Jesse Marsch's first five fixtures as Leeds United manager have seen a decent points return as the seven points picked up have seen the Whites hit 30 points and establish an eight point gap between themselves and the relegation zone. Performances have been improved - the 3-0 loss against Aston Villa aside - however, there is the sense that on a tactical level, some of Leeds' current attacking players aren't suited to the way their new manager is asking them to play.
Under Marcelo Bielsa, Leeds primarily attacked with width as they looked to overload the flanks and get the ball into the box from wide areas. Marsch prefers a narrow formation, primarily a 4-2-2-2, with the idea to overload the centre and attack the middle of the opponent's penalty area vertically.
The problem Leeds have currently is that the squad was built with Bielsa's attacking style in mind. Therefore, Marsch is trying to build an attack made up of four central attacking positions, using only one natural central player, in the shape of Rodrigo.
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Of course, he has been deprived of Patrick Bamford through injury, whilst Joe Gelhardt has struggled with niggles which have stopped him being able to start games. Instead, Marsch has been forced to use three wingers, in the shape of Raphinha, Daniel James and Jack Harrison, in a formation that doesn't really require wingers.
Raphinha is clearly the most naturally talented attacking player that Leeds have, so Marsch would likely have found a place for him. However, with rumours swirling about his future, that's perhaps likely to be a problem the American won't have to worry about next season.
James and Harrison will need coaching time to unlearn their natural habits to run wide to receive the ball and it seems that James' future in a 4-2-2-2 system could be as a bench option in the front two, playing off the last man. Meanwhile, Harrison's close control means he could be coached to play as one of the attacking midfielders, though his creativity will need working on as in the past he primarily created through crossing.
With Raphinha likely to leave, Leeds should be in for a financial windfall which will help them fix this problem of lacking central attacking players. Brenden Aaronson will almost certainly be targeted again and his familiarity with Marsch's football after playing under him at RB Salzburg would be beneficial. The US international is a direct runner through the centre and has perfected the kinds of runs which the Leeds manager hasn't managed to get out of the current forwards at the club.
Two other players who could perhaps be looked at to come in alongside him are also previous transfer targets of Leeds. The first is Takumi Minamino, who was mentioned as an option to join the club in January if Leeds moved Crysencio Summerville out on loan. That deal did not materialise but again, he would make a lot of sense for the Whites now. He also played under the Leeds manager at Salzburg, turning in a string of impressive performances in the attacking midfield positions in the Champions League which convinced Liverpool to buy him.
The Japanese international may not have played as often at Liverpool as he would have liked but this does not make him a bad player. He's simply not as as good as Liverpool's world class forward line. He could add technical quality, guile and familiarity with the attacking formation were he to come to Leeds.
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Another option who has previously been linked to a move to Elland Road is Club Brugge's Noa Lang. The young Dutch international is said to be a favourite of Victor Orta's and Leeds' director of football was keen to bring him to the club. However Bielsa preferred James due to his defensive work-rate. In Marsch's system, pressing is still important, but Lang could fit into the pressing unit, instead of needing to track opponents all over the pitch in Bielsa'a man-marking system. As such, his perceived downside is covered for, whilst again, he would offer guile on the ball and the ability to both create and score goals.
Both players have played in wide positions for Liverpool and Club Brugge respectively, but they do their best work centrally and they like to operate in tight spaces, threading balls through gaps for forwards to score. Additionally, they can both function more effectively than James has been able to as an auxiliary striker if needs be.
It may be that Orta doesn't return for those three players, but it seems likely that the skillsets they possess are what Leeds need to add to the squad - alongside another striker similar to Bamford so they never miss a true number nine - in order to attack centrally in the manner Marsch would like. For now, the way they are playing should be enough for them to pick up the points needed to be safe in the Premier League. If they are going to improve and climb the table next season, Orta will be set for a busy summer.
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