Just nine members of Leeds United’s unforgettable 2020 Championship-winning squad remain in Jesse Marsch’s core unit at Elland Road. All clubs go through transition, but it’s especially hard for those on the terraces watching a squad which was so successful go its separate ways.
Stuart Dallas, Luke Ayling, Liam Cooper and Adam Forshaw have spent part if not all of this pre-season on the sidelines too, while Mateusz Klich’s future is also far from certain. That leaves Jack Harrison, Patrick Bamford, Illan Meslier and Pascal Struijk from the 2020 group, but even the latter was hardly a regular the year Marcelo Bielsa’s side lifted the trophy.
That emotional connection between supporters and players is always going to be tied to shared experiences. Whether it be enduring the same pain of that Derby County defeat in May 2019, the euphoria of Emile Smith Rowe’s 2020 winner, the ecstasy at- the Etihad Stadium or the final-day relief at Brentford, this is what takes players into fans’ hearts.
TAKE PART: Squad concerns, new arrivals, Jesse Marsch approval - 'The Big Leeds United Forum'
The departure of Marcelo Bielsa was always going to have some impact on the connection the support feels with the players too. The Argentine’s sacking pulled away the foundations of that connection between this iteration of the squad and those in the stands.
Bielsa will always be synonymous with ending the 16-year exile, but so will Ayling, Bamford, Cooper, Dallas, Forshaw, Harrison, Klich, Meslier and Struijk. While the DNA of that golden Bielsa era remains, that connection will be there.
Nine players in a group of 20 to 25 is evidently a small proportion and it’s only being more and more diluted by newer faces and newer memories. The likes of Rodrigo, Diego Llorente and Robin Koch have had some special moments with the support in their two seasons, but it’s nothing like the power and longevity of those EFL survivors, and don’t forget fans weren’t even in the stadiums for those 2020/21 highs.
It will come with time and shared experiences. Last term was, of course, memorable for the wrong reasons and fans will be forgiven for not wanting to dwell on anything shared through 2021/22.
The younger faces like Joe Gelhardt bring excitement to the terraces, but that emotional connection can only come with more goals, more wins and more time in white. This summer’s additions are welcomed with open arms and wished well, but it’s hard to expect any kind of relationship with the support before a ball is even kicked.
Before the season starts, LeedsLive are asking supporters to let us know on a scale of zero to 100 just how happy they are with eight key areas of the club including, of course, the emotional connection they feel with this group. It’s all a part of 'The Big Leeds United Forum', a new series that asks the big questions. You answer and we debate all of the goings on at LS11.
For me, the emotional connection with the stands is still to come. There are a lot of clean slates with many memories to be made, so I would put my score out of 100 at 50.
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Squad concerns, new arrivals, Jesse Marsch approval - 'The Big Leeds United Forum'
