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The #LUFC Breakfast Debate (Tuesday 31st January)

Discussion in 'Leeds United' started by ellandback, Jan 31, 2023.

  1. FORZA LEEDS

    FORZA LEEDS Well-Known Member

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    Total bollocks <laugh> as if we need another midfielder - and a Spurs reserve at that <doh> ffs
     
    #41
    wakeybreakyheart likes this.
  2. Doc

    Doc Well-Known Member

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    Get the feeling that this window is a record spend for January Southampton, Wolves, Bournemouth, Forest, Leicester, Leeds all spending big near the bottom as well as Chelsea, Arsenal, Spurs, Fulham, Man City, Newcastle near the top
     
    #42
  3. Irishshako

    Irishshako Well-Known Member

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    I think we are getting a skip to put Lorentes belongings in.:)
     
    #43
    wakeybreakyheart and FORZA LEEDS like this.
  4. Eireleeds1

    Eireleeds1 Well-Known Member

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    Hopefully if he goes to them for that knock
    Down price
    It doesn’t come back to bite us in the arse
     
    #44
  5. Irishshako

    Irishshako Well-Known Member

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    Personally I'd prefer Harrison to stay, rather than someone who seems a bit of a trouble maker who wants a move to AC Milan. <ok>
     
    #45
  6. FORZA LEEDS

    FORZA LEEDS Well-Known Member

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    Agreed Shaks. Seems some are ok with Harrison leaving but to me he’s Leeds through and through.

    Ok he’s not perfect but he never complains, is hardly ever injured and regularly chips in with a few goals and assists.

    Probably only asking for the going rate and we should pay him what he’s worth.
     
    #46
    stonkin, ristac, Jammy 07 and 4 others like this.
  7. ellandback

    ellandback Well-Known Member
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    Boro and Coventry want Charlie Cresswell on loan
     
    #47
  8. ellandback

    ellandback Well-Known Member
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    Just not sure whee Harrison fits in
     
    #48
  9. wakeybreakyheart

    wakeybreakyheart Well-Known Member

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    I think we have better and faster than jack now. So for me he can go and the money can bring in better.
     
    #49
  10. wakeybreakyheart

    wakeybreakyheart Well-Known Member

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    Would that be for next season as i thought millwall had him all season on a fixed loan.
     
    #50

  11. ellandback

    ellandback Well-Known Member
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    Arsenal
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    Trossard was Arsenal’s first signing of the transfer window (Photo: Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
    Mikel Arteta has missed out on top target Mykhailo Mudryk, with Chelsea beating Arsenal to the Shakhtar Donetsk winger after offering superior terms. Arteta wants to bolster his midfield but Brighton are holding firm over Moises Caicedo.

    In:

    Leandro Trossard (Brighton) — £27m
    Jakub Kiwior (Spezia) — £17.5m

    Out:

    Brooke Norton-Cuffy (Coventry) — loan
    Miguel Azeez (Wigan) — loan
    Arthur Okonkwo (Sturm Graz) — loan
    Harry Clarke (Ipswich) — loan
    Ovie Ejeheri (SJK Seinajoki) — loan
    Tom Smith (Colchester) — loan
    Marquinhos (Norwich) — loan

    Aston Villa
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    Alex Moreno has already made two Premier League appearances for Aston Villa after signing from Real Betis (Photo: Clive Mason via Getty Images)
    Unai Emery has added a couple of new faces but a winger is still on his wishlist.

    In:

    Alex Moreno (Real Betis) — £13.3m
    Jhon Duran (Chicago Fire) — £17.7m

    Out:

    Cameron Archer (Middlesbrough) — loan
    Tyreik Wright (Plymouth) — undisclosed
    Frederic Guilbert (RC Strasbourg) — undisclosed
    Danny Ings (West Ham) — £15.5m
    Indiana Vassilev (St Louis City SC) — undisclosed
    Morgan Sanson (Strasbourg) — loan
    Ludwig Augustinsson (Sevilla) — end of loan
    Louie Barry (Salford) — loan

    Bournemouth
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    Dango Ouattara arrived at Bournemouth from Lorient for £20m (Photo: AFC Bournemouth/AFC Bournemouth via Getty Images)
    The general lack of activity for Bournemouth in the summer led to Scott Parker losing his job. Winger Dango Ouattara became the first signing of the Bill Foley era, while the club have raided the Championship for a striker.

