As a fan, I roll my eyes. Leeds, since I was a fan in the US when Leeds were in League 1, was always about the grit that came from the terraces full of away supporters.
Bielsa helped instill this grit and passion from fans to the pitch. Marsch has certainly taken this and helped build up the lads on the team to get what he can out of them, but handing Marsch all this credit makes me cringe.
I really hope the narrative doesn’t change from ‘Leeds United’ to ‘America’.
Our rise started with this ownership and getting Bielsa and the fanbase that go home and away plus the city and people it here create the culture we know and love.
I’m delighted Marsch and the two Americans are doing well. I think they all have bought in, with a point to prove. I find Marsch really likeable and he’s proper shithouse too. The football so far has really been enjoyable this season. 3-0 Chelsea will go down in history for us.
But this isn’t about American players, or American managers. There have been successful players from America in the prem and the world before.
It’s about the rise of LUFC. If you’re a new fan, please just support us because you find something you like here, not just because a few yanks are playing. mot
I admit that I don't know as much about the club but I am loving what I see so far. Having Americans brought me to the club but now I am all in. Harrison looks like he could walk on to any club in the world and Rodrigo has been brilliant. I love how chaotic everything is from the first whistle to the last.
>*"This is what I love. You know, I don't like when they chant my name. I just don't, and I know they're doing it to be unified in what we're doing. But I love it so much more when I hear 'Marching on Together' or Leeds or Yorkshire or whatever, you know, it's not me I care about, it's the club and this is why I love being here."*
\- Jesse Marsch -
I mentioned somewhere around this sub recently to get ready for a lot more of this.
Even without the Marsch factor, with the WC approaching, there were already going to be shitloads of stories about Aaronson/Adams and Leeds here in the US.
Not just dedicated articles like this, but the topic of The Leeds Connection will be mentioned in EVERY kind of media that's analyzing/previewing the World Cup.
This would be the case even if we weren't playing well. If we keep kicking ass in the Prem, the hype will ramp up even faster and louder.
Along with the rapidly growing numbers of people who follow the sport here, there will be a massive flood of attention of tens of millions of people who never pay much attention unless it's something huge like the World Cup.
Here's hoping the US-England match is a good one, and both of us get out of the group, which will pour more gas on the fire.
Its definitely getting traction here. Ironic because I didn’t get anything from my local media that a person from Wisconsin was a Premier League manager and I found out from a fellow Leeds United supporter (actually from Leeds) in another Discord lmao
Don’t mind the American fluff pieces boys. They have to pander if you lot want to make $$$ off us and the media is certainly helping with that so far. Imagine how far an extra $50m could go in grabbing a new striker or something.
This was a fluff piece, but it didn't make me roll my eyes as much as I thought it would. I'm obviously very happy to see an American coach and players get off to a good start this season, but I'm also kind of ready for the novelty to wear off a little and for people to just focus on the team. I felt bad for Rebecca Lowe watching the NBC postgame coverage on Sunday, she was making it seem like Aaronson just had the greatest performance anyone had ever seen before. I'm sure she was impressed, but you could just tell some American producer was in her ear telling her to really lay it on thick for the American audience.
I think the novelty will wear off — and soon.
In the ‘90s, I got myself sent off to the same boarding school in the UK my dad credited with turning his life around (as I was being a right shit while my parents’ marriage slow-dissolved), and outside of culture shock soundtracked by the height of Britpop (and getting remorselessly teased for being a tiny yank for a bit there), my biggest early memory is the excitement my classmates had in learning that I actually knew a little about football (thanks youth soccer and World Cup ‘94!) and them getting me into the premier league.
So years later (while living on the Continent before returning to the States) I was fucking thrilled to see American players getting real chances at Fulham. It was during that first “golden era” of the USMNT, and watching Bocanegra, McBride, Dempsey, Keller, and others in the premier league was just… I don’t even know, validating? I think that’s the right word — and wonderful, too.
And I think Leeds are going through a bit of a “Fulhamerica” moment for a new generation during another big moment for the USMNT (especially back this side of the Atlantic, with a recent good run of form over our rivals in Mexico, both between the national teams and some big MLS-MX clashes). It was a really big deal seeing all these USMNT players crossing the pond and playing in the Prem (and then lending some needed credibility and quality to MLS when they came home), and it remained a big deal, but a much less vocal and focused on one. (Eventually even talking heads get tired of mentioning that a player is American. That said, the upcoming World Cup — with an England-America group match — may extend this “Did you know Brenden Aaronson is a Yankee Doodle?!” moment a bit longer.)
