Jesse Marsch was keen to explore his Leeds United midfield options against on Friday as his side took on and beat Real Sociedad at Elland Road. The Whites are busy preparing for the restart of the Premier League season and in a week and a half’s time, they’ll be taking on Manchester City on home soil.
The clash will be United's first piece of competitive action since November 12 and Marsch will have hoping to see his side turn in a promising performance against Sociedad. They did exactly that, with Pascal Struijk and Rodrigo scoring the goals to secure a 2-1 win over Imanol Alguacil’s side, who currently sit third in the La Liga table and have a place in the knockout stages of the Europa League secured.
It wasn’t always pretty, but it was relatively comfortable and the head coach will have been content. However, it’s fair to say the Leeds chief still has a selection headache to solve ahead of that Man City clash.
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With Tyler Adams suspended, following his dismissal at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last time out, Adam Forshaw was the man chosen to start alongside Marc Roca in the middle of the field. It was the 31-year-old’s first appearance at Elland Road since August following an injury-hit first half of the campaign and he will have been keen to stake a claim and nail down his status as the next cab off the rank.
He struggled to do that, though, in what was clearly a rusty performance under the lights. Forshaw had some bright spells on the ball in the first half, attempting to link play between the defence and midfield and picking out a fine pass or two, but he struggled at times, too.
The former Middlesbrough man looked off the pace on several occasions and balls regularly fell short of their intended target as he struggled to take control of the contest. He was replaced at half-time in what was clearly a scheduled substitution with Sam Greenwood entering the field of play in his place and in truth, Leeds looked a lot more comfortable after the break.
The Spanish outfit made changes, too, but they struggled to find a cutting edge in the second half and Leeds were able to take the lead and protect it without really being challenged. Greenwood played his part, providing moments of guile and a touch of aggression as Leeds got themselves over the line for a second mid-season friendly win, but whether it was enough to earn a spot in the side for the visit of the champions remains to be seen.
Leeds have one more friendly to play before getting their league campaign up and running once more, with Monaco travelling to Elland Road on Wednesday night and it’ll be another opportunity for the head coach to assess the options at his disposal when it comes to filling in for the American.
Adams has been one of Leeds’ best this season and while he will only miss one game, he’ll be hard to replace. Fortunately, Marsch has the luxury of being able to see his side in action one more time and he'll hope to have his mind made up for him, one way or the other, by either the experienced Forshaw or the young and hungry Greenwood.
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