    In:

    Dango Ouattara (Lorient) — £20m
    Antoine Semenyo (Bristol City) – £9m
    Darren Randolph (West Ham) — undisclosed
    Matias Vina (Roma) – loan

    Out:

    James Hill (Hearts) — loan

    Brentford
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    Kevin Schade’s move to Brentford was agreed within four days of the January transfer window opening (Photo: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
    Thomas Frank has added an attacking reinforcement in Kevin Schade, while the club produced an eye-catching announcement video to mark Romeo Beckham’s loan signing for the club’s B team. A handful of other players — Byron Wilson, Conor McManus and Beaux Booth — have also joined the B team, with Brentford focusing on longer-term planning.

    In:

    Kevin Schade (Freiburg) — loan

    Out:

    Myles Peart-Harris (Forest Green) — loan
    Aaron Pressley (Accrington) — loan
    Edon Pruti (Hartlepool) — loan
    Mads Bech Sorensen (Groningen) — loan
    Ellery Balcombe (Bristol Rovers) — loan
    Tariqe Fosu (Rotherham) — loan
    Charlie Goode (Blackpool) — loan
    Paris Maghoma (MK Dons) — loan

    Brighton & Hove Albion
    Brighton’s planning for this window started a long time ago, with the club agreeing a deal to sign Facundo Buonanotte back in November. Leandro Trossard has departed but the club remain determined to keep hold of Moises Caicedo.

    In:

    Facundo Buonanotte (Rosario Central) — undisclosed
    Yasin Ayari (AIK) — undisclosed

    Out:

    Aaron Connolly (Hull) — loan
    Reda Khadra (Birmingham) — loan
    Ed Turns (Leyton Orient) — loan
    Todd Miller (Doncaster) — loan
    James Beadle (Crewe) — loan
    Leandro Trossard (Arsenal) — £27m

    Chelsea
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    Noni Madueke is one of several new recruits to have come through the door at Chelsea (Photo: Joupin Ghamsari/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)
    There was heavy investment in the playing staff at Stamford Bridge in the summer, but the Blues have done more big business as they seek to back the Graham Potter project despite a difficult start. Will continued Enzo Fernandez talks bear fruit before the deadline?

    In:

    Benoit Badiashile (AS Monaco) — undisclosed
    David Datro Fofana (Molde) — undisclosed
    Andrey Santos (Vasco da Gama) — undisclosed
    Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid) — loan
    Mykhailo Mudryk (Shakhtar Donetsk) — £62m
    Noni Madueke (PSV Eindhoven) — undisclosed
    Malo Gusto (Lyon) — £26.3m

    Out:

    Malo Gusto (Lyon) — loan
    Bashir Humphreys (Paderborn) — loan
    Cesare Casadei (Reading) — loan
    Jude Soonsup-Bell (Tottenham) — undisclosed

    Crystal Palace
    Patrick Vieira needs midfield reinforcements — but the club are not spending for a multitude of reasons…

    In:

    None

    Out:

    Jack Butland (Manchester United) — loan
    Killian Phillips (Shrewsbury) — loan
    John-Kymani Gordon (Carlisle) — loan
    Malcolm Ebiowei (Hull) — loan
    Ryan Bartley (Eastbourne Borough) — loan
    David Boateng (Dover) — loan
    Luke Plange (Lincoln) — loan

    Everton
    Financial Fair Play trouble threatened to limit Everton’s summer spending but they managed to find money to bring Amadou Onana, Dwight McNeil, Neil Maupay, James Garner and Idrissa Gueye to the club. Frank Lampard has now been sacked, fan protests against the board continue and Anthony Gordon has been sold after submitting a transfer request.