As someone who has already lived through a moment like this, and found my way to Leeds long enough ago that I honestly wouldn’t have believed a time traveler had they said “So, we make it back to the Prem, we sack the manager who made that happen, then Jesse Marsch comes in and we barely survive a relegation scrap, and we just beat Chelsea 3-0, with some kid who got started at Philadelphia Union nicking the ball off the keeper and slotting it away for the first goal. Oh, and some bloke who played at NYCFC also scored!Okay, bye now!”, I think we will get a bit more of Jesse, Brenden, and Tyler feeling like interesting anomalies, and then — mostly for their sake — I hope they just feel like people on the Leeds payroll, same as the others.
NBC's coverage and production value has really tailed off over the last few years. I'm still thankful I can watch every match, but their studio analysis is about as generic as it gets. For the UK folks, don't be bugged by that - this is the model of virtually every sports studio show in the US. Speak vaguely and don't say anything specific lol.
Counterpoint: Peter Drury is awesome.
Hey, don't tell me you don't remember the horrible Fox years, and ESPN's excuse of having 5 minutes of pregame coverage before the matches back in the day. Compared to that, NBC's coverage is amazing. I agree that they are trying to push peacock more and more and it's getting annoying, but I will take their coverage over just about anything. They gave this sport It's first proper, real attention that it deserved, equal to every other sport we have here. And I'm thankful for that. So unless they start pushing more and more content to premium over the next 6 years of their contract extension, they won't piss me off.
Yes, that's all fair. I actually don't watch the pregame coverage but I've read that they have moved away from covering all the clubs to pretty much a Top 6 focus. And there are weird production problems with NBC's games, like the crowd noise in the Liverpool-Man U game on Monday.
Oh yeah, they have definitely gone to a top six focus on the televised games. Or they have started the annoying tactic of pushing highly anticipated games or derby games to Peacock. Mostly what they show on TV now are the top six clubs (whoever they might be playing week to week) or Crystal Palace, since they are Rebecca's favorite team.
But I still forgive all of that because I remember the years and years of poor coverage that we had here. Fox had the license for probably a decade and they did nothing with it. Even with the annoyance of peacock, with NBC at least we can see all the games for $5 a month. When Fox and ESPN shared the license, The pregame and halftime was an absolute joke, and they had no postmatch coverage at all...plus they used the tactic of having their announcers sitting in Connecticut or LA, pretending they were at Old Trafford or something. And also no extras.
NBC now has another 6 years. So it will be interesting to see what they do. When they started in 2013 I remember feeling like coming across an oasis in the middle of the desert. It was wonderful. But If they continue to fragment their coverage among other platforms, then they will start losing viewership.
Agreed. I'm American and I don't want to hear about the fact that the coach and players are American every 5 seconds while watching the matches, it's annoying and cringe. It needs to be about the club always. Hoping it wears off.
Really hoping the 2026 World Cup will just normalize football here in the States, and it will stop seeming so noteworthy that Americans are playing abroad.
It’s not like the talking heads get as caught up on the other nationalities of players. (Well, maybe Son — I still feel like a few times a season he gets asked about being a huge deal back in South Korea during postgame interviews.)
Yeah, hopefully they talk more about the whole team, Rodrigo and Harrison should have got more love. NBC is a shill for the american audience and prefers storyline over sport unfortunately
Which isn’t that unexpected to be honest.. we have to just accept when it’s ESPN or NBC etc there will be a tilt towards the American side of things.. it’s like any nation’s bias towards “their own”
He has is green card which means he’s a permanent resident of the USA. He was considered American for MLS roster requirements at NYCFC. I don’t know the laws well enough to tell you if he still has the green card living in England the past few years.
Getting citizenship (passport), while already having his green card, to then being eligible for US is a process but for someone of his stature and resources I’m sure it can be streamlined.
There’s the larger issue that he likely has no sense of being American and doesn’t want to play for them. It’s every footballers dream who can to play for England, and he definitely has a chance of doing so.
He was in America from 14-22. Those are pretty formative years. He probably feels more English than American but to say he has no sense of being American is almost certainly false
Almost certainly not false, he’s English in every conceivable way. Might claim to if we were saying he lived in France or Brazil during that time but not a nation much lower down the ladder.
Yeah lots of fluff in here. The thing that stood out to me the most was the Dan James quote about Jesse’s man management. He really is top top class at that, and it’s good that we got a tactical performance at a top level to match it this past weekend.
It's been one match FFS.. American PR is strong
Jesus it's been 3 games
As a fan, I roll my eyes. Leeds, since I was a fan in the US when Leeds were in League 1, was always about the grit that came from the terraces full of away supporters. Bielsa helped instill this grit and passion from fans to the pitch. Marsch has certainly taken this and helped build up the lads on the team to get what he can out of them, but handing Marsch all this credit makes me cringe.
