Leeds United grant Jesse Marsch unique wish as boss trials 'ghost coach' with 25-man task

Cameron Toshack was one of the first names to join Jesse Marsch when the American took over from Marcelo Bielsa back in February.

Leeds were short several staff membets as Bielsa’s loyalist team of analysts and coaches departed along with the Argentine, and so Toshack stepped in.

Initially added as a temporary first-team coach on a short-term contract until the end of the season, Toshack earned an extension this summer as well as former Under-23s’ lead development coach Mark Jackson who also joined Marsch’s backroom team.

The Welshman is son of former national side manager John but boasts vast experience of his own in youth football and in supplementary roles.

Marsch observed Toshack’s way of working when invited to Swansea City by close friend and coaching mentor Bob Bradley, who managed the Swans briefly during late 2016, which coincided with the MLS off-season.

At that time, Toshack was Swansea’s Under-23 head coach, while Marsch was in charge of US side New York Red Bulls with whom he had presided over a 16-game unbeaten run to finish the regular season, but were knocked out in the MLS Cup play-offs by former employers Montreal Impact.

During Marsch’s pre-match press conference on Thursday afternoon, the head coach revealed the specifics behind Toshack’s new role this season.

"I haven't really announced it but Cameron Toshack is now our individual plan, individual coach,” he said. “We've invested a lot in trying to be very clear with every player and to get their input and investment as to what they think they need, to improve and then do it within the model of how we're trying to play football.

"And I think what we've seen is full engagement from every player. And that gives them the chance to I think be the best versions of themselves and continue to improve,” he added.

By the sounds of things, Toshack has been handed quite the undertaking in assembling comprehensive and detailed individual training plans for Leeds’ 25-man senior squad in order to maximise performance.

As Marsch divulged, no stone has been left unturned: “We've spent a lot of time working with the players to create individual plans that include everything from technical, tactical, nutrition, physical and gym work, psychological, mentality.

"And then he's put together action plans for every player that includes measurables and all of these areas that include weekly work that include additional meetings, video,” he added.

Toshack does still retain on-pitch coaching responsibilities as something Marsch alluded to the process being somewhat experimental.

"He's also on the pitch every day with players working. He's 'ghost coaching' during training in certain positions when we're working on certain things and the role will continue I think to grow and change based on what we find is the most valuable. I've always wanted to have someone in a role like this, and I'm thankful that the club has supported me and us in this way to now be able to execute the plan.

"I think we're already seeing the rewards,” he said.

Marsch did not go into specifics surrounding Toshack’s ‘ghost’ role, but at the very least it sounds a novel concept seemingly new to English football, and perhaps derived from Marsch’s experiences coaching in the United States and central Europe.

The club added former Borussia Dortmund backroom man René Marić earlier this summer as Marsch’s assistant head coach, another figure with a reputation for outside-the-box thinking in coaching and recruitment circles.

"I'm working carefully with with [Head of medicine and performance] Rob Price and the entire medical team to make sure that as physical athletes, we're maximising the potential of who they are and who they can become,” Marsch said on Thursday afternoon.

“Then add the piece of the tactics and the football and the mentality and the work ethic and putting it all together to create high performing football machines,” he added.

A busy summer is drawing to a close but Leeds certainly appear healthier and greater in number on and off the pitch than they did upon Marsch’s arrival.

Toshack’s clearly defined role, Jackson’s set-piece focus, René Marić as a ‘service provider’, Frankie Schiemer as external coaching consultant and former assistant to Ralf Rangnick Ewan Sharp assisting with tactical and video analysis, all indicate Leeds have a diverse pool of skills punctuating their backroom.

Unlike the patchwork quilt that was Marsch’s coaching group upon his hasty appointment late last season, the American is slowly beginning to build a backroom team that reflects and executes his preferred style of working, which in theory should translate onto the pitch.