Mateusz Klich admits Leeds United still have plenty to improve on, but he has enjoyed his first taste of a Jesse Marsch pre-season so far. The Whites bring an end to their pre-season tour of Australia today as they take on fellow Premier League outfit Crystal Palace at the Optus Stadium in Perth.
The game comes after clashes with Brisbane Roar in Gold Coast and Aston Villa in Brisbane, with Whites fans travelling in huge numbers to take in the games Down Under. However, between the matches, Marsch has had the opportunity to get some work done on the training ground and hammer home his philosophy after arriving late last season and succeeding in keeping United in the top flight.
Training sessions have been intense with the head coach encouraging his side to move the ball quickly and press high up the field, and Klich is pleased with the progress Leeds have made so far this summer.
“We’ve got some things to work on but I think it’s gone pretty well,” Klich said ahead of the clash with Palace. “I have to say I’ve enjoyed being in Australia, it’s nice.
“I’ve been in football a long time and it’s not the first time a manager changes so I know how it works. Jesse came with new ideas and we need to do what he expects us to do and what he wants us to do.
“It is not man v man marking, that’s the biggest difference, but still he wants to press and play intensive football. Marcelo’s been gone a long time ago so there’s no need to talk about him anymore.
“The sessions aren’t really long but they are intensive so I have to say I enjoy it because it’s short and sharp. We’ve had good numbers in the friendlies, fitness-wise, I’ve enjoyed pre-season so far.”
Just over 40,000 fans attended Leeds’ clash against Villa at the Suncorp Stadium and the hope is a similarly large number will make it to the Optus to watch Leeds tested against another Premier League team. Palace haven’t travelled with their strongest squad, but Patrick Vieira’s side still have enough to ask questions of the Whites and Klich believes that is the perfect preparation for the season ahead.
“I think it’s better to play the good teams rather than having lower league opponents, winning games and going into the season a bit different,” he added. “It’s been good to play against Premier League teams.
“I think the pre-season is going well, we lost against Villa but we shouldn’t have lost that game. I hope we can get the win against Palace and have a good feeling before that Cagliari game and then show our fans that we are ready for the new season.
“It’s good for the fans to see us here because it’s quite a long journey to our games, but it’s nice to see so many fans and it’s been good to come.”
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