Adam Forshaw seems to be leading the chase to step into Leeds United’s midfield against Manchester City next week. With Tyler Adams suspended for the contest following his red card at Tottenham Hotspur in November, Jesse Marsch has had a decision to make in the middle of the park over the World Cup break.
He has used the Whites’ three mid-season friendlies, against Elche, Real Sociedad and Monaco, to experiment with his options and give both Forshaw and Sam Greenwood time playing alongside Marc Roca. It seems that Forshaw is in the driving seat, though, with assistant coach Rene Maric speaking about the 31-year-old’s understanding with Roca following United’s final outing before the Premier League restart.
Forshaw started alongside Roca against Monaco, with Greenwood being seen on the right flank, dropping back into a midfield three when out of possession, and the former Middlesbrough man did relatively well as he continues to work his way back from injury. He contributed in the first half as Leeds looked comfortable against the Ligue 1 side and he could do little to prevent Monaco from scoring three goals within nine minutes at the start of the second half.
Read more: Every word Rene Maric said on Leeds United's defeat, injuries, Illan Meslier and Brenden Aaronson
Maric was pleased with what he saw from Forshaw and Roca together and the assistant coach has spoken about the work that will go on at Thorp Arch over the next few days.
“Marc and Tyler played a lot of time together in the first part of the season so obviously it's a little bit different,” he said after Monaco. “We're still trying some details out but in general, I thought you could see in pre-season how the chemistry was improving and today I thought, especially in the first half, it was very, very good.
“Adam had a very good game so we're happy with that and we hope that we can continue to build upon their relationship and how they move together, especially moving towards the Man City game but also the second part of the season where we need every player in the best possible form.”
Asked about the switch to a midfield three when out of possession, Maric added: “Yeah, we'll just be looking at things: How we can combine the players that we have in different situations, how we can adapt if the opponent is more flexible, if they change things.
“We think that having three midfielders and varying them, playing more on the wing or more in the centre. So one of them moving out wide against the ball, with the ball, it’s just the things that you're trying on in pre-season because you now have the time to adapt the second or third formation and that's part of the reason why we're doing it.
“We think with our squad and this is what teams in general, not just Man City, but especially what other teams, are doing in the league, we just want to be flexible and be adaptable. I think that's one way to go also just looking at the whole second part of the season.”
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