Leeds United trained at Suncorp Stadium today ahead of their pre-season friendly clash with Aston Villa on Sunday. The Whites have made the move up to Brisbane for the second leg of their Australian tour and they’ll be hoping to record their second straight victory when they take on Steven Gerrard’s Villans in the Queensland city.
Here’s a few things we noticed from today’s training session.
Understanding building
Around 1,000 fans were in attendance at the Suncorp to watch training and Jesse Marsch gave them a small insight into how he prepares his side for a game. After a small warm-up, the Whites went through some passing drills before heading over to the penalty area to practise some box movement and it seems like there could be a promising understanding developing between three key men.
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Brenden Aaronson, Luis Sinisterra and Rodrigo made up one group and they could be seen attacking the crosses of Rasmus Kristensen and Leif Davis with vigour and precision. Illan Meslier represented their only opposition, but they managed to find the back of the net with regularity and as a forward trio they looked sharp.
Only the club’s centre-backs and centre midfielders were left out of the drill as Marsch encouraged his forward-thinking players to attack crosses and to develop their movement in the final third.
Full-back clues
The players putting in the crosses for those players in the middle were Rasmus Kristensen and Leif Davis and they could well be Leeds’s starting full-backs against Villa. The pair were accurate more often than not with their balls into the box and the drill alone was enough to underline what the head coach expects from his wide men.
Marsch demands that his full-backs get forward to support attack and the drill suggested he wants them getting the ball into the box as regularly as possible. With Junior Firpo being ruled out for the next eight weeks or so, Davis has a chance to stake a claim as the start of the Premier League and he’ll be keen to catch the eye.
Crossbar challenge
Before the session came to an end Davis and Mateusz Klich came together for a game of crossbar challenge in front of the supporters who were in exceedingly high spirits as they watched on. Both players came close as they clipped ball from range towards the woodwork, with a bit of banter appearing to be being dished out in between efforts.
Bamford managed
Both Joe Gelhardt and Patrick Bamford sat out of Saturday’s session in Brisbane with the latter seeing his workload managed and monitored down under following his injury-hit campaign last time out. Bamford is expected to play a key role on Sunday against Villa, though.
The striker only got 30 minutes against Brisbane Roar earlier this week and as the new season edges closer, he will be keen to get as many minutes as possible under his belt. Gelhardt missed the session due to a small amount of soreness and he’ll continue to be assessed by the club’s medical staff.
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