    In:

    None

    Out:

    Salomon Rondon — released
    Nathan Broadhead (Ipswich) — £1.5m + add-ons
    Tom Cannon (Preston) — loan
    Niels Nkounkou (Saint-Etienne) — loan
    Seb Quirk (Accrington) — loan
    Tyler Onyango (Forest Green) — loan
    Anthony Gordon (Newcastle) — £40m
    Joe Anderson (Sunderland) — undisclosed

    Fulham
    Joao Palhinha, Andreas Pereira and Willian have been the pick of Marco Silva’s summer signings, but more reinforcements are sought, primarily in midfield. Sheffield United’s Sander Berge is a target.

    In:

    None

    Out:

    Anthony Knockaert (Huddersfield) — loan
    Ibane Bowat (Den Bosch) — loan

    Leeds United
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    Weston McKennie has joined his USMNT team mate Tyler Adams at Leeds United (Photo: Leeds United Football Club)
    Jesse Marsch has plugged holes at left-back and in the frontline, but is still hoping to tie up a deal for Weston McKennie.

    In:

    Max Wober (Red Bull Salzburg) — £10m
    Georginio Rutter (Hoffenheim) — £35m
    Weston McKennie (Juventus) — loan
    Diogo Monteiro (Servette) — £1m

    Out:

    Mateusz Klich (D.C. United) — free
    Alfie McCalmont (Carlisle) — loan
    Leo Hjelde (Rotherham) — loan
    Max Dean (MK Dons) — loan
    Cody Drameh (Luton) — loan
    Joe Gelhardt (Sunderland) — loan

    Leicester City
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    Victor Kristiansen was Leicester’s first signing of the January transfer window (Photo: Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images)
    Brendan Rodgers was frustrated at the lack of activity during the summer as Leicester waited until the eleventh hour to make a notable signing, replacing Wesley Fofana with Wout Faes. Rodgers is hoping to do late business to help his side pull away from danger.

    In:

    Victor Kristiansen (FC Copenhagen) — £13.1m
    Tete (Shakhtar Donetsk) — loan

    Out:

    Ben Nelson (Doncaster) — loan
    Jakub Stolarczyk (Hartlepool) — loan

    Liverpool
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    Not long after returning from the World Cup, Cody Gakpo was on his way to Liverpool (Photo: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
    Liverpool wasted no time in the build up to the January transfer window, snapping up Cody Gakpo, but Jurgen Klopp’s side continue to stutter this campaign and a potential takeover is a complicating factor in any further business.

    In:

    Cody Gakpo (PSV) — £37m

    Out:

    Jake Cain (Swindon) — undisclosed
    Jarell Quansah (Bristol Rovers) — loan
    Luke Chambers (Kilmarnock) — loan

    Manchester City
    Erling Haaland, Phillips, Manuel Akanji and Sergio Gomez were all signed in a busy summer at the Etihad, while Julian Alvarez — now a World Cup winner — was introduced to the squad, but Pep Guardiola’s side are not consistently clicking to their usual high standards. Their only signing so far this window appears one for the future.

    In:

    Maximo Perrone (Velez Sarsfield) — £7.9m

    Out:

    Liam Delap (Preston) — loan
    Nahuel Bustos (Talleres) — loan
    Josh Wilson-Esbrand (Coventry) — loan
    Kayky (Bahia) — loan
    Joao Cancelo (Bayern Munich) — loan

    Manchester United
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    Wout Weghorst is the man trusted to fill the void left by Cristiano Ronaldo (Photo: Manchester United/Manchester United via Getty Images)
    Erik ten Hag sought a centre-forward after Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure to Saudi Arabia and the club opted for a low-cost option with summer outlay in mind, plumping for Netherlands international Wout Weghorst.

