BBC pundit criticises Jesse Marsch decision in Leeds defeat

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Simon Walton has told BBC Radio Leeds that he was baffled by the change Jesse Marsch made during Leeds United’s defeat to Crystal Palace where he replaced Brenden Aaronson with Mateusz Klich.

Leeds suffered a really disappointing loss at Selhurst Park. The ground has not been a happy one for the Whites down the years. But Marsch’s men could have hardly made a better start.

Pascal Struijk opened the scoring early on. And Leeds were on top up until the moment the Eagles equalised. From there however, there was only one team who was going to win.

Marsch criticised over substitution

Marsch held off on making changes. Crysencio Summerville was the only player brought on before the final 15 minutes, with the Dutchman replacing Patrick Bamford.

The next change came with 16 minutes left, with Klich coming on for Aaronson. Aaronson had done brilliantly in the build-up to the opening goal. And Palace had difficulty dealing with him at various points.

You would imagine that Marsch wanted Klich on to give Leeds more of a presence in the middle of the park. But Walton expressed his disbelief at that particular change.

“The Klich one baffled me a little bit,” he told BBC Radio Leeds. “I know it didn’t help that they scored literally within a few seconds.

“But it baffled me a little bit to be honest, especially taking Aaronson off. Someone who looked like he had plenty of life left in him.”

In fairness to Marsch, Klich was bright when he came on against Aston Villa last weekend. In fact, he has made a really important impact on a few occasions when he has come off the bench.

However, Marsch simply left the changes too late once again. Not making any substitutions cost Leeds when they squandered a 2-0 lead at Southampton.

And it was clear for some time that the Whites were probably not winning that game on Sunday without doing something different. Palace were well on top and the winner felt inevitable.

That was probably the big mistake Marsch made against Palace. And the worry is that it was not the first time that he has made that error.