Jesse Marsch was an interested spectator on Monday afternoon as Leeds United under-21s took on Norwich City at Thorp Arch. The head coach made the short journey from his office to the pitch directly outside the main building at Leeds’ training base and could be seen watching on from a makeshift gantry.
He wasn’t the only first-team figure on the sidelines to watch the Whites draw 2-2 with their Norwich counterparts, as the likes of Luis Sinisterra, Joel Robles, Tyler Adams and Stuart Dallas could be seen, too. However, he was the only man Crysencio Summerville was interested in impressing, no doubt, as he lined up for Michael Skubala’s youth side alongside a host of familiar figures.
Summerville was an unused substitute in the Premier League at Southampton on Saturday afternoon. The winger had made the trip down to the south coast but he never got the nod from Marsch.
Read more: Leeds United U21 ratings as Summerville and Joseph among those to shine in Norwich draw
As such, in order to maintain his sharpness, he was given a run out in the U21s on Monday afternoon, alongside Mateusz Klich, Adam Forshaw, Cody Drameh and Sam Greenwood, and he certainly took the opportunity to prove a point to the American. The 20-year-old was electric for the Whites on what was a sticky and humid afternoon.
Cutting in from the left flank, he had the beating of Ben Watt throughout the entirety of the contest and it took him just a few short minutes to establish dominance, skipping into the box with a tidy piece of skill and firing a shot into the side-netting. It was impossible not to be impressed with the Netherlands youth international’s touch and effort down the flank and he came close to scoring again before the break, but could only hit the same side of the net.
He seemed to up the ante in the second half, though, and he made a lasting imprint on the game when he threaded a perfectly weighted pass through the line for Sonny Perkins to leather home with a first time shot that was too hot for the Norwich keeper, David Azaiya to handle. Summerville continued to poke and prod the Canaries throughout the contest, asking questions down the line and cutting inside to wreak havoc, too.
Unfortunately, the diminutive winger’s effort wasn’t enough to win the game thanks to an Abu Kamara brace, but he had the chance to mark his performance with a decider just a few minutes before the full-time whistle as he leapt to meet at Cody Drameh cross with his head. The goalkeeper was beaten but the woodwork wasn’t and Summerville could only watch on as the ball bounced back out into play.
“He was disappointed at the end, he was saying, ‘I’ve never scored a header’”, Skubala said after the contest. “He’s a great kid and he’s got super talent.
“With the ball he’s brilliant, he can stand players up, he can go past people, he’s an exciting talent and I thought he was impressive at certain moments today. He needs to work on moments of the game, but what a talent he is.”
It’s fair to say Skubala won’t be working with Summerville too often this season due to his first-team commitments and the winger will hope to have given Marsch some food for thought ahead of this weekend’s clash with Chelsea at Elland Road. His first-team game time has been limited to just five minutes so far this season and he’ll certainly be keen to add to that against Thomas Tuchel’s Blues.
Of course, Marsch isn’t short of options in wide areas and the returns of Sinisterra and Dan James ensure Summerville is down the pecking order at present. But, he almost certainly managed to make his case to the head coach on Monday afternoon and that should stand him in good stead as he goes in pursuit of more senior minutes.
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