Towards the tail end of last season I, like many others, was fearful that with the impending departure of Kalvin and Rapha and our continuing sicknote (Bambi) how would we manage to get ourselves pointing forward and offer some form of competition within the Premier League.
Well, we are 3 games in ( and I accept that there is a very long way to go) and the team and more importantly the new recruits, have plugged the gap very successfully. Maybe as a team and a group of supporters, we relied on Rapha to win the games single handed for us and Kalvin to be the keystone of our defence, with the rest of the team as back up to their undoubted talents. What we have now is a team that seems to be a complete unit and not necessarily dependant on any one individual. Yes there are some good individual performances in the games, but from what I have seen so far, we are not now reliant on an individual to win us the game or ensure that the defence operates efficiently.
As usual, the dark, windy, wet and winter months will be a test to see if JM's energy press style will still be effective, but as there is a significant break due to the World Cup, if we continue to pick up points prior to the break, that will put us in good stead.
What i like about Jesse is his straight talking, and maybe because Marcelo used an interpreter all the time looks as if JM speaks directly to us.
I loved MB always will, for me when the LUFC history sporting books come out Marcelo's time at TA/ER will be remembered fondly and rightly so.
But Jesse tbf has continued the ethos of "hard work" high tempo, pressing, attacking with numbers, all the qualities that MB demanded from his players which i think is brilliant to have so if things continue to go well on the pitch, it wont be long before JM will win all of the fans over. Give the guy credit it couldn't have been easy to take over a team last year when things weren't going well and fair play to him, his backroom staff and the players for keeping us up, because i feared had we gone down we would have lost Kalvin, Rapha, Jack, Mesiler, Llorente, and more and certainly wouldn't have attracted as many of the new signings we did make.
Fingers crossed for Jesse hope he can continue to develop or Club, or squad, and that he is around for good few seasons.
I am enjoying watching JMs style. Not too dissimilar to MB but just a bit more disciplined defensively
It's not all gone to plan for our 2 superstars as neither are starting and both on the bench for Citeh and Barca....
For me, it was always clear we needed depth and balance in the squad. Moving to 5 subs in a 25 man squad this season means 16 match involvements not 14.
Last year was characterised by having a couple of world class players and then groups of tired stalwarts and some promising kids.
I know a lot of fans (even on here) have been guarded and doubtful about Jesse Marsch because of their love for Bielsa, but yesterday was his "Stoke" moment and there's no excuse for not being 100% behind him and his energetic young team.
I remain a champion and advocate of everything that the Radz/Orta/Kinnear axis are doing because I have a long memory and genuinely appreciate seeing us in the top 4 of the Premier league - even if that's temporary!
Where were we when Mad Massimo left?
Yes, JM will have his bad days, but where Bielsa's team were wacky and sometimes whacked, JM is already doing better IMHO. I want safety this season so I can enjoy the games, so far so good.