Leeds has appointed former Watford manager Javi Gracia as their new head coach. Jesse Marsch was fired by the club on February 6, and U21s coach Michael Skubala has taken temporary charge for the past three games, but a 1-0 loss to relegation rivals Everton on Saturday has left the team two points from safety. Gracia, who kept Watford in the Premier League and led them to the FA Cup final last season, has been out of work since leaving Al Saad in Qatar in June. On Saturday, Leeds faces bottom-of-the-table Southampton in a critical match.
“Leeds United is thrilled to announce that the club has signed terms with Javi Gracia to become men’s first team head coach, subject to work permit approval,” the club said in a statement. “At Elland Road, the experienced 52-year-old has agreed to a flexible deal.”
It remains to be seen whether Gracia will be given the opportunity to lead Leeds for an entire season. There is still a lot of work to be done before that becomes a possibility, and it is no secret that the 52-year-old was not their first choice to succeed Jesse Marsch. But, given the circumstances, and while some Leeds fans may require convincing about his qualifications for the position, it is easy to see how the club’s decision-makers chose him. For starters, the former midfielder’s management career has included spells in command of 12 different clubs in five different nations, with two themes running through them all.
Those qualities were evident at Malaga, where he secured back-to-back top-10 finishes in La Liga on a shoestring budget, taking points away from Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Atletico Madrid, and again at Watford in the 2018/19 season, a team defined by togetherness, diligence, and discipline, much like Gracia’s Malaga. These are the attributes that Leeds will require if they are to remain in the Premier League this season. Prior to his dismissal, Marsch spoke of progress. On the field, however, mayhem prevailed. His team was too open, too easy to beat, and, in the end, too vulnerable to relegation.
Marsch was successful in one element of his term, ensuring Leeds’ Premier League position last season, and that will be Gracia’s first objective this season. 49ers Enterprises, the investment arm of the San Francisco 49ers, have the option to own 100 percent of the club and Elland Road stadium by January 2024, and while relegation would not necessarily scupper the deal, it would affect Leeds’ valuation and throw a spanner in the works of the current agreement, which is contingent on the club remaining in the top flight.
Gracia must immediately figure out how to keep Leeds from losing games they should have won or at the very least gotten a point from. Marsch’s last game in command, a 1-0 loss at Nottingham Forest earlier this month, was indicative of the American’s style. Leeds dominated possession and spent long periods in the opposing half, only to concede cheap goals from set pieces or on the counter-attack.
Under Marsch’s reign, the opposition rarely had to produce too many chances to score. Leeds frequently lost defensive structure after committing players forward, and in addition to being vulnerable in transition, they have continued to leak goals from set pieces. Under Marsch, the Whites surrendered three or more goals in a game more often than they shut out the opposition.
Leeds appeared to have backed Marsch in the January transfer window. Max Wober of Austria and Weston McKennie of the United States have also started, but Gracia must adapt club-record acquisition Georginio Sturm into his playing system. Patrick Bamford, the injured Rodrigo, Luis Sinisterra, Willy Gnonto, Brenden Aaronson, Jack Harrison, and Crysencio Summerville provide a wealth of attacking skills, which the Spaniard must figure out how to best utilize.
Former manager Marcelo Bielsa’s swarming, high-tempo attacking strategy gave way to a convoluted version under Marsch. The American’s game plan was disorganized, leaving spectators and analysts perplexed, and his players felt uneasy in their duties. Gracia’s sides are known for being disciplined and difficult to beat rather than for playing free-flowing football. Whatever his vision for Leeds is, he must constantly convert it onto the pitch, which Marsch was unable to do, and time is running out.
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