Jesse Marsch’s Leeds showing promise at set pieces after coaching switch please log in to view this image By Phil Hay The day after Leeds United’s pre-season friendly against Brisbane Roar in July, Jesse Marsch made a small change to his training plans. The quality of his team’s throw-ins during those 90 minutes had frustrated him and several players were put to work on making better use of them. Marsch had long been of the view that set pieces were there to be perfected and though throw-ins were never likely to lead to a constant flow of goals, he put pressure on his squad to be less sloppy with them. Over the years, people who watched Marsch coach noted how big a part deal-ball ideas played in his philosophy. It was one of the things he promised to bring to Leeds when the deal to appoint him was done in February. The club do not have a specific set-piece coach but this summer, Marsch assigned the job of planning them to Mark Jackson, Leeds’ former development squad boss and a man with a reputation for attention to detail. The setup of the backroom team at Elland Road gives everyone a specific duty: Rene Maric, Marsch’s assistant, focuses on analytics, Cameron Toshack is responsible for one-to-one sessions on and off the training field and Jackson, alongside other jobs, is tasked with implementing routines at set pieces. Already, drills from corners and free kicks are having an effect. Set pieces can be an unfashionable aspect of football and Marsch’s predecessor, Marcelo Bielsa, paid very little heed to them. Bielsa focused heavily on open play and liked matches to flow, devoting limited time in training to dead-ball situations. Marsch, in contrast, has made them a routine part of his sessions and on the day of the week when Leeds reduce the intensity of training to its lowest level, it is not unusual for them to devote all of their time on the grass to rehearsing moves. Marsch and Jackson are both on hand, watching the pieces fall into place. please log in to view this image In their two games this season, Leeds’ focus on that aspect of the game has shown signs of paying off. They have produced 10 efforts on goal from set pieces, bettered only by Everton. Those chances produced 1.41 expected goals (xG), bettered only by Arsenal. A well-worked corner yielded their second goal at Southampton on Saturday and their approach to dead balls looks like yielding marginal gains. It was not the case that under Bielsa, Leeds never scored from set pieces. Last season, almost a quarter of their 42 league goals came from dead-ball positions but corners and free kicks were not things Bielsa hung his hat on or fundamental to the success of his tenure. Leeds, with him as head coach, were consistently creative in possession until their form dissipated in his fourth year in charge. Marsch’s approach to open play is to use pressing and vertical passing to open up defences but he has a reputation for trying to maximise returns from set plays, going back to his days as a coach in the States. Jackson was promoted by Marsch from the position of under-23s coach last season, joining the first-team staff in the week after the American was appointed. His input in the final 12 games convinced Marsch to keep Jackson alongside him this term, though Jackson’s responsibilities have changed slightly. “I’ve switched Mark Jackson to be a set-piece coach among other things,” Marsch said. “He’s put a lot of work into the organisation of what we’re doing. He’s invested in the guys, the guys have invested in him in that role and I think you can see the rewards of that.” Statistically, set pieces can be important and decisive. Of the 56 goals scored in the Premier League this season, a fifth have come from dead-ball moves. Leeds were particularly busy from corners at Southampton and when Rodrigo scored on the hour, giving the club a 2-0 lead, his finish came from a move which Marsch’s side had been trying to nail throughout the game. A similar scenario should have led to the opener before half-time. Leeds, like many sides, use signals at corners to indicate the type of delivery that is about to arrive. One arm in the air, for example, appears to telegraph a cross to the near post. In some instances, they have taken to placing two players by the corner flag — more often than not on Saturday, Jack Harrison and Brenden Aaronson, one a left-footer and the other right-footed — to provide the option of inswinging and outswinging balls. Every set piece relies on a good-quality cross but Southampton struggled to negate Leeds’ strategy, eventually succumbing to it after 60 minutes. It is apparent that Harrison and Aaronson will be influential, as will Rodrigo. Harrison’s service has been good and on top of seven chances created from open play, he has created four from dead balls — no other player in the Premier League has created more. Rodrigo’s movement in the box, meanwhile, appears to be central to Jackson’s thinking, a target whom Harrison and Aaronson can reliably aim for. Southampton were very nearly caught out by a near-post run from Rodrigo midway through the first half on Saturday, failing to check his movement from a starting position in the centre of the six-yard box (see below). The nuts and bolts of the move are plain to see: Harrison and Aaronson both over the corner, Aaronson raising one arm before swinging the ball in and Rodrigo meeting it with a glancing header across goal. The flick found Dan James and Rasmus