelievable and Tottenham will not have an easier game all season. We were poor. Very poor.

Obviously that prompted the finger pointing and perhaps the most emotive debate about the future of a Leeds manager I can ever remember. The rumours started swiftly that Marcelo was gone and it all looked very messy from the outside at first. None of us are privy to what exactly happened and how it all unfolded, but the club had clearly spoken with the new man way before last weekend because of the speed he was installed. And when you think about the discussions that Leeds had when Marcelo was appointed you’d guess that talks had been going on with Jesse for some time. Maybe the plan all along was for him to come in this summer, we’ll never know because he’s here now.

And what about Marcelo? It’s sad to see him go, especially in the manner that he did. He was the man that breathed life into the club again, he brought us a brand of football we’d never seen before – and maybe won’t again – and he took us back to the Premier League. He somehow got players to reach levels of performance that they would never have imagined, and he got people talking about our great club once again. He is a true Leeds United legend. A great, great man.

Did he deserve to go? That’s the million dollar question. We’ve had a terrible season if we’re being truthful. We’ve looked a shadow of the team of previous seasons. Our attacking verve and swagger has only rarely reared its head and we’ve conceded sloppy goal after sloppy goal. We needed a Plan B, but there didn’t seem to be one. That was the concern. Marcelo wasn’t helped by injuries to key players, but equally the size of the squad was a major handicap and we’re led to believe that was his call. Why didn’t we strengthen in central midfield and buy an out and out striker last summer? Was that Marcelo or was it out of his hands? And this isn’t hindsight talking…it was clear what we needed to do and what areas needed more quality, especially as cover should anything happen to Kalvin Phillips and Patrick Bamford. Which it has.

Were we going down? It certainly looked like that after last weekend because you couldn’t see where we could go next. No confidence, no chances created, daft errors, and a group of players who looked on their knees and out of their depth. But…if anyone was going to get us out of this, surely Marcelo was that man. Some of the problems may have been of his own making, but equally he knew the group, he had the experience and desire, and we’d have all backed him to the hilt.

Now we’ll never know. Marsch was swiftly appointed as his successor and what impact he has will be seen over the next few weeks. If we are to stay in the Premier League it has to be a positive impact and quick. Coming into a club and presiding over a relegation inside your first two months isn’t how anyone would envisage the club’s next manager starting, but it’s a real possibility. And where would we go from there? I genuinely don’t know because there is a huge re-build needed whatever.

Jesse came in and re-assured us that comparisons with Ted Lasso were way off the mark, but that hadn’t crossed my mind. We’ve got to trust in the decision that has been made – and the timing – and wish him all the very best. And we’ve all got to get behind him and the team in these coming weeks because we’ve got a hell of a job on here.

And it all starts at Leicester tomorrow.