Leeds United boss Jesse Marsch is hoping to for a positive finish to the club’s Australian adventure when his side take on fellow English Premier League side Crystal Palace on Friday night at Optus Stadium as part of Perth’s ICON Festival.
Speaking to the media ahead of an open training session at Fremantle Oval today, Marsch also spoke glowingly of the hospitality and warm welcome that Leeds have received since they arrived in the country last week.
“Everybody’s been incredibly welcoming, the amount of scarves that we’ve seen in town already has been very impressive,” he said.
“It was the same in Brisbane and also at the Gold Coast. So many of our fans coming out, showing passion for our team, talking about staying up at night to watch us play. It’s very exciting to be here and we want to deliver a good match for them on Friday night.”
The travelling party touched down in Perth on Tuesday night before Marsch and star players Patrick Bamford and Daniel James met State Premier Mark McGowan, amongst others, in Fremantle.
“It was nice to meet the Premier and a lot of the officials this morning, everybody was very gracious and welcoming,” said Marsch.
“They took us down to Cappuccino Street and actually Patrick and Dan each ordered a cappuccino from a coffee shop down there and then we just had a little bit of a video session late morning and then we had lunch and then we talked about training and now we’re here so just trying to maximise every moment we can here while we’re in Australia.”
Despite the rain, a strong turnout of Leeds supporters got to watch their heroes being put through their paces at Fremantle before being afforded the opportunity to secure some all-important photographs and signatures.
“It’s not been perfect in terms of the training camp but at the same time, I think our mentality to work and to improve and the camaraderie of the group is so strong,” said Marsch.
“We don’t in our team have complainers or negative thinkers. We have a bunch of guys who are positive, excited for the matches so that part makes it a lot of fun to be the manager of this group.
It hasn’t been smooth sailing since Marsch took over from the much-loved Marcelo Bielsa at Elland Road back in February. However, the club successfully battled against relegation and the 48-year-old can now look forward to a full campaign at the helm, even if there are still some preconceptions and opinions based on where he comes from.
“I don’t know that that will ever go away but it’s okay, I’m okay with that,” he said. “I think that a big part of my job is to be able to sit here at these press conferences and still represent what we are doing in a way that can allow for us to quietly, as quietly as possible for a club like Leeds, work well relatively calmly and to improve every day.
“That is a big part of my philosophy, it’s just a process of becoming a really strong team together and I’m lucky to have great men in the squad and it’s leaders that we have.”
In transfer news, Marsch confirmed that the club are on the lookout for a new striker, having been heavily linked to Belgian youngster Charles De Ketelaere, and a left back.
“The striker one, I think it’s been well documented that De Ketelaere was a goal of ours and it’s not finished yet with him,” said the American.
“But we’ve also moved on to some other targets trying to figure out which would be the best fit if in the end, which is what we believe, he will not be available.”
Marsch said that they are in the middle of evaluating candidates for the left back position and looking at the squad to see what exactly is required.
The club is looking to bounce back from the losses of Kalvin Phillips (Manchester City) and Raphinha (Barcelona) in recent weeks, but a number of fresh faces have already come on board – Tyler Adams, Brenden Aaronson, Rasmus Kristensen, Marc Roca, Sonny Perkins, Darko Gyabi and Luis Sinisterra
Club captain Liam Cooper remains sidelined with an Achilles problem he picked up when running on a treadmill.
In better news, exciting youngster Archie Gray has recovered well from a poor tackle by Aston Villa’s John McGinn in Brisbane on Sunday. The 16-year-old has resumed light training and could be in contention to face Palace in Perth.
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