    In:

    Jack Butland (Manchester United) — loan
    Wout Weghorst (Burnley) — loan

    Out:

    Cristiano Ronaldo — released
    Martin Dubravka (Newcastle) — end of loan
    Shola Shoretire (Bolton) — loan
    Charlie Savage (Forest Green) – loan
    Charlie McNeil (Newport) — loan

    Newcastle United
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    Newcastle’s biggest move of the transfer window saw them sign Anthony Gordon from Everton (Photo: Serena Taylor/Newcastle United via Getty Images)
    Newcastle’s impressive push for Europe continues and Eddie Howe has boosted his attacking options with Anthony Gordon after sanctioning Chris Wood’s exit. Howe is hoping to add a midfielder but time is ticking.

    In:

    Garang Kuol (Central Coast Mariners) — undisclosed
    Martin Dubravka (Manchester United) — end of loan
    Amadou Diallo — free
    Anthony Gordon (Newcastle) — £40m
    Harrison Ashby (West Ham) — undisclosed

    Out:

    Garang Kuol (Hearts) — loan
    Chris Wood (Nottingham Forest) — loan
    Dylan Stephenson (Hamilton) — loan

    Nottingham Forest
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    Gustavo Scarpa was among the cluster of Brazilian players to sign for Nottingham Forest (Photo: Jon Hobley/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
    Nottingham Forest signed an almost entirely new squad in the summer but business has continued into the winter window as Steve Cooper seeks to capitalise on an upturn in form.

    In:

    Gustavo Scarpa (Palmeiras) — free
    Danilo (Palmeiras) — £17.8m
    Chris Wood (Newcastle) — loan

    Out:

    Loic Bade (Rennes) — end of loan
    Dale Taylor (Burton) — loan
    Aaron Donnelly (Port Vale) — loan
    Ateef Konate (Oxford) — loan

    Southampton
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    James Bree joined Southampton after his contract at Luton entered the final six months (Photo: Matt Watson/Southampton FC via Getty Images)
    Miroslav Orsic is the first player Southampton have spent money on in the previous three winter windows and Nathan Jones has raided his former club Luton to boost his backline, as well as recalling Jan Bednarek from Aston Villa.

    In:

    Mislav Orsic (Dinamo Zagreb) — undisclosed
    Carlos Alcaraz (Racing Club) — undisclosed
    James Bree (Luton) — undisclosed

    Out:

    Dynel Simeu (Morecambe) — loan
    Dan Nlundulu (Bolton) — loan
    Nico Lawrence (Torquay) — loan
    Ryan Finnigan (Crewe) — loan

    Tottenham Hotspur
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    Tottenham hijacked Everton’s move for Arnaut Danjuma (Photo: Tottenham Hotspur FC/Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images)
    Antonio Conte brought the likes of Richarlison, Cristian Romero, Bissouma and Ivan Perisic to north London in the summer but is under scrutiny this season after a run of poor results. The club gazumped Everton to land Arnaut Danjuma but a move for Pedro Porro has stalled so far.

    In:

    Arnaut Danjuma (Villarreal) — loan
    Jude Soonsup-Bell (Chelsea) — undisclosed

    Out:

    None

    West Ham United
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    Another claret and blue Premier League move was confirmed for Danny Ings (Photo: West Ham United)
    The heavy spending at West Ham throughout the summer — on the likes of Lucas Paqueta, Gianluca Scamacca, Nayef Aguerd and Maxwel Cornet — has not quite had the desired effect and David Moyes is under pressure after a poor run of form. Danny Ings has arrived to try and provide goals — but faces a short spell on the sidelines after picking up an injury on his debut.

    In:

    Luizao (Sao Paulo) — undisclosed
    Danny Ings (Aston Villa) — £15m

    Out:

    Thierry Nevers (Bradford) — loan
    Craig Dawson (Wolves) — undisclosed
    Conor Coventry (Rotherham) — loan
    Will Greenidge (Colchester) — undisclosed
    Pierre Ekwah (Sunderland) — loan
    Bryan Gil (Sevilla) — loan
    Harrison Ashby (Newcastle) — undisclosed

    Wolves
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    Pablo Sarabia is one of a number of players to come through the door at Molineux this month (Photo: Jack Thomas – WWFC/Wolves via Getty Images)
    Wolves have done some early business and are showing signs of improvement under Julen Lopetegui. More reinforcements are sought before the deadline.

