Jesse Marsch will have a job on his hands when he sits down this week to decide on a Leeds United starting XI to take on Brentford on Sunday. The head coach will have an idea of how he wants his side to line-up for the most part, but he might find himself stopping to think a little harder when he gets to the attacking line.
The head coach hasn’t always had difficult decisions to make up front, but right now he has an embarrassment of riches at his disposal. The Whites’ record signing Georginio Rutter is eligible to make his debut for the club after completing his switch from Hoffenheim last week and supporters will be keen to see him in action.
However, Patrick Bamford is fit and firing on all cylinders once more with three goals in his last two games, while Luis Sinisterra made his long-awaited return to action on Tuesday night, too, adding to Marsch’s wing ranks. That’s not to mention Wilfried Gnonto and Rodrigo.
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Jack Harrison has picked up three assists in his last three outings, including two against Cardiff City on Wednesday night and it seems as though he is approaching top form once more. Brenden Aaronson is also in the mix and Marsch is expecting to see Crysencio Summerville return to the fold shortly, too, after overcoming injury.
It seems as though Joe Gelhardt may be destined to spend the remainder of the season on loan in the Championship, but the head coach must also try to find opportunities to progress for both Sonny Perkins and Mateo Joseph, as well. It’s a headache Marsch will welcome, he’d obviously rather have options than none at all, and he’ll hope iron can continue to sharpen iron at Thorp Arch to keep Leeds’ forward thinking stars on top of their respective games.
However, it seems he will have to get used to delivering bad news to those he has left out of the side moving forward. So who should he pick and what system suits?
A front three
Firstly, it needs saying that, at present, Gnonto and Rodrigo need to feature in whatever system the head coach goes with. Gnonto has been sensational since breaking his way into the side at the back of the last calendar year and his two goals against Cardiff City on Wednesday night show why he is quickly becoming one of the most spoken about youngsters in the Premier League.
He’s played on the left, with Rodrigo on his right shoulder and the Spaniard’s 12 goals in 20 games this season tell you all you need to know about his importance to the side. Fitting a transfer record-breaking striker into the side looks a challenge, then.
Rutter, though, can play off the right and his dribbling game and pace may just equip him perfectly to play that role. That’s tough on Harrison, of course, but it also leaves Sinisterra on the outside looking in.
Sinisterra was arguably Leeds’ most creative player over the first few months of the campaign, but the foot injury he picked up in October brought his progress at Elland Road to a halt. The Colombian probably won’t come into the starting line-up this weekend, but it’ll be a bold call if Marsch were to leave him out regularly moving forward.
There’s no room for Bamford in this system at present, though. In fact, despite his goals against the Bluebirds, Bamford could find himself being the third choice striker while those in front of him in the pecking order are fit and in such rich form. As such, Bamford could be set to play more of a bit-part role unless he can force the head coach’s hand.
A front four
If it’s not 4-3-3, Marsch has favoured a 4-2-3-1 formation and that would open up more attacking doors. Rutter fits into this system as the lead man or on an edge, while Rodrigo has the versatility to drop back into the deeper secondary striker role if needs be.
Harrison and Aaronson can play that position, too, while Sinisterra slots perfectly into that right wing position, cutting in and looking to combine with those on the inside or have a go himself. It’s a formation that has seen success against the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool and even Arsenal to a certain extent and Marsch would have no issues fitting his current personnel into such a system.
Rutter does have some experience of playing in that formation, too, making him an option even if he has spent the majority of the season playing with a strike partner in a 3-5-2 shape.
Something else
Marsch has been known to go with a back three or five in the past and he deployed that system on occasions at Elland Road last season, with Raphinha playing as a right wing-back. It wasn’t the Brazilian's best role and Marsch would be hard-pushed to find any member of his current attacking group that would look completely comfortable providing the width in such a system.
Gnonto and Harrison get back willingly enough, but it’s difficult to look at them as potential wing-backs. It would give Rutter a strike partner to work with, though, with Rodrigo the most likely option.
A 4-4-2 would do the same whilst playing into the type of wide players Leeds have at their disposal, while a 3-4-3 could work to a degree, with Gnonto and Rutter playing as inside forwards either side of the spearheading Rodrigo.
Things can change quickly in football and it’s an unfortunate inevitability that injuries will occur moving forward, meaning certain formations and systems will appeal at different moments in time. However, the head coach has a job on his hands at present and trying to keep every member of his squad happy at all times could be a thankless task.
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