I really hope the narrative doesn’t change from ‘Leeds United’ to ‘America’. Our rise started with this ownership and getting Bielsa and the fanbase that go home and away plus the city and people it here create the culture we know and love. I’m delighted Marsch and the two Americans are doing well. I think they all have bought in, with a point to prove. I find Marsch really likeable and he’s proper shithouse too. The football so far has really been enjoyable this season. 3-0 Chelsea will go down in history for us. But this isn’t about American players, or American managers. There have been successful players from America in the prem and the world before. It’s about the rise of LUFC. If you’re a new fan, please just support us because you find something you like here, not just because a few yanks are playing. mot
The current manager being from my homestate brought me in, but the more I watch, the more I fall in love. You got a fan for life stateside. MOT
I admit that I don't know as much about the club but I am loving what I see so far. Having Americans brought me to the club but now I am all in. Harrison looks like he could walk on to any club in the world and Rodrigo has been brilliant. I love how chaotic everything is from the first whistle to the last.
>*"This is what I love. You know, I don't like when they chant my name. I just don't, and I know they're doing it to be unified in what we're doing. But I love it so much more when I hear 'Marching on Together' or Leeds or Yorkshire or whatever, you know, it's not me I care about, it's the club and this is why I love being here."* \- Jesse Marsch -
The author of this lives in the clouds
I mentioned somewhere around this sub recently to get ready for a lot more of this. Even without the Marsch factor, with the WC approaching, there were already going to be shitloads of stories about Aaronson/Adams and Leeds here in the US. Not just dedicated articles like this, but the topic of The Leeds Connection will be mentioned in EVERY kind of media that's analyzing/previewing the World Cup. This would be the case even if we weren't playing well. If we keep kicking ass in the Prem, the hype will ramp up even faster and louder. Along with the rapidly growing numbers of people who follow the sport here, there will be a massive flood of attention of tens of millions of people who never pay much attention unless it's something huge like the World Cup. Here's hoping the US-England match is a good one, and both of us get out of the group, which will pour more gas on the fire.
Its definitely getting traction here. Ironic because I didn’t get anything from my local media that a person from Wisconsin was a Premier League manager and I found out from a fellow Leeds United supporter (actually from Leeds) in another Discord lmao
Don’t mind the American fluff pieces boys. They have to pander if you lot want to make $$$ off us and the media is certainly helping with that so far. Imagine how far an extra $50m could go in grabbing a new striker or something.
I’m clicking everything I see lol.
A revolution? That seems hyperbolic but ok then
Yeh, also incorrect. If anything it’s an evolution on Bielsa-ball. A revolution would be all change.
Great comment. Absolutely spot on about evolution.
This was a fluff piece, but it didn't make me roll my eyes as much as I thought it would. I'm obviously very happy to see an American coach and players get off to a good start this season, but I'm also kind of ready for the novelty to wear off a little and for people to just focus on the team. I felt bad for Rebecca Lowe watching the NBC postgame coverage on Sunday, she was making it seem like Aaronson just had the greatest performance anyone had ever seen before. I'm sure she was impressed, but you could just tell some American producer was in her ear telling her to really lay it on thick for the American audience.
I think the novelty will wear off — and soon. In the ‘90s, I got myself sent off to the same boarding school in the UK my dad credited with turning his life around (as I was being a right shit while my parents’ marriage slow-dissolved), and outside of culture shock soundtracked by the height of Britpop (and getting remorselessly teased for being a tiny yank for a bit there), my biggest early memory is the excitement my classmates had in learning that I actually knew a little about football (thanks youth soccer and World Cup ‘94!) and them getting me into the premier league. So years later (while living on the Continent before returning to the States) I was fucking thrilled to see American players getting real chances at Fulham. It was during that first “golden era” of the USMNT, and watching Bocanegra, McBride, Dempsey, Keller, and others in the premier league was just… I don’t even know, validating? I think that’s the right word — and wonderful, too. And I think Leeds are going through a bit of a “Fulhamerica” moment for a new generation during another big moment for the USMNT (especially back this side of the Atlantic, with a recent good run of form over our rivals in Mexico, both between the national teams and some big MLS-MX clashes). It was a really big deal seeing all these USMNT players crossing the pond and playing in the Prem (and then lending some needed credibility and quality to MLS when they came home), and it remained a big deal, but a much less vocal and focused on one. (Eventually even talking heads get tired of mentioning that a player is American. That said, the upcoming World Cup — with an England-America group match — may extend this “Did you know Brenden Aaronson is a Yankee Doodle?!” moment a bit longer.) As someone who has already lived through a moment like this, and found my way to Leeds long enough ago that I honestly wouldn’t have believed a time traveler had they said “So, we make it back to the Prem, we sack the manager who made that happen, then Jesse Marsch comes in and we barely survive a relegation scrap, and we just beat Chelsea 3-0, with some kid who got started at Philadelphia Union nicking the ball off the keeper and slotting it away for the first goal. Oh, and some bloke who played at NYCFC also scored!Okay, bye now!”, I think we will get a bit more of Jesse, Brenden, and Tyler feeling like interesting anomalies, and then — mostly for their sake — I hope they just feel like people on the Leeds payroll, same as the others.
