Leeds United will step up their preparations for the new season on Sunday as they get their pre-season underway. The Whites still have so much to do and appointing a head coach sits at the very top of their list of priorities.
United are still waiting for 49ers Enterprises’ takeover to be approved and that has significantly slowed things down this summer. But, time is running out and the notion of starting pre-season training without a new manager being in place is unsettling.
As such, there will be hope that an appointment can be made in the coming days to allow Leeds to start training with some direction. Ahead of day one of pre-season, LeedsLive takes a look at some of the talking points that will emerge over the next five weeks.
A new way
The new manager will want to see progress made quickly and with just five weeks to go until the start of the Championship season, every second counts. Until that person has been appointed, it’s hard to know which direction the Whites will look to move in when it comes to playing style, but the head coach will have his own methods and his own ideas that he will want to implement.
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That philosophy will dominate sessions at Thorp Arch and he’ll be looking for buy-in from every member of the squad, whether they intend to remain at the club beyond the September 1 deadline or not. This summer is a much-needed clean slate for most of those players, who struggled to cope under the pressure of last season’s relegation battle.
But, it’s also a fresh start for the club, with the 49ers Enterprises’ takeover drawing a line under what has gone before to begin a new era.
Time constraints
In truth, Leeds couldn’t have picked a worse summer to go through such wholesale changes from top to bottom. With last season ending on May 28 and the new campaign beginning on August 6, the club are in the middle of one of the shortest summers they’ve seen in recent times and the takeover is causing a significant delay when it comes to preparations being made.
Pre-season will last just five weeks, as mentioned above, and that’s further complicated by the late return of the club’s international players, with most due back on July 10. That’s just two days before Leeds’ first pre-season friendly against Manchester United in Oslo, suggesting most probably won’t be involved.
They will see action in warm-up games later on, but it’s not ideal as the new manager looks to hammer home his philosophy.
Morale
There’s no doubt about it, Leeds were low on confidence and self-belief as they plummeted towards the relegation zone at the back end of last season. Key men went missing when the going got tough and one goal conceded often ended up being four, five or even six, as the Whites proved unable to pull themselves out of their tailspin.
Fixing that must be one of the head coach’s main aims this summer and while time away over the summer might well have helped, he has work to do to make sure his side are mentally strong enough to deal with the rigours of a 46-game Championship season.
Comings and goings
There’s still so much uncertainty when it comes to personnel. The departures of Tyler Roberts and Alfie McCalmont have already been sanctioned but there could be a number of other players set to leave the club over the coming weeks, including some key names.
Most members of the first-team squad have been linked away from Elland Road and while such talk can be seen as a compliment, it cannot be allowed to become a distraction. The incoming head coach will be keen to know nice and early what players’ intentions are and he’ll be doing his best to persuade most of those to stay as well.
When it comes to new signings, that process has been well and truly held up by the takeover process. But, things are starting to move in the background and the hope is that moves can progress quickly when the ownership picture has been cleared up.
The need for more signings will emerge throughout pre-season and the new man will be keen to see most of his squad come together before the opener against Cardiff City.
Young blood
Relegation seems like the perfect excuse for Leeds United to fall back on the talented group of young players they have been developing and nurturing over the last couple of years. Charlie Cresswell and Cody Drameh look to be at the front of the queue when it comes to opportunities and they’ll be striving to put their front foot forward in training.
Darko Gyabi, Leo Hjelde, Archie Gray and Mateo Joseph are among those on the verge of a breakthrough, too, it seems and they have points to prove both on the Thorp Arch grass and in friendlies, most of which still need to be announced. The new head coach will be keeping an eye on the young talent at his disposal and should they impress they might just be able to have an impact on the club’s transfer strategy, plugging certain holes within the squad.
Assigning leaders
While the young players in the group are a cause for excitement, the need to find new leaders is clear and obvious. The Whites stand to lose a number of senior professionals this summer, it seems, and the club must act to replace them with rounded, refined, streetwise heads in the transfer market.
However, the new manager may also be looking for fresh leaders to emerge from within, too, in order to fill that vacuum. A player like Pascal Struijk, for example, could be challenged to become a louder voice and put the experience he has built up over the last few years to good use.
The same can be said of Dan James, Brenden Aaronson and Max Wober, depending on if they stay or not. Liam Cooper, who will surely keep the captaincy, Stuart Dallas, Luke Ayling and Patrick Bamford all look set to stay and provide steadying presences, but Leeds need more in the way of leadership as they approach the new season.