    In:

    Matheus Cunha (Atletico Madrid) — loan
    Mario Lemina (Nice) — undisclosed
    Pablo Sarabia (PSG) — £4.5m
    Craig Dawson (West Ham) — undisclosed
    Ki-Jana Hoever (PSV) — end of loan
    Dan Bentley (Bristol City) — undisclosed
    Joao Gomes (Flamengo) — £15m

    Out:

    Leo Bonatini (San Luis) — free
    Fabio Silva (PSV) — loan
    Goncalo Guedes (Benfica) — loan
    Matija Sarkic (Stoke) — loan
    Ki-Jana Hoever (Stoke) — loan
    Jackson Smith (Walsall) — loan
    Joe Young (Telford) — loan
    Connor Ronan (Colorado Rapids) — undisclosed
    Leonardo Campana (Inter Miami) — undisclosed
    Theo Corbeanu (Arminia Bielefeld) — loan
    Chem Campbell (Wycombe) — loan
     
    #51
  12. Marcos Barber

    Marcos Barber Well-Known Member

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    Makes sense Jamster and Marcos has a cunning plan that will save the club millions while still achieving those criteria.

    Sack Vic and all of the scouting network. Get Rads to follow Romano on Twitter. See who Brighton and Brentford are linked with and get Angus to write out a cheque and hijack the deal. Proper Roy of the Rovers stuff and we will be in the top 6 in no time :emoticon-0148-yes:
     
    #52
    Whitejock and NostradEmus like this.
  13. ellandback

    ellandback Well-Known Member
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    Chris Wood could face Leeds on Saturday
     
    #53
    NostradEmus likes this.
  14. Irishshako

    Irishshako Well-Known Member

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    Left back:)
     
    #54
  15. Irishshako

    Irishshako Well-Known Member

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    Spot on Essex.<ok>
     
    #55
  16. ellandback

    ellandback Well-Known Member
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    How Weston McKennie will fit in at Leeds

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    By Jeff Rueter

    There’s a convenient shortcut one can use to assess Weston McKennie’s fit at Leeds United: an increasingly strong connective tissue coloured red, white, and blue.

    His coach at Elland Road is fellow American Jesse Marsch, who could also commiserate with McKennie about their respective stays in the German Bundesliga. He’ll join a midfield including their countryman Tyler Adams, the captain of his national team who has been a first-choice option for the USMNT alongside McKennie for years. When he looks to leave the centre of the park, he’ll do so alongside another American Brenden Aaronson, another U.S. international who became Leeds’ record signing last summer.

    Scan beyond the obvious, however, and you’ll find an interesting partnership.

    For McKennie, this will appear to be a step down from a perennial title contender in Juventus to a side mired in a Premier League relegation scrap. Leeds’ move to sign him should not be seen as Marsch offering a life raft to a compatriot as the S.S. Old Lady appears to be taking on water. Rather, Leeds’ transition to playing in a 4-3-3 more often required someone who can do all the pressing work of a defensive-minded midfielder without forcing the coach to put another deep-lying player onto the pitch.

    “I thought seriously,” McKennie told The Athletic on Monday at Elland Road. “Juventus are a Champions League club, a strong club, one of the top teams in Italy and around the world. But for me, I just felt like I couldn’t express my style or play and my full potential there. Leeds are a team who I feel like I fit toe-to-toe with everything that they want to do and accomplish.

    “I have friends here. Obviously I think about myself first because it’s my career, but it helps. Tyler’s a similar player to me. He fits in well here, so I’ve heard only good things. That’s how I came to my decision.”

    For a player so often asked to do everything he can to keep an amorphous team well-calibrated, a more specialised role could be needed for his development. Conversely, Leeds have found a younger midfield replacement for Mateusz Klich, who has moved to D.C. United of MLS this winter — and McKennie won’t struggle to find friendly faces as he acclimatises.

