The #LUFC Breakfast Debate (Monday 25th April)

Good Morning. It's Monday 25th April, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road


Cresswell promotion could lead to departures this Summer

During his pre-match Press Conference on Friday, Head Coach Jessie Marsch told journalists that he considers U23 Captain Charlie Cresswell 'a first team player now'. Marsch has been impressed, not only with the 19yo's defensive capabilities, but the way he has quickly adapted to zonal marking. Cresswell joined the Elland Road academy back in 2013 when his father (Richard) was one of the coaching staff. He signed his first professional deal at the club at the beginning of the 19/20 season under the guidance of Mark Jackson. It wasn't long before he was promoted to U23 duties, then Captaincy.

“Consider him a first-team player now. [We] had that discussion in our scouting meeting. Personality, [he] is not afraid of anything. Even in the first session we had, he was the loudest player on the pitch. [He] does not shy away. He needs to play,”

Although only 19, Cressy stands 6ft 3' and is already considered to be one of Leeds' best header's of the ball, a skill sadly lacking under Bielsa's tenure. If he does make the step-up, can we assume he is being ear marked to start next season, and if so, who does he replace. Leeds now have five defenders (Cooper, Llorente, Cresswell, Koch, Struijk), and only two slots to fill. It makes little sense to send him out on loan, so does that mean we will see a couple of defenders leave the club during the Summer? We also need to consider that it's not going to be long until Leo Hjelde comes knocking at the door of the first team.

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Relegation battle hots up

An unlikely victory over Wolves at the weekend, saw Manager-less Burnley move to within two points of Leeds, and land the Toffee's in a very sticky situation. A goal on the hour mark from Matej Vydra was enough to give the plucky Lancashire side, maximum points for the second game running, bringing their tally to ten points from their last five games. Their victory saw Everton drop into the relegation zone for the first time this season, after being brushed at Anfield yesterday.

Whilst Norwich and Watford look odds on to return to the Championship after their respective thumpings, Everton at least showed signs of conviction, before being over-run by their bitter rivals in the last half hour. They have picked up seven points from their last six games, and along with Burnley have a much easier run of games than Leeds, starting tonight at Selhurst Park.

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Spirited display end in defeat in front of 21,000 crowd

A crowd of over 21,000 turned up at Elland Road to watch the young Whites take on Manchester City on Friday night. Andrew Taylor's side were looking to put distance between themselves and the bottom two, but, after a good start, they were outgunned by the Champions elect.

Leeds made the best possible start, and went ahead after just six minutes; Matteo Joseph's fierce drive beat Slicker at his near post, but within five minutes, City were ahead. Goals from Kayky (dubbed the next Naymar) and England's Cole Palmer turned the game on it's head. The hosts went in search of an equiliser, but were continually thwarted by Slicker. The young Scotsman was lucky to stay on the field after bringing Summerville down on the half hour mark, but the lenient referee chose only to book the shot-stopper, much to the anger of the Elland Road crowd. Even the Manchester Evening News quoted that Slicker was 'lucky not to see Red'.

Leeds continued to push, and were only denied a share of the spoils by the woodwork. England striker Liam Delap put the game to bed three minutes from time, after his goalwards effort looped over Klaesson. Leeds are four points clear of Chelsea in 13th place, but the Blues have two games in hand. Leeds final game of the season on Friday is at Arsenal.

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Unexpected?? I predicted 1-0 ...... unfortunately I think the thugs are going to get out of the more with the run in fixtures being kinder to them, it's us or the toffees and if we can do the business tonight it would put the ball into fat fwanks court well and truly...... you've had your rest now boys it's full steam ahead

 

At least the team is too tired excuse can't be used. Morning all.

 

Think tonight is going to confirm the Jesse love-in or the start of questioning the American. Marsch has now had a couple of fortnight periods to drill his lads into what he wants. He did a great job of taking 10 points from 12, and now had some time to up the coaching. I think 3 points tonight is achievable and wonder how many Palace players would get into our team? Maybe 3 tops, we are a better TEAM

 

Good morning all.
9 1/2 hours to KO, in such an important match, strange emotions though, on one hand i feel very worried , because a defeat would realy crank the pressure up for that horrendous batch of fixtures coming up, and on the other hand i really feel we could get a result , so i guess if i could, i would take a point right now.

 

Their position in the league doesn't flatter them... in fact on xg they should be about 10th. Their home form is good only lost 4, last two home league games they beat arsenal 3-0 and drew with City.

I'd take this lot in my leeds team, thought it would depend on formation, and there's an argument they are strongest where we are strongest.

