Leeds United boss Jesse Marsch could have four games before World Cup break to save his job - Stuart Rayner

Leeds United's next four matches could decide if it is Jesse Marsch's saving grace or death knell.

On the face of it, a looming World Cup is a dangerous time for Premier League and Championship managers. A six-week gap for the former, four weeks for the latter, is an ideal time to sack an under-pressure manager.

For those players not in Qatar it will be something like a pre-season during the campaign, an ideal opportunity for a new manager to get his ideas across, for bodies and minds to rest and refresh. For chairmen in the market for someone else, it will provide a bit of time to find them.

As Hull City have discovered recently, it is hard casting around for a new manager when your focus is on game after game. That at least is the logic, but logic does not often apply to football, least of all when it comes to sacking managers.

Four Premier League clubs have blinked already, but Wolverhampton Wanderers binned Bruno Lage following the game after September's shorter Nations League break, and Steven Gerrard went last week.

Bizarrely, Hull waited until the morning of the last day to sack Shota Arveladze, and not because they were busy lining a replacement up.

If Leeds' winless streak, currently at eight games, has not been broken by the time Brenden Aaronson, Tyler Adams and others head to the Middle East, the pressure on Marsch and the board will be ramped up, and that six-week break will suddenly look like a tempting escape valve. It is clear, though, the Elland Road hierarchy would prefer to stand by their man. Fans are angry they did not dig deeper down the back of the sofa in the last transfer window, but the money spent certainly all went on players who looked hand-picked by Marsch.

When players such as captain Liam Cooper come out with supportive words, as he did on Sunday, you get the impression it is more than mere lip service. There is an argument for holding fire, too. Only a couple of weeks ago, Brendan Rodgers' job prospects only looked to be heading one way. Five matches, three wins and a draw later, Leicester City may have ridden out the storm.

If Marsch can do the same, suddenly that pause looks like a welcome chance to regroup, to think clearly away from the constant pressure of chasing the next three points. Marsch is not actually doing terribly at the moment. The wheels have not come off and rolled down the street like in Marcelo Bielsa's final five games.

Equally, though, Marsch does not have the credit in the bank Bielsa's thrilling football and Championship title earned. Following in those footsteps was always going to be difficult, particularly as the on-field chaos he inherited meant Marsch and Leeds had no choice but to show the pragmatism he bluntly refused to.

Even after beating Chelsea 3-0 in August it felt like some on the terraces were never completely sold on the American.

Details are letting Leeds down, but they are the most important details in the game. They are not putting chances away and are helping opponents with basic individual errors defensively. As combinations go, it is a horrendous one.

More than anything it probably just needs a shot of confidence, but confidence comes from winning, and that is much harder without confidence. It is hard not to feel sorry for coaches let down by individual errors but Marsch is the motivator, and needs to get his players in the right head-space.

If the next match looks ghoulish, the three after are not as daunting.

Last week Nottingham Forest were the latest team to make Liverpool look human, but the Reds' strange collapse is only happening away from Anfield. On home turf they have the fourth-best record in the league. Manchester City have lost on Merseyside, and Bournemouth were hammered 9-0.

The way Leeds were so comprehensively undressed there last season was a big factor in Bielsa's dismissal. Get through that and Bournemouth are next. The way Gary O'Neil has picked them off the floor after the 9-0, that is no cause for cartwheels but the Cherries have lost their last two. That could be three after hosting Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday and suddenly welcoming them to Elland Road looks more like an opportunity than a glaring hazard.

The League Cup does not count for much these days but the shot of belief a victory over Wolves could provide might. And three weeks is an eternity away but not unusually for a club managed by Antonio Conte, Spurs does not seem like a happy place at the moment.

Leeds have the chance to give the hierarchy the get-out they so badly want. Carry on as they are doing at present, though, and the bosses may be backed into a corner.