An all-round response
Leeds United have taken a kicking this month, on and off the pitch. Whether it’s the 16 goals shipped and the steamrolling they have taken or the meltdowns on the national radio stations and social media, the team’s stock is low right now.
Marcelo Bielsa and his players know exactly what is expected of them today, so does a sold-out Elland Road as Tottenham Hotspur roll into town around 11am.
Based on the way the last three matches have unfolded you would say a rallying response is far easier said than done, but what are we all turning up if not for the hope of this side finding their mojo again?
Does the system change?
No, not in the sense of Bielsa’s high pressing, man-for-man approach, but in the odd shape they used against Antonio Conte’s Spurs earlier this season.
It ultimately shook down into a 3-3-1-3, but it was fluid and hard to pin down in writing for people. Diego Llorente came so far wide he looked like a right-back and so far inside he was a third centre-back as he tracked Heung-min Son.
Kalvin Phillips had been given a man-marking job on Harry Kane that day and proved to be a central defender in the main, while Pascal Struijk doubled as a left wing-back and left-sided centre-back.
Spurs have recently been playing a 3-4-2-1, so, on paper at least, you would have thought the customary 4-1-4-1 would do the job with the two centre-backs on Kane and the full-backs following Son and his right-sided counterpart.
Centre-backs to return?
Llorente and Robin Koch were passed fit by Bielsa in Friday’s press conference, so it will be interesting to see which, if either, of them is recalled.
The Spaniard looks a decent bet as it releases Luke Ayling from the centre and, on his day, he has proved the club’s best defender.
Koch may be a different case because of the caution needed around last weekend’s head injury.
Four into three will not go
If we are to assume Llorente is recalled and Dallas gets that push into the middle there is going to be a knock-on effect in the final third.
There are three roles across central midfield, left-wing and up front for Mateusz Klich, Rodrigo, Jack Harrison and Daniel James to squeeze into.
Any combination taking three of them will work, but who gets left out? All four can be accused of inconsistency, while James and Rodrigo might even say they are being harmed by playing out of position.
Bielsa has been fond of all of them, hence their minutes played, but one looks set to sit out.
Finally turn the screw on Brentford
If there is one advantage to playing in the Saturday lunchtime slot after a Wednesday night grueller, it is the chance to put Brentford in a vice.
Beat Tottenham and Leeds finally leapfrog the faltering Bees into 14th place with a two-point gap on 26 matches apiece.
Psychologically, that’s the kind of forward momentum Leeds are desperate for, even if the sides below do have plenty of games in hand still.
