Like it or loathe it, the Marcelo Bielsa era is over at Leeds United, and Jesse Marsch is the new manager.
The American will bring with him a new tactical plan and brand new ideas, and while Leeds’ squad is very much built in Bielsa’s image, Marsch is now the man in charge.
So, what will Leeds look like under their new manager? Well, right now his options are limited due to an ongoing injury crisis, but once everyone is back, he’ll have a few decisions to make.
With that in mind, we’ve had a go at predicting what Leeds’ best XI under Marsch may look like.
As a student of the Red Bull school, Marsch, unsurprisingly, favours a 4-2-2-2 formation much like Ralf Rangnick and Ralph Hasenhuttl have done throughout their careers.
Marcelo Bielsa was, of course, an advocate of the 4-1-4-1 when his entire squad was fit, but this is a new-look side.
The backline remains similar to what we’re used to seeing, but while Liam Cooper built up a lot of credit under Bielsa, Marsch won’t have that same level of loyalty to the Scot, and we expect him to favour a defensive partnership that incorporates Robin Koch and Diego Llorente. After all, they are German and Spanish internationals.
Junior Firpo and Luke Ayling keep their spots at full-back.
Meanwhile, the shift in formation does bring about change in the midfield.
Kalvin Phillips will likely no longer be playing in his withdrawn quarterback role, instead, he’s likely to play as part of a midfield two where we have Stuart Dallas playing alongside him.
Long-time Bielsa favourite Jack Harrison drops out as Dan James moves back out to the wing, while Raphinha keeps his spot on the right, as Marsch has previously shown a tendency to use inverted wingers such as Dominik Szoboszlai.
30-year-old Rodrigo was often used as a midfielder by Bielsa, but we’re anticipating a switch to be a part of a two-man strike force alongside Patrick Bamford.
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