Jesse Marsch appointed Leeds United head coach after Marcelo Bielsa departure

Jesse Marsch has been appointed as the new head coach of Leeds United on a three-and-a-half-year deal.

The dismissal of the Argentine left the Yorkshire club 16th in the league table and two points from the danger zone.

Marsch, who has previously coached at New York Red Bulls and RB Salzburg, has signed a contract with the club and will be tasked with turning around their recent form.

The American started the season as the coach at the German club.

For a more accessible video player, please use the chrome browser.

Marsch and the club mutually parted ways at the start of December, after a 6-3 loss to Manchester City in the opening game of the European Championship.

Speaking about the appointment, Victor Orta, Director of Football, said: "We are delighted to welcome Jesse to the club and excited for him to lead us into this new chapter."

Jesse is someone we identified a number of years ago during his time at Red Bull Salzburg and we believe his philosophy and style of football will suit the players very well.

We have a long-term plan and firmly believe that he can take the club to the next level.

The services of our first-choice head coach have been secured quickly.

Although the short-term objective for Jesse is obvious, we believe he has the courage and ambition to build on the strong foundations we have created over the last four years and elevate the performance of the club over the long-term.

#LUFC can today announce the appointment of Jesse Marsch as our new head coach, pending international clearance

— Leeds United (@LUFC) February 28, 2022

He had a great deal of success with New York Red Bulls and Red Bull Salzburg and has shown that he is a great fit with the footballing culture of the club.

At this challenging time, it is important that the club stays united from top to bottom. We have no doubt that the fans will unite behind Jesse and help the team return to winning with style.

The first game in charge of Marsch will be a trip toLeicester on Saturday.

What went wrong for Bielsa?

Adam Smith is on Sky Sports.

After a 2-2 draw with Brentford on December 5th, Leeds were just three points away from the top half of the table. Since suffering his first major injury in mid-September, Patrick Bamford has only played in one game this season.

The remaining spine of the team has been out since, too, in KalvinPhillips and Liam Cooper. After those injuries, there was a run of games against Manchester City, Manchester United, and then a game against Arsenal.

Despite a brief run of form running into the new year, which produced a draw with Villa and wins over West Ham and Burnley, five defeats from six games since prompted the board to end Bielsa's four-year reign.

The Argentine refused to blame his missing trio, but the statistics show they have been missed.

The two teams below them are only two points away from the drop zone, with two games in hand.

The injuries were an important factor in what went wrong for Bielsa.

The win rate has halved and the points-per-game averages have gone down as a result of the absence ofPhillips and Cooper. There were a lot of missed chances against Spurs because of the absence of a direct replacement for Bamford.

Following the key injuries, the city became less watertight. While the initial spike in goals conceded could be understandable, based on opposition, the latest spike has few excuses and shows that Leeds are shipping an average of four goals per game.

In addition, the renown high press appears to have weakened since the return ofPhillips, with opponents finding it easier to play through them when building from the back and central midfield.

The intensity and gung-ho style of the high press was one of the reasons for the fear factor for the opponents, which included league-topping numbers for sprints and distance covered.

The sprinting distances have remained, but the overall running distances have fallen since the injuries toPhillips and Cooper.

In addition, average positions show that the only forward in the park has advanced even farther upfield, increasing space for opponents in the centre of the park.

Few would argue that the missing trio was a factor in the run of results. His gung-ho approach with limited resources against superior teams was costly.