Leeds United fans can expect to see tactical ‘tweaks’ made on Wednesday night when the Whites travel to face Manchester United. That’s according to Michael Skubala, who will be alongside Chris Armas and Paco Gallardo in the Old Trafford dugout, following the dismissal of Jesse Marsch earlier this week.
Marsch spent almost a year at the Leeds helm and helped the club to survival last season, but with performances continuing to underwhelm and Leeds sliding down the table, the decision was taken to relieve him of his duties. As such, the caretaker team will be in charge against Erik ten Hag’s side in midweek and they could lead the Whites into the return fixture at Elland Road, with the Champions League chasers making their way over the Pennines on Sunday.
Of course, given the amount of time, of lack of it, Skubala, Armas and Gallardo have been afforded, changes against the Red Devils can expected to be minimal. The trio will have only taken one training session before boarding the bus to Manchester and being asked to put a starting XI together.
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However, they have some ideas in mind of how to freshen things up and make strides forward over the coming days.
“We've got 24 hours so we've got one session this afternoon that we've prepared with the players so certain things will have to be the same because there’s no point throwing the baby out with the bathwater with certain changes,” Skubala said as he spoke to the press on Tuesday afternoon. “But I think a few little tweaks in maybe how we want to play and maybe a few differences, you might see.
“Fundamentally, we need to make sure that the players understand the game plan that we want to deliver. I don't think we can be passive. I think we also need to be pragmatic with where we're playing at Old Trafford against a really in form team.”
Pushed on the tactical nuances, he added: “So we will set up a team that is competitive without the ball and will try and be aggressive without the ball and we'll set the team that we think we can exploit their weaknesses. No doubt they'll do the same with us, as well.
“I think we've been really, really good without the ball. I think if you look at our goal difference, it’s good. I think we’ve been good without the ball, we’ve been really on the front foot and aggressive. I think that's a positive thing that we can’t change at the minute and maybe a few tweaks here and there with how the team structure is and maybe with the ball, that's what we’re looking to do.”
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