Our Leeds United writers Beren Cross and Will Jackson discussed pre-season, transfers, the coming campaign and plenty more on Facebook after the Aston Villa defeat.
Here's a full transcript of the conversation.
Beren Cross: It’s only right to start on the big talking point and that hefty tackle on Archie Gray, who was stretchered off. Having spoken to Jesse Marsch yourself, it sounds like it’s not as bad as we first thought?
Will Jackson: Yes obviously it looked a nasty one when he collided with John McGinn and he was down a little while and was stretchered off. It looked a real bad one, replays made it look really bad as well. So obviously Jesse Marsch has been asked about it and it sounds like a sprain which is very good news. Obviously sprains can be bad but hopefully it’s not as bad as first feared. Steven Gerrard was asked about it and he just said that McGinn was unlucky going into the challenge and that he was just followed through after getting the ball.
BC: Another big talking point was Illan Meslier’s saves in the first half. The double penalty save and then the save from Ollie Watkins immediately after. Given it was a 1-0 defeat, that was probably the Leeds highlight wasn’t it?
WJ: I thought Leeds started the game pretty well. I was impressed with the likes of Brenden Aaronson and his energy and pressing in that number 10 role. I thought Christensen had a really good game as well but that double penalty save was unbelievable. I don’t think anyone could quite believe it in the crowd and the same with Watkins stop when he just tipped it over the bar. I caught a moment when Watkins was watching the big screen and he was just stood there with his hands on his hips and shaking his head, thinking how on earth has that not gone in! I’ve just seen Meslier downstairs and he says he’s feeling sharp and he looks it on the pitch.
BC: The second half just seemed a bit disjointed. I think a combination of the substitutions for both sides and the injury to Archie. It took the wind out of the sails a little bit, didn’t it?
WJ: It’s very similar to the other night because the changes just seemed to suck the momentum out of them a little bit. In that second half, when the changes had been made, you struggled to think where the goals are coming from. Klich was playing at number 10 and wasn’t really finding the openings that Aaronson maybe was in the first half. As I say I struggled to see where the goals are coming from and I still think they need that one striker.
BC: Rodrigo was frustratingly offside a lot in that second half, wasn’t he?
WJ: I actually thought he played reasonably well on the Gold Coast but he didn’t really get into the game today. I think that can be the same for a lot of them. Summerville didn’t really get into it, we’ve not really seen a lot from Sinisterra yet, he’s played half an hour in the Gold Coast and half an hour here and he just doesn’t seem sharp or fit enough yet.
BC: Jesse had eluded to Sinisterra. He’s said that he’s had to manage that combination of minutes that he and Daniel James has had. We’re expecting to see Sinisterra start against Palace because clearly time is against them. They’ve only got two more friendlies left and they need to get the Colombian much sharper if he’s going to start the season.
WJ: Daniel James is suspended for the first game as well. So Sinisterra will probably start that game and he’s going to have to get some minutes now in either this game or the one at Elland Road.
BC: Talking about wingers. Jack Harrison was asked by the host broadcaster pitchside about his future. Clearly the broadcaster is following the transfer rumours as there has been nothing firm out there but the broadcaster chanced their arm and put the question to Harrison. He did seem a little bit caught on the hop by the question but ultimately the words that came out of his mouth were, ‘we’ll see what happens’. You guys have then gone into the presser and you’ve spoken to Marsch about it...
WJ: So Marsch obviously got asked about it. He didn’t deny there was interest in Harrison but he did say he was going to be a big part of his plans moving forward. He didn’t say he would be leaving any time soon. I must admit I think Harrison has just been caught off guard by the question and he’s just sort of mumbled his words a little bit and was surprised by it. I’m just not reading too much into it.
BC: I agree. I think if anybody who hasn’t seen it and they do go and see it, they’ll see that he almost answers too quickly. There’s sort of no break between the question and Jack engaging what the guy has asked him. And his answer sort of trails off and there was some background noise and you can’t quite hear the backend of his answer which might have given us a bit more context. Either way, the club, Jesse and Jack have tried to pour water on this one and I don’t think there are any intentions or plans for Leeds to sell Jack.
BC: Who else stood out for you? I guess the big plus apart from Meslier was Bamford getting a start and getting some more minutes into those legs. He was dropping deep quite a lot and trying to link up but I think his weight of pass was maybe off at times.
