A young man in Austria loved football so much that he started studying football tactics and writing articles about it on his blog. In 2010, a guy Thomas Tuchel, then head coach at Mainz, liked the articles so much that he opened a path for the 18-year-old author into the world of top-level football. Fast forward 12 years and Rene Maric will be in charge of his first Premier League match!Since his blogging days had ended, Maric has been in a similar role at Red Bull Salzburg, Borussia Monchengladbach and Borussia Dortmund, as he followed his friend and associate Marco Rose whenever he switched jobs. But since a few months ago, the Austrian is working close with Jesse Marsch at Leeds United.Rene Maric here talking about his philosophy in the game #lufc pic.twitter.com/6V7JPq7Tjf— BARNEY 🦚 (@BarneyLUFC21) July 22, 2022 Marsch is suspended, so he won’t be on the touchline in today’s match against Aston Villa. The head coach has confirmed he will be watching from the gantry throughout proceedings and communicating accordingly with those in the technical area. His assistant Maric and first-team coach Mark Jackson will have to step into the void and be a presence for the players in the technical area. As Marsch himself has admitted, Leeds need someone fighting their battles with the officials from the sidelines and look to influence events in their favour. Seeing how the players cope without the head coach, how the bench copes without Marsch and how Marsch copes on the gantry is going to be fascinating.The fall of Van de Beek: Trains 10 hours a day and nothing; Pogba comes late, apologizes and playsEven though his analytical mind has opened an entirely new career in football for the now-30-year-old Maric, he is still a psychologist first and foremost. Speaking to The Athletic in 2020, he said that his education plays a big part in how he approaches his work in football.”Every staff member needs to be a psychologist of sorts. You need to know how to make players better and deal with them to keep their spirits up. But I wasn’t a professional. In some areas, I lack experience. I tend to step back, listen and watch the head coach handle it. I also go to older players and ask them how they feel in certain situations. They’re very open. They like to talk. Then, you find that some players perceive similar situations very differently because they’re different characters or part of different generations. You have to do it all to win over the player. But the human side is the foundation.”##NAJAVA_MECA_6686223##After taking seven points from their first three games of the new season, Leeds have now posted just one point from their last three top-flight outings, but thankfully for Marsch, Elland Road has been something of a fortress for his side so far. The Whites won three of their four games on home soil in all competitions this season.A four-week pause has allowed Leeds United to post the cleanest bill of health we have seen at Elland Road in some time. Aside from Stuart Dallas’ long-term problem, Adam Forshaw is the only other senior face unavailable to face the Villans today.💬 “There are many studies that have added to my methodology, but in general the thing that I have learned to value the most is to keep the training genuine, concise, as close to the game as possible, preparing the points and focusing on principles of our own game.”René Marić pic.twitter.com/4u7tlHOc6b— Modern Soccer Coach (@msceducation) July 29, 2022 Contrastly, Steven Gerrard’s team won’t be helped by several injury issues, with Diego Carlos, Boubacar Kamara, Lucas Digne and Matty Cash all out. Diego Carlos is out long term, while Kamara will be out for a few weeks.Today will be a battle of wits, tactics and will. Let’s see how Rene Maric does with the spotlight fixed on him.PREMIER LEAGUE – ROUND 9SaturdayArsenal – Tottenham 3-1 (1-1)/Partey 20, Jesus 49, Xhaka 67 – Kane 31 pen/Bournemouth – Brentford 0-0Crystal Palace – Chelsea 1-2 (1-1)/Edouard 7 – Aubameyang 39, Gallagher 90/Fulham – Newcastle 1-4 (0-3)/Reid 88 – Wilson 11, Almiron 33, 57, Longstaff 43/Liverpool – Brighton 3-3 (1-2)/Firmino 34, 54, Webster 63 – Trossard 4, 18, 83/Southampton – Everton 1-2 (0-0)/Aribo 49 – Coady 52, McNeil 54/West Ham – Wolverhampton 2-0 (1-0)/Scamacca 29, Bowen 54/Sunday16:00: (1.40) Man.City (5.30) Man.Utd. (8.00)18:30: (2.45) Leeds (3.40) Aston Villa (3.05)Monday22:00: (1.80) Leicester (3.70) Nott.Forest (5.00)***odds are subject to change***