Eze (not played much due to injuries and olise/gallagher
Olise
Gallagher
Saha

They have conceded 40 goals to our 68. So you have to think some of their defensive players would fancy their chances, certainly at least:

Guehi
Guaita
Mitchell

Flipping it, only Raphinha and Phillips would be guaranteed starters in their team, but plenty of others obviously with a shout,

A point would be a very good result today, but naturally i'm hoping for 3!

 

Out of Harrison, James and Zaha who would you have wide left?

 

Zaha

 

Good morning i am hoping we can string more than two passes together. Plus that annoying habit of winning the ball back and giving it straight back. Rodrigo is brilliant at that.

 

Must win tonight for me.

Don't need to give Everton and Burnley an even bigger carrot to chase.

 

How Marsch’s zonal line has helped Leeds improve defensively at corners

By Phil Hay

One of Pontus Jansson’s biggest attributes was his aerial prowess and it was no coincidence that in finding a way to make Leeds United adequately defend set pieces, Garry Monk tapped directly into that strength.

Concessions from dead balls hampered Monk in his early days at Leeds until he and his assistant, Pep Clotet, settled on a system in which Jansson patrolled the box as a free man at corners and other set-piece deliveries. Jansson was there to attack the ball, ignoring the bodies and the jostling around him.

That was 2016 and a period when Jansson often felt indispensable but times changed and, three years later, Marcelo Bielsa made the decision to sell him. Jansson’s exit in the summer of 2019 was dictated by more than tactics but it told a story about the type of squad Bielsa liked: mobile, slick, accomplished on the ball. The last thing Bielsa’s Leeds relied on was overwhelming dominance in the air.

When opposition sides began to hurt Bielsa from set-pieces, and from corners more than anything, Mateusz Klich joked that Leeds as a team were “small”. In explaining why the club were vulnerable in those moments, it was one place to start. Leeds were not awash with towering defenders and it was evident that more rudimentary players would have compromised the football Bielsa wanted to play. But set-pieces could be a thorn in his side; situations where Leeds depending on a certain style of marking amplified their aerial disadvantage.

Bielsa had a specific way of approaching defensive corners, lining up man to man inside the box and assigning his best header of the ball — Liam Cooper, in Bielsa’s estimation, when everyone was fit — the job of marking the opposition’s biggest threat in the air. Leeds persisted like that to the end of his tenure but the old set-up has been abandoned since Jesse Marsch replaced Bielsa as head coach in February. Latterly, the club had been under pressure from dead balls again, with goals conceded via headers directly from corners in three of Bielsa’s last four matches.

Two of those, one at home to Manchester United and the other away to Everton, were strikingly similar and indicative of the methods used by opposing sides to knock Leeds out of shape. Harry Maguire’s finish for Manchester United in a 4-2 defeat on February 20 was a textbook example of cracking the man-to-man structure and creating simple chances.

As the following images show, Leeds set themselves predominantly one-on-one with Luke Ayling, Diego Llorente and Stuart Dallas pinned close to Maguire, Paul Pogba and Cristiano Ronaldo. With the exception of a defender at the near post, every Leeds player has someone to mark. Llorente’s job was to babysit Maguire but the England international used the small crowd 14 yards out to stop Llorente sticking to him tightly.

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As the ball arrived, Manchester United disrupted Leeds’ shape with runs in different directions, including one beyond the near post, drawing two defenders out. The movement opened up space seven yards from goal where Maguire got the leap on Llorente and nodded an easy header in. Because of the distribution of players, no-one else was able to step in and do what Llorente was supposed to do.

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A week earlier, Everton’s second goal in a 3-0 win at Goodison Park used the same tactics. An attacking train on the edge of Leeds’ box sucked Bielsa’s markers together and when Everton burst forward from their standing positions, Leeds were unable to hold their ground or pin the advancing group down. Pascal Struijk lost a yard on Michael Keane and he, like Maguire, was presented with an easy close-range goal. Struijk, again, had no team-mate to bail him out.

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Defensively, Leeds are a club with considerable room for improvement, in open play as well as from set-pieces. Over the course of 32 fixtures this season they have averaged 2.13 concessions a game, the Premier League’s worst record.

Some heavy defeats, the worst of them a 7-0 rout at Manchester City, have compounded the data but the club’s clean sheet away at Watford two weeks ago was their first since the end of November. Marsch’s attempts to tighten up involved a switch to zonal marking and the use of two holding midfielders, as opposed to the single defensive one Bielsa stuck with, but his six matches in charge have shown specific changes in Leeds’ method of managing corners.

