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‘Clearly’: Sky Sports presenter spotted the four words Marsch said when he was shown replay of James’ red-card
Jesse Marsch said Dan James should not have been sent off in conversation with the fourth official in Leeds’ loss to Chelsea.
The Wales international was dismissed in the first half of the 3-0 defeat which plunges the Whites deeper into the relegation mire.
Marsch might have hoped to get a result from a Blues side with one eye on Saturday’s FA Cup final clash with Liverpool but it was a comfortable night’s work for Thomas Tuchel’s men in the end.
Kelly Cates was the presenter for coverage of the game and she spotted what Marsch said to fourth official Kevin Friend when shown a replay of the incident which was the turning point of the game.
Marsch said Dan James should not have been sent off
Cates shared what Marsch said after watching a replay back on touchline: “Jesse Marsch looks back on it and clearly goes to the fourth official and says ‘he got the ball’ and tries to plead the case for Dan James.”
Pundit Graeme Souness, who made plenty of tough challenges in a different era, said: “In the heat of battle you see things differently when you’re on the touchline.
“I think he’ll see that back later and say ‘yes it was a sending off’.
“Yes, he’s got the ball but his momentum and there’s a lot of it, he got a bit of the ball but he got a hell of a lot of Kovacic. He endangered an opponent and that’s a sending off.”
Marsch also suffered more worrying news with Jack Harrison’s injury, on which he offered an immediate update after the game.
Marsch is already without Luke Ayling because of his straight red card against Arsenal and now he will be without James for the final two matches of the season.
That is not ideal for a Leeds squad which already looked thin on the ground and it may increase the pressure to throw Patrick Bamford back into the mix.
That would give the crowd a lift and boost Leeds’ goal threat but it would risk another injury setback. That said, the alternative might be relegation back to the Championship…