The new Premier League season is approaching and it seems a number of places in Jesse Marsch’s starting XI for the Wolves opener are still up for grabs. Spots in attacking areas don’t seem to be nailed down just yet, with the likes of Jack Harrison, Rodrigo, Joe Gelhardt, Patrick Bamford, Luis Sinisterra and Crysencio Summerville amongst those pushing for a spot in the side.
Marsch may also have a decision to make when it comes to centre-midfield and centre-back as key men battle it out to make the team for the first weekend and beyond. However, one of the biggest questions the American faces in the build-up to the new campaign comes at left-back, with both Junior Firpo and Stuart Dallas occupying the treatment room at Thorp Arch.
Firpo has been ruled out for the next seven weeks, while Dallas is expected to miss a huge chunk of the campaign with a fractured femur. It means Marsch finds himself looking for full-back options and it appears as though Leif Davis is at the front of the queue at this moment in time.
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Jack Harrison was preferred to Davis at left-back in the starting XI for the club’s first game of their pre-season tour of Australia against Brisbane Roar. It’s fair to say, though, that the winger looked uncomfortable in his defensive duties,
He was replaced by Davis at the interval in a scheduled change at the Cbus Super Stadium, but the 22-year-old’s impact was limited in a disjointed and lacklustre second half performance from the Whites against the A-League side. Marsch looked to him to start the club’s second outing Down Under against Aston Villa and he performed strongly in front of more than 40,000 fans at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.
The youngster got forward well at times in the game and he managed to hold his own against Villa’s right side attack in a fiery and aggressive clash, which gave those fans Down Under a firm taste of Premier League football and its competitiveness. Unfortunately, he was the man to concede the penalty which led to the only goal of the game, as the ball collided with his arm in the area.
However, the decision didn’t detract from what was a promising display against Steven Gerrard’s side.
“Leif Davis has stepped in and even when I spoke to him, I said ‘I don't want to treat this like a trial, but the reality is, it is kind of a trial’,” Marsch said after the game. “The penalty is a little unfair.
“In the end, it's good to see him playing against Premier League talent and, for the most part, he did okay today, but obviously the challenge for him is big because the level’s high.”
Davis is likely to have another chance to stake a claim on Friday as the Whites take on Crystal Palace at Perth’s Optus Stadium and their third and final match of the pre-season tour Down Under. Marsch will use the match to give minutes to those players that need them, with Luis Sinisterra one who is expected to play extended game time in Western Australia.
The left-back, though, will have the opportunity to prove he can be an asset in Marsch’s defensive line-up and he’ll be certainly be treating the game as a second audition for that Premier League opener against Wolves at Elland Road in less than three weeks’ time. He’s put himself in the picture with his performances in both training and on the field so far, but he needs to impress once more against the Eagles.
It won’t be easy, given the attacking talent the South London club are able to boast, but if he can take his chance and turn in another solid performance, he could make Marsch’s mind up for him on Friday morning.
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