The next sequence of screenshots from Leeds’ 3-2 win away to Wolverhampton Wanderers last month neatly captures the switch in system. Leeds are still required to go man-to-man to some extent (see grey shaded area, image two) but behind the pocket of players vying with each other, Marsch has introduced a zonal line of four defenders, set up on the edge of the six yard box.

The blend of players there can vary — Raphinha and Rodrigo have featured in it — but Marsch’s centre-backs are generally in the middle of the line. They are marking space rather than individuals and they are watching the ball rather than the movement in front of them.

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Wolves try to scatter as the corner drops in but Struijk, part of Marsch’s defensive line of four, tracks the flight of it and steps out to attack it with a clearing header before anyone else can reach the ball. In this instance, a simple approach is effective in quelling any danger.

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The zonal line was in place at Marsch’s first match away at Leicester City, indicating that it was one of the things he focused on during his first week of training at Thorp Arch. Leeds (next image) have five players in front of goalkeeper Illan Meslier here because Leicester have placed a body close to the goalline but the principle of occupying space and focusing on winning the first header is the same.

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Leeds’ only concession directly from a set-piece under Marsch was via James Ward-Prowse’s free-kick for Southampton at Elland Road.

They have twice shipped goals in the second phase from free-kicks, away to Wolves and at home to Aston Villa, but their resistance to corners has been solid so far. Against Southampton (below), the positioning was there to see again: a line of Raphinha, Llorente, Cooper and Rodrigo ahead of Meslier with a crowd of players a few yards further forward.

Away at Crystal Palace tonight, Leeds are up against a side who have scored only six times from set-pieces all year. It is a contest in which Marsch will hope to see his dead-ball tactics hold firm.

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When it works, the system gives him what he got in this next example against Norwich City: a powerful header out from Llorente as Norwich tried to rush the six-yard area in injury time at Elland Road, a moment when the game was on the edge.

Marsch tried to be innovative with attacking set-pieces while he was coaching on the continent with RB Salzburg and RB Leipzig but in his short time with Leeds, repelling corners is where a different way of thinking has been most obvious. And to this point, it has worked.

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Bit by bit Leeds are changing as a team, in terms of tactics and structure. As time goes on, the shift from Bielsa’s way to Marsch’s will intensify and with the club on the verge of securing a third year in the Premier League, the freedom to make broader alterations will increase if and when Leeds get over the line. But in trying to steady the ship short term, addressing set-pieces was one way of making marginal gains.

“The major difference is that you’re not man for man any more,” Charlie Cresswell, Leeds’ young defender, said last week. “You have to be more zonal and you have to be more zonally aware. You’re not just marking men. You’re marking multiple men because you have to mark the zone.

“I like the new way of playing and I liked the old way of playing. That’s football — adapting to two different managers.”

 

Of all the bloody evenings to be stepping onto the radio silence of a plane just after 9pm tonight.

Won't get a signal until I hit the hotel at 3am-ish. Talk about torture?! 6 bloody hours of not knowing.

Don't ever ask me to plan anything for you!

 

... a nice piece. Have to say though. Jansson didn;t leave because he was too big and not a good enough footballer. Bielsa was full of praise for his ability. He left because he threatened Bielsa's strict discipline code.

 

Phillips will start tonight


Phil Hay
STAFF

Phillips is in line to start. I don't think that can even be up for debate with Forshaw missing. Summerville played for the 23s on Friday. Personally I won't be surprised if Marsch sticks with much the same team as he picked at Watford - most likely with James at 9 again.

 

Afternoon all,

Hard to say what's going to happen tonight. We are more than capable of beating them I think but they can also get a result from anyone these days. Still putting us down for a win though.


I think it will be Llorente that goes out of our cb's. He is just too erratic and always looks like there is a mistake in him.

Now Phillips is fit it would be nice to see Koch given a run at CB instead of midfield. I think he is a more steady choice.

 

****sake Ell.

Guaranteed to concede from a corner tonight now.

 

I would sell Llorente too as we may get a nice fee for him. So tonight he will prove me wrong and play a blinder.

 

James is **** up front. He never scores or plays well. It's like playing with 10 men.

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Palace 6/5
Leeds 9/4

Suggest those that are so confident we'll win tonight get their hard earned walloped on as it will surely be a nice little earner

 

I will not judge Marsch this season. I will however acknowledge what he has done so far this season and leave it with that. The judgement starts next season, when he has had some time to implement his own tactics and gotten some of his own players in