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Marcelo Bielsa and Jesse Marsch comparisons emerge from within Leeds United coaching setup

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Leeds United‘s first-team coach Mark Jackson believes he is fortunate to have worked under both Marcelo Bielsa and Jesse Marsch, and has described them as “two extremes.”

Initially the Leeds Under-23 boss during the Argentine’s time at the club, Jackson was tasked with providing a bridge between the development and senior side by employing the same style of play, which could translate throughout Leeds’ different age groups.

The high-intensity pressing style of Bielsa and Marsch may be similar but Jackson also had to coach a man-to-man marking system. This would make the pathway to senior football easier when young players were asked to make the step up to the first-team.

Following Bielsa’s dismissal in February, Marsch was appointed immediately after as head coach and one of his first decisions was to promote Jackson to the first-team coaching set-up where he has remained since.

Quiz: Did these 20 players score a goal during the Marcelo Bielsa era at Leeds United?

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Adam Forshaw

The former Leeds defender realises his promotion puts him in a privileged position, speaking in a Twitter Spaces event for The Coaches Voice, he said: “I’m in a position at the club now where I’m really privileged to be working with Jesse and the rest of the staff.”

He continued in saying how honoured he was to be trusted with more responsibility, he added: “I worked closely with the first team when Marcelo was a manager and Jesse came in and it was a tough time, we were kind of fighting relegation and for him to come in and put his trust in me to help support him to the end of the season was a real privilege. I’ve been lucky enough then to stay with the staff going forward.”

He enjoys the new counter-pressing style of play, despite it being different from Bielsa, he said: “For me as a coach it’s fantastic to work under the new style, which Jesse brought in.”

Jackson believes he is fortunate to have had two different educational extremes with Bielsa and Marsch, he said: “I’m fortunate, I tell people now that I’ve worked under two extremes. I class Marcelo as an extreme in how he saw the game and Jesse to a certain extent.

“Everybody talks about the Red Bull style, but I can fully say that Jesse’s adapted that and evolved it to his own style. So for me, it’s a learning day every day in the building.”

Leeds’ style under Bielsa was high-intensity but man-marking off the ball, and making the pitch as wide as possible whilst causing wide overloads to build up the ball quickly.

Under Marsch, Leeds look to condense the space so that if they lose the ball they can counter-press the ball in packs quickly, which is why wide play is usually restricted to one side and there is rarely a wide outlet on the opposite flank awaiting a switch.

The main similarity is intensity, but Jackson will know this. Leeds are one of the highest volume pressing teams and have been under both coaches. Jackson himself may be hoping that the education he has received serves him well for management in the future.

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