Leeds brittle defence puts Marsch on the brink of his Elland Road farewell

After seven games without a win, Leeds manager Jesse Marsch really needed a big performance against Fulham. He did not get one.

Is this how the brief and tempestuous relationship between Leeds United and Jesse Marsch ends, then? Marsch arrived at Elland Road with the club under a cloud as a result of the sacking of Marcelo Bielsa, and that relationship between the manager and the fans meant that Marsch, fresh from the process-heavy environment of the Red Bull stable, was certainly a change of direction for the club.

But while he was able to keep them in the Premier League last season – just – this season has seen little improvement. Seven successive games without a win had led to a familiar cloud descending over Elland Road again, and there was clear recognition of this in Marsch’s decision to make six changes from the team that was so well beaten at Leicester City in the week, the sort of decision that makes you wonder, ‘do they have the strength in depth for such widespread changes?’

And Fulham arrived there in fairly rude form, in the top half of the Premier League and coming off the back of their most comprehensive win of the season, so far, a 3-0 win against Aston Villa which was sufficient to persuade their opponents to offload their manager within a couple of hours of the full-time whistle blowing at Craven Cottage.

The live league tables, which update with every goal scored, only turned the tension up inside the stadium early on, with goals for Leicester City and Aston Villa dropping Leeds into the relegation places in the live league table within ten minutes of the kick-off. Meanwhile, that familiar skittish feeling that has so regularly surrounded Marsch’s Leeds returned when Harrison Reed broke clear on the right for Fulham and had his shot cleared off the line by Marc Roca.

The familiarity of it all was evident in the nature of the two first half goals. Brenden Aaronson has been one of the brighter sparks in the Leeds team so far this season, and it was his pass which stretched the Fulham defence and allowed Jack Harrison clear sight of the Fulham goal. His shot was blocked by a defender, but the ball looped up for Rodrigo to head in from close range.

When a team in the sort of position in which Leeds find themselves take the lead, they need to bed in and hold onto it, but six minutes later Fulham’s equaliser was just too easy, a corner from Andreas Pereira flicked in by Alexandar Mitrovic at the near post with the Leeds…