Legacies of Leeds United’s 2021/22 season have long been shunted into the darker recesses of many fans’ memories. When survival from relegation is not secured until the final day it’s plain to see why such misery is better off forgotten as quickly as possible.
Jesse Marsch ultimately navigated the club through the choppy waters of his 12 matches in charge, but even he sampled some of the crushing lows which punctuated the campaign. Few will remember his rescue mission for its free-flowing, swashbuckling football, but there was one legacy primed to take off again in 22/23.
Sam Greenwood featured three times with the first team under Marcelo Bielsa, but few could have expected the match time he was given under Marsch. The head coach went as far as saying the 20-year-old was adapting faster to his methodology than anyone else in the squad.
READ MORE: Charlie Cresswell set for Leeds United clarity on his future as transfer talks come into view
The former Arsenal man stood out with promising glimpses from the bench at Molineux and Vicarage Road, but it was his full debut on the final day at Brentford which really caught the eye. Playing alongside Kalvin Phillips as one of the two midfielders in a 4-2-3-1, Greenwood was excellent on a day the nerves could not have been rawer.
In an interview with the club’s matchday programme, Greenwood opened up on the relationship he has begun to build with Marsch. Speaking in April, the forward-turned-midfielder talked up how well this new system was already suiting his attributes.
“He (Marsch) speaks to me about important small things I need to improve on, like reactions,” he said. “For example, if we lose the ball, how I need to react straight away to get it back and the best ways of doing that.
“Those things suit me as a player and I feel I am getting better at it every game, learning every day on the training pitch. I need to try and keep up with that now and keep my confidence up when on the pitch with the first team.
“If I can keep my confidence high I think I can thrive.”
Mark Jackson managed Greenwood through the first phase of his Leeds journey after arriving in the summer of 2020. After their respective successes with the under-23s, both graduated into the first team through the second half of last term.
“Jacko has been great for me during all my time here at Leeds,” he said. “He’s someone you can speak to and obviously, I had a good relationship with him in the under-23s before he stepped up into the first team.
“So now it’s great for me and for others he’s still around, he really helps with my game and he’s a great guy as well.”
