Paul Merson has questioned Leeds United’s decision to sack Jesse Marsch with two games against Man Utd to come | Soccer News

Paul Merson has questioned Leeds’ decision to sack boss Jesse Marsch with two games in four days against Manchester United, starting at Old Trafford on Wednesday.

Marsch was sacked as Leeds head coach after a year in the role on Monday.

He was dismissed with the club only above the relegation zone on goal difference ahead of two Premier League meetings with Man Utd this week, the first of which is at Old Trafford on Wednesday ahead of the second leg at Elland Road on great sunday, live on Sky Sports (kick-off 2 p.m.).

Leeds are considering Rayo Vallecano head coach Andoni Iraola, West Brom boss Carlos Corberan and Celtic’s Ange Postecoglou, along with other candidates, to replace Jesse Marsch as head coach, with talks for the post already in progress.

Meanwhile, Leeds have announced that Michael Skubala, Paco Gallardo and Chris Armas will coach the squad until a replacement for Marsch is found, including for the first clash at Old Trafford, but Merson, speaking in his exclusive skysports.com column, cannot understand the decision. made by the heads of Elland Road.

Read on for Merson’s full thoughts on Marsch’s departure from Leeds and what he thinks is next for the club…

Merson on Leeds: ‘They canceled their biggest games of the season’

I can’t believe what happened in Leeds. I can’t believe what they did.

They have back-to-back games against Manchester United in the space of four days and they have sacked the manager.

Let’s be honest, this team is unlucky. People are surely watching and thinking that Leeds players were running around and putting in the effort for the manager. They just couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net.

It’s Leeds’ biggest game of the season, but it looks like the club have called it off. It’s like they said, let’s eliminate those two games and we’ll start our push from there.

But everyone knows that anything can happen in football.

Leeds out of luck | “Things can change quickly”

Looks like Leeds are one of those teams who, if they click, will be tough to play against. I still don’t see them coming down.

I really thought Leeds were doing well this season, but they just needed a bit of luck to get their way. Every team needs luck. Arsenal need a bit of luck to be where they are.

Things can change very quickly.

In my opinion, I really think players get you fired. There are times when you watch a group of players during a game and you can tell they don’t feel like it.

But Leeds players appeared to be running for the manager. They couldn’t really give more, but I just can’t believe the decision Leeds made.

“Leeds is not a million miles away”

Man Utd are Leeds’ biggest rivals. They play them twice now and they don’t have a manager.

Leeds also brought in new players, who signed for Marsch. He knew these players and they joined the club because he was the manager. All of a sudden, he left.

I would like to think that the players thought they would have a better chance of getting something out of those games with Man Utd with Marsch as their coach.

They weren’t a million miles away.

I saw them recently against Brentford and thought they played very well in the second half, but they couldn’t score a goal. Against Nottingham Forest on Sunday they had 70% possession and 10 shots. Forest had two shots on goal the whole game and Leeds lost the game 1-0.

I’m so sorry for Marsch. I know they are at the bottom and the results didn’t go the way the club or the manager wanted them to but if we’re being honest they were always going to be in that zone anyway and potentially at best in the middle of the table.

But a little luck here and there and it could have been a completely different season for Leeds.

“Where’s Marsch’s replacement?” »

It doesn’t make sense that after sacking the manager they don’t already have a replacement in line.

They have two big games in four days against United. It’s different if a club sacks a manager and he doesn’t have a game for two weeks.

You have to think of the fans because you don’t want to go to Old Trafford and be beaten 4-0 or 5-0.

It’s like they’re admitting they don’t have a chance in those two games and just want them out of the way. I am flabbergasted.

Who knows? They may have had some results with Marsch.

I thought they might with a change of luck.

They are not beaten or embarrassed. They’ve taken part in most games this season, but they can’t score at the moment.

He couldn’t help it. His best striker has been injured for most of the season.

Scrap for survival | “It’s still tight at the bottom”

Things can change quickly. They could very easily lose twice to Man Utd, and they will face Everton and Southampton ahead of an FA Cup game against Sunderland or Fulham and a league game against Chelsea.

By canceling these two games, they potentially make the game against Everton a cup final.

It is not so easy. You can’t just cancel football games when you’re down.

I don’t know if they’ve started listening to some fans, if they’re a little frustrated.

But still, I don’t think you want to change things like that at this point.

It’s still extremely tight down there. A victory can change a lot of things.

‘Difficult to change style’ | Is Bielsa an option?

Leeds don’t have the players to do what Everton did under Sean Dyche against Arsenal. They have a completely different style.

I think the only way they could potentially get out of trouble is to bring Marcelo Bielsa back.

Leeds are used to playing a certain way. They play at 100 miles an hour. It’s high pressure football and they are full of energy. They could do worse than bring Bielsa back. Fans would agree with that.

It’s so hard to change your style in the middle of a season.

That’s why Bielsa didn’t go to Everton. He looked at the players and thought they couldn’t play the way he wanted. However, Dyche looked at the Everton squad and it was completely different. These players are a dream for Dyche.

Now this Leeds side can still play the way Bielsa wants to play. Players don’t have time to change and get used to a whole new style of play.

For this reason, Bielsa must be an option.

Leeds’ next Premier League fixtures

February 8: Manchester United (A) – kick off 8 p.m.

12 February : Manchester United (H) – kick-off 2 p.m., live sky sports

February 18: Everton (A) – kick off 3 p.m.

February 25: Southampton (H) – kick off 3 p.m.

March 4: chelsea (A) – kick off 3 p.m.

March 11: Brighton (H) – kick off 3 p.m.

March 18: wolves (A) – kick off 3 p.m.