On his arrival at Leeds United, Jesse Marsch was careful to stress that his 'principles' of playing would be more important than the side adapting to particular formations that they weren't used to playing under the previous manager, Marcelo Bielsa. With the Argentine at the helm, Leeds were best known for attacking in 4-1-4-1 and 3-3-1-3 shapes and utilising width in their attacks.
However, Marsch prefers narrowness, and the formations he favours reflect that, as he is best known for lining his teams up in a 4-2-2-2. In fact, according to Transfermarkt, RB Salzburg played the formation for every league game in the 2020/21 season. In the early games of his reign at Leeds, that's how the Whites lined up. With Jack Harrison and Raphinha playing behind Rodrigo and Dan James in the attacking four and with Adam Forshaw and Mateusz Klich playing as the deeper midfield two.
As time went on, that formation became more of a 4-2-3-1, with Raphinha and Harrison playing wider. That formation ended up being more common by the end of the season, apart from the period of three games where Leeds faced Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea and they attempted to make the game stodgy for their opponents with a three at the back formation, which proved unsuccessful.
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Although Leeds ultimately stayed up and Marsch achieved his first goal as manager of the club, there was a sense that the American compromised on much of his playing philosophy the moment he moved away from the 4-2-2-2. That's why it seems mostly likely that it will return in pre-season, as Leeds will be able to work on it properly without the stress of relegation hanging over them. They can also focus on bringing in players who are more comfortable in the positions required and have already done with their first signing, as Brenden Aaronson played on the left side of the attacking midfield two when Marsch lined up his Salzburg side in the formation.
During the run to the end of the season, there was a growing sense amongst Leeds' fan base that Marsch's penchant for narrowness would not work well in the Premier League and that it was leading to 'ugly' football, as seen in the Watford win and the draw at Crystal Palace. Therefore, many on social media expressed relief to see the team playing with more width as they picked up four points in their final two matches to stay up.
It's important to note that a compact shape in possession is vital to the way Marsch wants to play. In this video from Coaches' Voice, Leeds' manager explains the importance of the front four moving as a unit, with and without the ball. That's because pressing is such a vital part of the way the American wants his team to play. In fact, it's seen as one of the primary ways in which the team should be looking to score goals, thanks to Marsch's 'pressing to score' philosophy.
In fact, Marsch is happy for his team to be very aggressive with the ball and not worry too much about turning it over to the opposition, because when they do, they have an opportunity to win it back quickly and create a goalscoring chance out of the chaos. In order to do that, the players need to be as close together as possible so that they can hunt the ball in a pack of four, with the near-side full back and deep midfielders pushing up to squeeze the space and make it more difficult for the opposition to escape.
The 4-2-3-1 formation can work well in that regard and it is easy to shift between that shape and the 4-2-2-2 as it simply requires one of the wider players to join the lone striker to make a front two, or for the central attacking midfielder to do so and vice versa. However, the 4-2-2-2 is the best shape for winning the ball in the centre, as if Leeds can manipulate their opponents to move the ball into the middle of the pitch, they have numerical superiority and can 'fall' on the ball with the six players in midfield and attack.
However, if Marsch compromises on narrowness and attacks with more width, the pressing style he has worked with over his career thus far will be much less effective. Having wingers holding position wide on the touchline would mean they were too far away to squeeze the space, should the ball be lost in central areas, which is where Marsch wants the ball to be the majority of the time. This is due to the fact that the central area just outside the penalty area (sometimes referred to as Zone 14) is the position statistically proven to lead to most goalscoring chances.
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In terms of the players Leeds already have in the squad who could still adapt to the formation, Harrison has looked comfortable playing more centrally and his assist for the goal Joe Gelhardt 'scored' on the final day demonstrated that he could work well in compact areas. As Raphinha seems most likely to leave, Leeds could line up with a front four of Aaronson, Harrsion, Gelhardt and Bamford in a 4-2-2-2, before any further attacking signings are considered. There is no denying that the games against Watford and Palace were poor for Leeds, in terms of their play in possession. However, with that attacking four it could be far more promising and with a pre-season to work on the combinations and movements required, it could be much more effective and easy on the eye.
As such, the summer will be the best time to bring the formation back. Should Marsch choose to go another way and utilise more natural width, it will be a departure for him from what he has done previously. Whether he can come up with a new game-model in a short space of time seems unlikely. In that case, narrowness will likely return and with it, his favoured formation.
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