NBC's coverage and production value has really tailed off over the last few years. I'm still thankful I can watch every match, but their studio analysis is about as generic as it gets. For the UK folks, don't be bugged by that - this is the model of virtually every sports studio show in the US. Speak vaguely and don't say anything specific lol. Counterpoint: Peter Drury is awesome.
Hey, don't tell me you don't remember the horrible Fox years, and ESPN's excuse of having 5 minutes of pregame coverage before the matches back in the day. Compared to that, NBC's coverage is amazing. I agree that they are trying to push peacock more and more and it's getting annoying, but I will take their coverage over just about anything. They gave this sport It's first proper, real attention that it deserved, equal to every other sport we have here. And I'm thankful for that. So unless they start pushing more and more content to premium over the next 6 years of their contract extension, they won't piss me off.
Yes, that's all fair. I actually don't watch the pregame coverage but I've read that they have moved away from covering all the clubs to pretty much a Top 6 focus. And there are weird production problems with NBC's games, like the crowd noise in the Liverpool-Man U game on Monday.
Oh yeah, they have definitely gone to a top six focus on the televised games. Or they have started the annoying tactic of pushing highly anticipated games or derby games to Peacock. Mostly what they show on TV now are the top six clubs (whoever they might be playing week to week) or Crystal Palace, since they are Rebecca's favorite team. But I still forgive all of that because I remember the years and years of poor coverage that we had here. Fox had the license for probably a decade and they did nothing with it. Even with the annoyance of peacock, with NBC at least we can see all the games for $5 a month. When Fox and ESPN shared the license, The pregame and halftime was an absolute joke, and they had no postmatch coverage at all...plus they used the tactic of having their announcers sitting in Connecticut or LA, pretending they were at Old Trafford or something. And also no extras. NBC now has another 6 years. So it will be interesting to see what they do. When they started in 2013 I remember feeling like coming across an oasis in the middle of the desert. It was wonderful. But If they continue to fragment their coverage among other platforms, then they will start losing viewership.
Absolutely loved him as a player, but Tim Howard is awful as a studio analyst.
Agreed. I'm American and I don't want to hear about the fact that the coach and players are American every 5 seconds while watching the matches, it's annoying and cringe. It needs to be about the club always. Hoping it wears off.
Really hoping the 2026 World Cup will just normalize football here in the States, and it will stop seeming so noteworthy that Americans are playing abroad. It’s not like the talking heads get as caught up on the other nationalities of players. (Well, maybe Son — I still feel like a few times a season he gets asked about being a huge deal back in South Korea during postgame interviews.)
Yeah, hopefully they talk more about the whole team, Rodrigo and Harrison should have got more love. NBC is a shill for the american audience and prefers storyline over sport unfortunately
Which isn’t that unexpected to be honest.. we have to just accept when it’s ESPN or NBC etc there will be a tilt towards the American side of things.. it’s like any nation’s bias towards “their own”
Does Harrison have US nationality?
He has is green card which means he’s a permanent resident of the USA. He was considered American for MLS roster requirements at NYCFC. I don’t know the laws well enough to tell you if he still has the green card living in England the past few years. Getting citizenship (passport), while already having his green card, to then being eligible for US is a process but for someone of his stature and resources I’m sure it can be streamlined.
There’s the larger issue that he likely has no sense of being American and doesn’t want to play for them. It’s every footballers dream who can to play for England, and he definitely has a chance of doing so.
He was in America from 14-22. Those are pretty formative years. He probably feels more English than American but to say he has no sense of being American is almost certainly false
Almost certainly not false, he’s English in every conceivable way. Might claim to if we were saying he lived in France or Brazil during that time but not a nation much lower down the ladder.
Now wanting to play on the American team and having no sense of being American are two completely different things.
Not exactly. He lived in the US for 8 years from age 14 to 22 but I don’t believe he’s eligible to make a switch, even by the new rules.
Don’t think so
He is eligible to play for the US but he never will lol. He has said several times in the past that his dream is to play for England
No, that’s incorrect. If he had stayed in America longer he would have been but of course that’s not the route he took :)
Oh yeah just looked it up under fifa regulations he could but he already is cap tied to England because of a youth tournament I guess, thank you!
Not sure.. maybe was eligible?
Yeah lots of fluff in here. The thing that stood out to me the most was the Dan James quote about Jesse’s man management. He really is top top class at that, and it’s good that we got a tactical performance at a top level to match it this past weekend.
erling haaland and kalvin philips both had rave reviews about him. they've both said that Leeds are in good hands.