Leeds United’s Jesse Marsch shows importance of embracing new ideas on and off the pitch – Sue Smith

Leeds United’s players will have been hit with plenty of new ideas in Jesse Marsch’s first two weeks as coach and having got used to Marcelo Bielsa’s ways, they might have found some hard to adapt to.

Lots of people had a chuckle when Marsch gathered his players in the centre circle at Leicester City last week for a post-match huddle.

Like any manager, he needs wins to back up his ideas so tomorrow’s game at home to Norwich City will be massive. But I hope the Leeds players have been open-minded and covering the Leicester game, it looked like they were.

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When I was playing, girls like Kelly Smith, Alex Scott, Karen Bardsley and Karen Carney went to play in America and came back with different ideas.

NEW IDEAS: Leeds United's head coach Jesse Marsch at the full-time whistle after losing at Leicester City Picture: Jonathan GawthorpeNEW IDEAS: Leeds United's head coach Jesse Marsch at the full-time whistle after losing at Leicester City Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe
NEW IDEAS: Leeds United's head coach Jesse Marsch at the full-time whistle after losing at Leicester City Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe

When we met up with England we would be saying “Why are you high-fiving each other?” but it was all about togetherness and identity, and I think Leeds’s post-match huddle probably was too. I noticed all the players high-fiving each other in the warm-up.

When we were up against it in games one of the girls would go down injured and get the physio on so the rest of us could have a “time-out” with the coaches.

With lots of these things I was a little unsure at first but I came to appreciate them and because the USA were one of the world’s leading women’s teams there was not the same negativity towards them as in the men’s game.

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I saw a mocked-up photograph with a speech bubble of one of Marsch’s quotes and Bielsa’s old translator Andres Clavijo putting it into plain footballing English.

Fara Williams in action on the pitch during her last match before retiring last year. Picture: John Walton/PAFara Williams in action on the pitch during her last match before retiring last year. Picture: John Walton/PA
Fara Williams in action on the pitch during her last match before retiring last year. Picture: John Walton/PA

When I first came across sports psychologists loads of my team-mates were just not having it, but now it is the norm. It was the same with sports scientists introducing dynamic stretches.

It takes a period of time to believe in new methods but when you see the benefits, you realise how important it is to embrace new ideas. Some will think they are cheesy but what is the harm?

I imagine if you are the sort of person who reads a football column written by a woman in The Yorkshire Post, you are not afraid of things that are a bit different but there are lots of them out there.

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Fara Williams and Rachel Brown were BT pundits for Liverpool’s game on International Women’s Day and Lianne Sanderson had a more prominent role on Talk Sport. It should not just be on that day. Every women wants to get those chances because they are good enough.

Football pundit Rachel Brown-Finnis Picture: Joe Prior/Visionhaus via Getty ImagesFootball pundit Rachel Brown-Finnis Picture: Joe Prior/Visionhaus via Getty Images
Football pundit Rachel Brown-Finnis Picture: Joe Prior/Visionhaus via Getty Images

All the broadcasters have improved that in the last few years – that day I co-hosted the launch of a new women’s football show on 90 Mins’ You Tube channel – and they were all really good, so I hope it leads to more opportunities.

Unfortunately, Fara came in for some abuse on Twitter.

It was something I experienced all the time when I first started reporting on Sky’s Soccer Saturday. If I made an error, so many people would leap on it but now I am a regular on the programme I think more people just put up with me!

I learnt not to go looking for criticism too. Laura Woods, who presents on Sky Sports and Talk Sport, used to do that but she spoke really well this week about her coping strategies. Now she follows the famous quote, “Don’t judge me if you haven’t walked in my shoes.” So if a colleague in the media says she has not done her job very well, she takes notice, but if it is an anonymous “egg” on Twitter she does not.

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She also spoke about allyship and what it means to get a nice message from somebody.

I got a message recently from Brighton and Hove Albion defender Tori Williams, who I had probably not spoken to since our days as Doncaster Rovers Belles team-mates, saying Sky Sports is often on in the training ground and thanking me for being an inspiration.

It was so nice when there was a letter in The Yorkshire Post’s Sports Monday letters section saying they liked a column and whenever someone messages me on social media to say they enjoyed something I did, I always reply because it really is appreciated. If you are one of those people, thank you so much.

People are quick to say horrible things but much slower to praise, so if someone does a job you appreciate – not just in the media – why not tell them?

And if you see something a bit different, give it a go. Different does not always mean bad.

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