'Really? - Jesse Marsch hits back at Leeds United fan after calling out Sam Allardyce over fitness jab
The former Leeds United manager's focus on squad fitness had been questioned by Sam Allardyce last week.
Former Leeds United boss Jesse Marsch has hit back at one of his successors and a fan following questions over the squad’s fitness under his watch.
Sam Allardyce took charge of Leeds for the final four games of their 2022/23 Premier League relegation campaign, earning one point as the Whites dropped back into the Championship. He was manager number three for the season, with Jesse Marsch sacked in February and Javi Gracia following him out the door in early May.
Leeds were famed for their fitness and intensity under Marcelo Bielsa, who oversaw Championship promotion in 2020 followed by a ninth-place top-flight finish the following season. And speaking last week, Allardyce claimed there had been a drop in running stats since the Argentinian’s exit.
“Bielsa had the top physical stats in the Premier League, Leeds United were number one,” he told the No Tippy Tappy Football podcast, “So when I went to Leeds after two [more] managers, I’m thinking ‘at least they’re fit’.
“They were bottom three. The two managers after Bielsa allowed the physical stats to drop into the Premier League bottom three... Why on earth had the next two managers allowed that to slip?”
Now in charge of the Canada national team, Marsch hit back at the claims once they were posted on X. The American quoted a video including Allardyce's comments and wrote ‘Really??’ with what appears to be a table ranking Premier League teams’ physical outputs.
Jesse Marsch outlines Leeds United fitness data
It’s not clear where the data has come from but the table ranks Premier League teams on a number of physical metrics including total distance covered, sprint distance, high-speed runs and number of sprints. Of the eight metrics included in the table, Leeds are ranked first for seven, sitting second for sprint distance.
The data is presumably from the 2022/23 campaign which Marsch started in charge and runs from gameweek 1-20, therefore not including the American’s final two games against Brentford and Nottingham Forest. There is no published information surrounding Gracia’s spell.
Inevitably, Marsch’s reaction garnered a lot of attention among Leeds fans with one by the name of @jessicaad285 on X posting: “Nobody cares about yours or Big Sam’s opinions tbh [to be honest] the relegation speaks for itself.” And that got a response from the former Leeds boss, who wrote: “Except we kept the team up. [thinking emoji]”
Marsch did keep Leeds up when succeeding Bielsa midway through the 2021/22 campaign but played his part in relegation the following season. The American took charge of 22 league games but led them only to 17th by the time of his exit, above the relegation zone on goal difference following two wins in 17 games.
Gracia managed to pick up three wins in his first seven games as Leeds boss but then took one point from five matches, conceding 18 goals in the process. Allardyce lost three of his four in charge, losing 4-1 at home to Tottenham Hotspur on the final day as relegation was confirmed.