    When analysing McKennie, it is easy to prioritise the proverbial eye-test over the numbers.

    It is impossible to look away from the U.S. international when he is at his best. McKennie is a sharp reader of a game who loves to get into dangerous areas to give team-mates an outlet for passing — to force another Americanism into the mix, something of an ideal game-breaking wide receiver. His often eye-catching hairdos (with a patriotically colourful patch at the recent World Cup) are outshone by his work rate, which seemingly keeps him in the TV cameras’ shot no matter the vantage point. He’s also been somewhat amorphous in his young career, that less-specialised player who coaches often ask to fill gaps left open by more defined team-mates.

    “When I was at Schalke (from 2016-20), I was all over the place,” McKennie said yesterday. “I was playing right-back, I was playing midfield, I was playing striker, I was playing centre-back… everywhere. I learnt to play different positions.

    “When I came to Italy, they could see I was a bit hectic in some of my runs and pressing sometimes — running 60 yards instead of running 30 yards and doing the same thing.

    “I definitely learned some tactical and positional discipline. But at the same time, it became a little bit too much — where it felt like I was on a string. The string is pulled here, the string’s pulled there and I couldn’t completely have some type of freedom.

    “That was one of the main reasons why I came to the conclusion that I’d come to England and see how I shape up.”

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    Like Aaronson and Adams before him, his first chance to make a strong impression on his new fanbase could come with his defensive pressing.

    So far in 2022-23, McKennie has averaged 4.98 ball recoveries per 90 minutes, with 41.9 per cent of these coming in the opposition’s half of the pitch. In comparison, Klich averaged 6.48 during two and a half Premier League seasons for Leeds, playing mostly under Marcelo Bielsa, including 47.4 per cent in the attacking third. Some of that was dictated by the difference in styles seen in the Bundesliga and Serie A, as McKennie averaged 8.18 recoveries per 90 with Schalke, while that rate dipped to 5.5 after moving to the fallen Serie A giant.

    While he filled the role assigned to him, it was never a fully compatible match between Juventus’ style and McKennie’s brand of flair.

    “In Italy, there’s a little bit more on the serious side — not in a bad way either,” McKennie said. “They’re very presentable. I’m very, I don’t know… outgoing. I have a really big personality and sometimes it doesn’t work out. Also, the playing style. Italian football in general is very defensive and different paced to what you get here (in England). I’m a very up and down (box to box) type of guy, so that was another reason.”

    McKennie will no doubt hope that Marsch will enable him to unleash more from his game, which he had to contain at the Allianz Stadium.

    That box-to-box approach should serve Leeds well as it works to progress up the pitch more quickly. Currently, Leeds average 14.4 passes per minute of possession, a tick below the league average of 14.68. Leicester City lead the Premier League with a 16.2 passing rate, while Southampton operate at a more lethargic 13.1 clip.

    While Leeds pass close to the league average, they aim to be more progressive than most.

    Their 64.6 progressive passes per 90 is fractionally ahead of league leaders Arsenal, ranking sixth overall behind Liverpool, Manchester City, Brighton, Tottenham and Manchester United. While Marsch’s current midfield partnership of Adams and Marc Roca have both proven capable of spraying passes from deep, McKennie will be far from redundant.

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    To put it mildly, McKennie is seldom compared to Andres Iniesta.

    Among all midfielders in the European game’s Big Five leagues who played at least 500 minutes ahead of the recent World Cup, none had a smaller share of his team’s live (aka, open play) passes than the U.S. international. However, only six qualified midfielders had a higher share of their team’s received progressive passes, illustrating his capability of getting into promising areas down the pitch.

    The same point can be illustrated with a full season’s worth of play.

    McKennie logged 1,369 league minutes for Juventus in 2021-22, starting in 15 of his 21 appearances. In that time, Smarterscout data shows that his receptions were far more impactful for their ball progression as a team than his passes or his carries.