Kristensen at the far post and one of those players should have buried the chance. Instead, their failure to apply a clean touch gave Southampton’s goalkeeper, Gavin Bazunu, an easy save to make. please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image An identical plan was applied early in the second half, with Leeds 1-0 up through Rodrigo’s 46th-minute strike. Harrison delivered the cross this time, another outswinger, and Rodrigo repeated his earlier trick, taking up a standing position in front of Bazunu and then losing a zonal defence by sprinting towards the front of the box. His header from a difficult angle landed on the roof of the net but Southampton’s inability to read Leeds’ tactics were setting them up for another concession. please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image When Leeds’ second goal arrived on the hour, Rodrigo’s role was reversed — his positioning at the far post inviting a flick-on from somebody else. The team’s organisation in the box was a little different, starting with a train of players lined up behind the penalty spot, but Aaronson put the corner on the money again, finding Pascal Struijk near the front of the area. Southampton’s decision to place a marker close to the corner flag played Rodrigo onside, and Rodrigo was so near to goal that he could not fail to turn Struijk’s header in. The finish had been coming all afternoon. please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image The key for Leeds is clear communication about who to hit and which runs to make. Rodrigo’s involvement in set pieces was obvious in the club’s victory over Wolves a fortnight ago and beyond bringing the forward into the fold of their senior leadership group, Marsch and Jackson have tried to bring other qualities out of him too. The following free kick was reminiscent of the tactics at Southampton, with Rodrigo starting central to deceive Wolves’ defence before outwitting them with an angled run. Harrison was able to find him with a good cross and Rodrigo should have made more of a headed chance, presented to him despite Wolves having every single player back to defend. please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image An earlier warning for Wolves had gone unheeded when Harrison’s left-footed free kick found another clever run from Kristensen. Kristensen did what Rodrigo was trying to do, slipping into a crowd of players in the middle of the pitch and then peeling away before Wolves could react, and Harrison’s cross forced Wolves’ goalkeeper, Jose Sa, to abandon his goal line and compete for the ball. Sa’s late challenge on Kristensen might have led to a penalty on another day but irrespective of that, Kristensen’s header across goal exposed Wolves in exactly the way Leeds intended. On this occasion, a covering defender intervened to avert the danger. please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image Over time, the tricks up Leeds’ sleeve will register with other teams and it is safe to assume that with the benefit of two games to analyse, Chelsea will arrive at Elland Road on Sunday with a better idea of how Marsch plans to attack them from set pieces. Chelsea have been a little prone to dead balls so far, giving up 10 chances from them in their matches against Everton and Tottenham Hotspur, but it will fall to Marsch and Jackson to continue being inventive and giving Leeds an extra string to their bow. Marsch once noted that more than 30 per cent of goals in Major League Soccer stemmed from dead balls. His interest in them has not waned since.
Exactly why it was David Ornstein who got the interview with Radz and as a matter of courtesy Ornstein let Hay do some of the questioning seeing as hes actually The athletic Leeds correspondent, but Radz got his message accross to Leeds fans in a high profile way using Ornstein
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The twat with the chair might have lost a mate They didn't think it through very well. You don't go to the end of a cul-de-sac if you want to get out easy.
Aah.. Well thats double amusing then. What were they thinking? No exit as stonkin said.. Dick head hey.. I bet the guy who got hit with the chair was in a lot of pain to say the least after that!
Have the YEP turned into a red top? They have just said willie Gnonto deal almost done at £4.2m and the price for Charlie Taylor will be £5m as Burnley have bought his replacement. Have the YEP ever had a story of their own?
Lots of noise around Moise Kean signing. Was **** at Everton but hasn't done too badly Really hope Sarr going to villa will allow a 'domino to fall' and we sign Watkins
He's an absolute **** shako, and a ****ing racist bastard Diillan Whyte was spot on about that fake gangsta wannabe
Weird this story because a couple of the Sundays say Juventus are sending him back to PSG and refusing to buy him after a poor season only scoring 5 goals. I know hes on loan but as far as I know hes still an Everton player and they loaned him to PSG. He did well for PSG scoring a goal every other game on average but poor last season. Bielsa wanted him in 2018 but he chose Everton and was huge flop. His contract runs out next June and still only 22yo. I believe Juventus took him on a long term loan with a buy option at the end but now want him gone and will not be buying him, so its Everton I believe who need to sort him out? PSG liked him but brought Messi in so he was then loaned to Juve
