No bomb squad
Conventionally at football clubs, the collection of players not in a manager’s plans and expecting to depart are known as the bomb squad. During Marcelo Bielsa’s reign, Leeds United would send unneeded players, normally under-23s, to train away from Thorp Arch or at times the main group would not be around.
Under Jesse Marsch however, the fringe options we expect to depart Elland Road are still involved with the main first-team unit. Ian Poveda and Helder Costa were recorded going through the same drills as everyone else before the Wolverhampton Wanderers opener.
Bamford and Gelhardt not seen
Marsch, to his credit, has been very open with his fitness updates and proactively addressed medical issues before the main part of his press conferences. There was no suggestion from him on Thursday of issues for either Patrick Bamford or Joe Gelhardt, but neither were in the club’s training video.
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Marsch’s boots quip
The American’s personable approach has been well documented since his arrival and his relationship with the players has become one of his calling cards. Bielsa would never have been sighted in these videos down the corridors among the players or in the boot room.
By contrast, Marsch was in there in this edition and speaking with compatriot Brenden Aaronson, who made a comment about his brightly-coloured boots. The head coach followed them out of the room with his pair of Adidas Copa Mundials and quipped: “They also make black shoes. I don’t know if you guys know that.”
Kristensen’s legend grows
United’s Scandinavian right-back already showed on Sunday he has the makings of a cult hero at Elland Road. He runs all day, he’s strong, he’s aggressive, he’s got quality and now he has a black eye that feeds the legend.
You may recall he received lengthy treatment during the Cagliari win after a clash of heads, but went on to finish the game with a bandage. The result on show this weekend will be a black eye.
Coach returns
Frankie Schiemer was synonymous with United’s fight for survival at the back end of last season and is understood to have formed tight bonds with the players in a very short space of time. As a part of Marsch’s summer reshuffle, the Austrian moved into a consultancy role at the club, but from afar.
However, Schiemer was back in the thick of the action at Thorp Arch this week and recorded training closely with the players on the pitches.
Klich front and centre
While he remains a popular figure among his team-mates and the terraces, Mateusz Klich’s slide down the Leeds pecking order has opened the door to a move away this month. World Cup aspirations mean Klich has an eye on the game time he will be getting between now and mid-November.
Despite that exit possibility, like Poveda and Costa, he’s still a big part of training and one impressive clip made the club’s final edit. As Klich moved from deep in one training game, collecting the ball and lashing home, one coach could be heard shouting: “Good run. Good run, Klichy!”
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