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    While it is odd to think of a first-choice midfielder being a poor passer, even in this age of role specialisation, McKennie’s strengths in receiving and ball recoveries should help round out the midfield when deployed ahead of summer signings Adams and Roca. That spatial awareness should be a welcome addition for Roca in particular, as the Spaniard can lack options to receive his line-breaking passes due to Leeds’ narrow shape.

    Marsch may need to move further away from relying on a 4-2-3-1 base formation in order to accommodate a trio of midfielders who certainly did not come to Yorkshire for 25-minute shifts from the bench. Some of that work has taken place already this month: after lining up in a 4-3-3 just once before the World Cup — in October’s 1-0 defeat against Arsenal at home — Leeds have used the shape for four of their five league matches since play resumed post-Qatar, with Aaronson and Wilfried Gnonto alternating makeshift midfield responsibilities.

    Although teenager Gnonto has been an electric inclusion, McKennie could offer much of the Italian’s threat to receive progressive balls while giving Leeds a more natural base shape. Marsch could then play the matchup game by game and pick between Aaronson and Gnonto to join Jack Harrison and Rodrigo in the attacking third — without giving them additional orders to track back.

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    After so much instability on the pitch since before Bielsa was replaced by the American last February, McKennie’s signing appears to give Leeds far greater balance in midfield.

    Roca can stay back with greater confidence that he’ll have a target to find with a pass while Adams continues doing the metronomic work of alternating a series of short passes with his tireless efforts to disrupt opposing build-up sequences.

    There is also the fact that, as the squad stood previously, Marsch’s go-to midfielder after Adams and Roca has been Sam Greenwood — a raw youngster who, up to the very end of last season, was regarded as a centre-forward. Beyond that, Adam Forshaw, a 31-year-old veteran of Leeds’ days in the Championship, has lacked fitness this term and barely played, and Darko Gyabi also boasts little experience at age 18.

    While signing a central midfielder now was not an urgent priority, it was not difficult to make the argument that Leeds recruiting one of McKennie’s calibre in this window felt extremely prudent.


    They can also enjoy a trial period to determine if he is the missing piece to complete Marsch’s newly preferred midfield trio before committing significant funds to making the move permanent.

    McKennie was brought in on loan with 24 Champions League appearances for Schalke and Juventus to his name, with Leeds holding a purchase option close to £30million ($37m). Currently a point above the relegation zone, they will have to avoid the drop back down to the Championship over the next four months if they are to trigger that option, on top of certain other conditions.

    But that is a question for later in the season. For now, McKennie is squarely focused on making a strong first impression for a team hoping to escape the battle at the bottom of the league far sooner than they did last season, when survival was not assured until the final match. That is very much in his character, as those close to him say he’s “too much of a fighter” to stomach being relegated.

    He has enough to focus on the short-term to ensure that purchase option does not loom over his Premier League debut.

    “I’m an in-the-moment type person — I’m coming here with how the deal is but if I love it then I don’t see why not,” added McKennie when asked about the prospect of staying. “If maybe Leeds aren’t happy with me or I’m not happy, we’ll see how that goes.

    “But, for now, my head is here.”
     
    #56
  17. Norwayleedsforever

    Norwayleedsforever Well-Known Member

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    Agreed. I find it strange that players like Harrison that so many Leeds fans don`t rate other clubs and fans do rate and want. But players Leeds fans do rate like Forshaw and Dallas no other clubs and fans want. It is truly baffeling.
    I must say I very much want Harrison to stay.
     
    #57
  18. Norwayleedsforever

    Norwayleedsforever Well-Known Member

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    Who?
     
    #58
  19. Doc

    Doc Well-Known Member

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    Not even bothered about the transfer window now, as far as Im concerned we have done great business. If anything else happens will be a bonus but if we’re done that’s great too. Well done club
     
    #59
  20. Gessa

    Gessa Well-Known Member

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    He'll be on his own then :biggrin:
     
    #60

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