Jesse Marsch may have found himself reflecting on Leeds United’s Premier League season so far over the last few days. The Whites were due to take on Nottingham Forest at Elland Road this evening, but the game was postponed as a mark of respect following the death of the Queen last week.
While the United chief could be forgiven for perhaps switching off for a day or two over the weekend, he could also have spent time mulling over his side’s first six Premier League outings and assessing how his side can kick on. The Whites have picked up eight points from their opening six games, but Marsch will fancy his side’s chances of building on that before the World Cup break.
Here, Leeds Live take a look at a few decisions the head coach must make in the coming weeks.
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His best defensive line-up
Last weekend’s 5-2 defeat to Brentford was enough to give Marsch a decision to make at the back ahead of Leeds’ next outing. The Whites may have been second best at the Gtech Community Stadium, but they weren’t as bad as the scoreline suggested, with needless individual mistakes proving their undoing at the back.
Diego Llorente has taken the brunt of the blame since that clash, but Robin Koch and Pascal Struijk underperformed in west London, too, as Leeds gifted Brentford the chances they needed to put the game to bed. As such, Marsch will be keen to shore things up at the back and the re-introduction of Liam Cooper may be on the cards after shaking off the Achilles issue that blighted his pre-season campaign.
With Luke Ayling now fit and Junior Firpo pushing towards a return, Marsch has calls to make on both edges, too. In fact, Koch, who has impressed for the most part this season, appears to be the only player with a secure spot for the time being.
Rodrigo or Bamford
Rodrigo was Leeds’ best over the first few games of the campaign, scoring four goals and underlining his worth to the side after struggling for form last time around. His goals catapulted Leeds into the Champions League places and it seemed as though the Spain international was showing the form required to nail down the Whites’ number nine role.
However, he dislocated his shoulder against Everton last month and he isn’t expected to return for a little while longer yet as he recovers. When he steps back into contention, though, he may well find himself behind Bamford in Marsch’s pecking order.
That said, Bamford has been struggling with injury himself this season after picking up a groin issue in August’s draw with Southampton. The England international is still waiting to score his first goal of the campaign and he’ll be keen to secure his spot by performing when given the chance.
Youngster progression
As players continue to return to fitness within the Leeds squad, it seems there is a good chance the head coach could find himself fielding his strongest possible XI in the not too distant future. That’s a luxury he hasn’t had since joining the club and he’ll be hoping they can maintain their fitness moving forward.
However, if that were to be the case, finding the chances for youngsters to kick on and develop may be slightly more challenging. The likes of Crysencio Summerville, Joe Gelhardt and Sam Greenwood look set to play key roles off the bench this season and they may even get a chance to start during rotation.
Below them, though, Leeds have an army of youngsters desperate for a chance at first-team level. Marsch has always shown a desire to hand out game time to young stars, but the chances to do so appear few and far between at present.
Touchline conduct
Marsch has started to build quite a reputation for himself with his antics on the touchline. The head coach was sent off at Brentford as referee Robert Jones took a zero tolerance approach to his complaints about a penalty decision.
That came just a week after he received a yellow card for his behaviour at the Amex Stadium. However, while he has had cause to be frustrated at times, it’s unclear whether his actions are actually helping his team on the field.
The head coach has spoken about feeling the need to reach out to the powers that be in a bid to understand the officiating he has seen this season so far. However, it’s clear that if Marsch’s behaviour doesn’t change, referees will continue to take action against him in games.
Contracts
The club’s contract situation may not be on the top of the agenda right now, but it soon will be as a number of players approach the final year of their respective deals. The likes of Jack Harrison, Robin Koch, Liam Cooper, Diego Llorente, Rodrigo, Mateusz Klich and Pascal Struijk are all in possession of contracts due to expire at the end of next season and the club may not feel comfortable letting them tick down much longer.
Decisions will be made in the coming months either way, but they certainly won’t want to risk losing any of the above names on free transfers. It remains to be seen how Leeds will approach the situations of Luke Ayling, Adam Forshaw and Joel Robles, too, who are all in the final year of their deals.
Robles has only just arrived at the club and a call will be made on him in time, but the clock is certainly ticking if the Whites want to see Ayling or Forshaw stay beyond the end of the season and Marsch could have a big say in any decision.
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