Encouraging sign-off
Cagliari were relegated from Italy’s top flight last season and will not be held up as the sternest test Leeds United will face across the next nine months, but Sunday boosted confidence, if nothing else. As Jesse Marsch said in Australia, it would be very rare for any team to feel 100 per cent ready for competition at the end of pre-season, but Sunday did at least ease a few of the questions left hanging over the Whites.
The matches in Australia did not do a huge amount to boost optimism for the Premier League season, but this was a promising final run-out. The patterns of play got better as the match wore on, it was clear what Marsch wanted the players to do and, most importantly, it was hurting Cagliari and cutting the Italian side open.