WJ: Yes, again I don’t think he was particularly fit or sharp. I think coming towards the end of the first half, after 45 minutes, he looked leggy, he was breathing heavy. He didn’t look like the Bamford we know. Second half he got stuck in a little bit. He did well to get a few tackles in. Bamford has got a lot of work to do. I’m going to mention Rasmus Kristensen again. I think he’s been great to watch at right-back. He was very good today defensively. The back-four kept its shape really well. They were hard to breakdown in the first half.
BC: Koch is playing a lot of football. Liam Cooper is the one we’re all waiting for, and I think if everyone is fit he’s going to start because he’s the captain. But as it stands, Koch and Struijk are taking their chances but Robin Koch seems to be the number one centre-back at the moment with the time he’s getting on the field.
WJ: Koch got caught out a couple of times but Struijk did really well in the second half. He’s played 90 minutes in the Gold Coast and he played 45 minutes here and he’s looking really sharp. It’s food for thought for Jesse. I also thought Dan James looked ok. He had a couple of chances to score as well which he probably should’ve done better with.
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BC: The big elephant in the room is at left-back. The club is trying to explore every opportunity they have within their own squad but most are of the opinion that they need to go and buy somebody. But it was Leif Davis’ turn today. What did you make of his audition in the role?
WJ: He was ok. He didn’t set the world alight but he was a steady pair of hands in that role. A few more games to get into the role and he might be alright.
BC: Jesse stopped short of backing him completely in the press conference. He said that he has got a test on his hands, it’s effectively a trial for him at the moment. But he wasn’t quite singing his names from the heavens, was he?
WJ: It stems back to what we said on the last video on Thursday about Jesse not denying the fact that they might be going after another left-back. If they’re looking at another left-back, Leif Davis is a good option, but they might be looking elsewhere too.
BC: The double pivot – you’ve seen Forshaw, Gyabi, Adams, Roca in there and you’ve seen a little bit of Archie Gray. I know there’s still a few weeks to go but as it stands, who do you see as the strongest pairing in there? Roca does seem to be impressing people generally. I think one of the things people were worried about with Roca was his physicality but he’s thrown himself about, hasn’t he?
WJ: I think he’s going to get a few bookings. He’s very physical and I think he actually enjoys that side of the game. The best two I’ve seen so far is Forshaw and Roca and I didn’t think that would work because they’re a little bit similar in terms of their play. What I think Jesse will go for is what we’ve seen today at the start. His starting XI today isn’t a million miles away from what we’ll see on the opening day of the season against Wolves.
BC: Adams is clearly one of his favourites. He knows Tyler Adams so well. Anybody who watched Leeds last season, as you eluded to there Will, will know that you can’t forget about Forshaw. I know it’s quite nice to look at these new signings as the shiny new play thing but Forshaw wanted to impress when he came back from that long-term injury in what was clearly a struggling Bielsa side. I agree with you that Forshaw will give Jesse something to think about in the middle alongside Roca.
WJ: It’s interesting that he put Sam Greenwood in there as well. We saw that on the last day of the season in May and I thought he did ok in that role.
BC: I’ve got to admit I really like Greenwood. He’s not put a foot wrong every time I see him. He’s still a young lad but you see him more in these different positions and you can see why Marsch likes him. He just seems to fit into that system and that style of play so well and the confidence is there. I saw some back heals today. I think he’s going to have a cracking season if he can stay fit. Tell people about the next few days then Will, there’s five days until the Palace game now so it’s quite a lengthy stretch?
WJ: Tomorrow it’s a day off for Leeds. They’ve got free time to explore Brisbane and this beautiful part of the world. They're flying to Perth on Tuesday afternoon where they’ll be playing Crystal Palace. Today was a massive test in terms of a step-up in opposition and it was like a Premier League game in terms of the intensity. I’m expecting the same from Crystal Palace in Perth. We had 40,918 here today. I think we’re expecting more than 50,000 in Perth so it’s going to be a big turn out.
BC: We went to that stadium in Perth when it was Manchester United in 2019 which for obvious reasons was a sell-out. It’s a much bigger stadium than today. That’s going to be a big atmosphere if Palace can sell some tickets.
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