Jesse Marsch gave his first pre-match press conference as Leeds United head coach on Thursday and one of the things he was asked about was the make up of the squad and how it would suit his preferred way of playing.
Under Marcelo Bielsa, Leeds primarily built-up and attacked in wide areas and as such the squad is stacked with wide players. Meanwhile, Marsch's favoured formations elsewhere in his career have been 4-2-2-2 and and 4-4-2 with a diamond midfield. At RB Leipzig, he did utilise a 3-4-3 formation as well, but this was still fairly narrow in the attacking areas.
This suggests that perhaps Leeds' squad isn't quite set up for the way Marsch would like to play going forwards but this can't be addressed until the summer.
Alongside the issue of more wingers than central players, Marsch also requires different attributes from his centre-backs, as less priority is put on retaining possession at the back and more on getting the ball forwards quickly. Defensively, he requires strong and fast centre-backs who can dominate aerially as one of the ways opponents try to beat Marsch's high-press is by kicking the ball long over the top of the defensive line.
For now, there will be some clear winners and losers amongst the squad. Here are some suggestions on who they might be.
Winners
Charlie Cresswell
The teenage centre-back made his Premier League debut under Bielsa and has made a small number of substitute appearances following his first start against West Ham. However, he hasn't had many opportunities since and hasn't appeared again since an injury, with Luke Ayling preferred there recently.
Cresswell appears to have many of the attributes Marsch appreciates in a centre back as he is strong and aerially dominant, whilst he has an ability to pick long-range passes from the back. This could see him gaining some increased chances. However, one issue may be a lack of pace.
Joe Gelhardt
Gelhardt has been the player most clamoured for amongst the fanbase, with Bielsa tending to use him less than many would prefer. Being that Marsch prefers two up front most of the time, this could be an opportunity for him to play more often, even with Bamford close to returning and Rodrigo likely playing there as well.
Gelhardt's direct style when on the ball will fit nicely with Marsch's philosophy of going quickly towards the goal after winning the ball. This could be the opportunity to consistently impress that the teenage striker has been waiting for.
Rodrigo
Another who will benefit from playing in a two-man front line is Rodrigo. Ever since the Spaniard arrived at Leeds, he has been crowbarred into the team out of position in midfield. Initially, this was due to the form of Patrick Bamford but even when Bamford has been injured for the majority of this season, Rodrigo has largely not played up front.
This seems to be because he has struggled with the rigours of leading the line on his own in the way required by Bielsa, both on and off the ball. Under Marsch, he could play as the deeper of the two strikers, which is more natural to him.
Also, defensively he will be more suited to pressing the ball directly than in man-marking. As a man marker, he always seemed to be reacting slowly to his man. In this system he can press the ball directly as part of a group which might cover some of his individual deficiencies in this area.
Losers
Jack Harrison
It may be the case that all of Leeds' wingers could be losers under Marsch, since compactness in attack is preferred. However, Daniel James has played centrally more often than wide this season, whilst Raphinha is a skillful enough footballer that he could be reinvented, as well as the fact that he likes to drift inside from the right on his left foot to shoot and create anyway.
In the case of Harrison, he has been the most like a 'classic winger' in the squad, with his best work done wide on the left. He will perhaps swap sides to play on the right more, where he naturally moves more narrow, but at the moment it's easiest to imagine him missing out on the starting XI.
Crysencio Summerville
Like Harrison, Summerville has done his best work in the Leeds U23 side playing on his natural side on the right wide, hugging the touchline and dribbling into the penalty area. The Dutchman almost left in January after asking to go on loan for more playing time and he could find his playing time even more limited now as what he does best is something not really required by Marsch as he does not like to have forwards hugging the touchline high up the pitch, he wants them to get into the width of the penalty area.
Like Harrison, Summerville could be switched to the left but when he was brought on as a substitute by Bielsa as a left-winger he was largely ineffective.
Lewis Bate
Bate could be considered a loser due to Marsch's preference for 'verticality', meaning he wants his team to play forwards quickly. Bate spent his football education at Chelsea, playing in a system where his team would dominate the ball and he himself would be one of the primary ball handlers. He is still only very young and has only one Premier League appearance thus far but his adjustment may need to be bigger than some of the other players.
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