Jesse Marsch was pleased with a 'close to complete' win for Leeds United as they saw off Blackpool in their second pre-season friendly. The Whites have already played Stoke City in a behind closed doors fixture and this evening's game gave Leeds fans a first look at some new signings ahead of next season.
"We had a match against Stoke City behind closed doors and we felt good about that," Marsch told Leeds United. "A lot of the things we wanted to put into practise for this match - we did in a good way.
"I thought in the build up phase, we were pretty good. Counter pressing phase, we were quite good. Then we were ale to score from some set pieces and create some, I thought, pretty big advantages and chances and then limited the opponent to almost nothing. I think when you look at the performance it's pretty close to complete."
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Marsch was renowned for his work on set-pieces when in the MLS with New York Red Bulls and has wasted no time in implementing some of those ideas at Thorp Arch. The Whites scored from two set plays inside the first-half.
"We've worked a lot and talked a lot about set pieces and I'm happy to see the group excited about these moments as well," he added. "I think that showed, even the first goal that gets called offside, we've spoken about being a little bit more ruthless in front of goal and finish burying chances so we don't allow teams to stay in the match.
"We were good with that. I thought overall, our fitness levels were pretty good right now, our concentration and our understanding of how we want to play was pretty good. I think as a club we're really trying to emphasise, all the way from the First Team right through to the academy that we want to put a style of play into place and have all our players understand what our strategies are, what are tactics are; how we want to play and what our behaviours are.
"Without ever losing the mentality of what it means to be a Leeds United player, which is to fight, to run, to do whatever it takes for each other every day. It fits with the tactics. When we get the tactics right and we get the mentality right together, you get to see good performances and I think that's what we had."
Leeds have so far added six new faces to their squad in a bid to avoid a repeat of last season. A number of those new faces were in the stands to watch a convincing Whites display.
When asked how Marsch felt about the transfer business so far, he said: "Really happy, I think what we said was, in the first line of recruitment we wanted to bring in the right people. People that can fit into our mentality, that understand what being all in is, togetherness and team spirit. I think we've done a really good job of that and they're also talented players.
"Some of them I've worked with in the past. Some of them, we've been very careful to scout to fit exactly the way we want to play and I think that we're adding really good pieces that we think will help us get stronger and stronger."
The Whites will now jet off to Australia to face Brisbane Roar (14 July), Aston Villa (17 July) and Crystal Palace. Marsch said: "I love pre-season. I love going into concentration where we can all be together for a two week stretch and push training every day to define who we are and what we want to be.
"It's not just about the work on the pitch, it's the team bonding, the video sessions, the individual session. It's the investment that we're making in each other that will hold up in big moments as the season moves on.
"As a player I always enjoyed pre-season and as a manager - even more so. We're going to have a really fun environment, we're going to push hard and the guys are going to be tired. They're going to be ready to get home by the time it's all over but we're going to get a lot out of it that's for sure."
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