Formation
Jesse Marsch predominantly used a 4-2-3-1 with Leeds United down the 12-match stretch he had through the back end of last season. There was some sampling of the 4-2-2-2 he employed earlier in his career, but the one-man, Daniel James strikeforce was the general line he took.
In this, our first look at Marsch’s vision for the new campaign, we will get to see what the American has in mind. While we are not expecting anything too drastically different in formation, there may be some telling differences in the shape, mentality or roles the players are playing.
New faces
Brenden Aaronson, Rasmus Kristensen, Marc Roca, Darko Gyabi and Tyler Adams have all arrived at Elland Road in double quick time since the end of last season. Fans will naturally be keen to see the new faces in Leeds white as soon as possible, but they may not quite see as many minutes as they may like.
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Roca is the only one in that quintet to have had a full part in pre-season so far. The Spaniard was in the first tranche of players who returned to Leeds at the start of last week, while the other four returned no earlier than the start of this week.
Adams, of course, only signed yesterday and has already said today is likely to be dedicated to pre-season testing for him before joining the main group on the grass tomorrow. If Marsch does not want to push this week’s returners too hard too soon, they may begin the game on the bench.
Returning faces
Ian Poveda, Helder Costa, Cody Drameh and Leif Davis all spent at least part of last season away from Elland Road on loan. They are four of those loaned out who have since been spotted back in pre-season training.
Repeat loan deals for the new campaign have not been ruled out for any of that quartet, but for now, they remain in the camp and face their first opportunity under Marsch against Blackpool. How they cope will be of great interest.
Marsch’s instructions
Though a decent crowd is expected in York for the match, if we can keep one eye and ear on Marsch down the touchline, it should be informative. At this stage of the summer, every fraction of information we can hear Marsch giving his players will tell us a lot about the way he is trying to drive this team for the new term.
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