Leeds U23 coach Andrew Taylor was full of praise for the ‘outstanding’ Charlie Cresswell and Nohan Kenneh following the 3-0 Premier League 2 thumping of Manchester United, speaking to LUTV.
With Jesse Marsch watching on from the sidelines, one suspects the new Elland Road boss would have been beaming from ear to ear. A fresh-faced side produced a performance that Leeds’ first-team stars would have been proud to call their own, thumping Manchester United on home turf.
Clearly, the Marcelo Bielsa influence has spread to all corners of Thorpe Arch. From Patrick Bamford and Luke Ayling, all the way down to Stuart McKinstry and Max Dean.
On Tuesday night, Leeds hassled, harried and harassed their cross-Pennine rivals into submission, flying into tackles, disrupting their rhythm and forcing many an unforced error.
“Obviously it’s a great result but it’s a great performance as well, from the front to the back,” says Taylor, singling out Leeds’ centre-back duo and the impenetrable wall that was shot-stopper Klaesson at full-time.
“Krissy Klaesson’s made some real big saves at real big periods. We’ve defended with our bodies, put our bodies on the line.
“I thought Cressy and Noah were outstanding. And then, going forward, every time we won the ball we looked like we were going to score. It was a really good performance.”
The future’s bright at Elland Road?
McKinstry and the Gelhardt-esque Dean (below) put Leeds 2-0 up on the night before Archie Grey, the 16-year-old nephew of Elland Road legend Eddie, capped an impressive cameo performance with a sublime 35-yard strike following a misplaced pass from visiting goalkeeper Ondrej Mastny.
But while Leeds were ruthless at one end, their performance at the other that really caught the eye.
“It’s massive. That filters down from the new manager and the philosophy,” says Taylor, the former Middlesbrough defender.
“You’ve got to be disciplined and have the desire to stop the other team scoring. You’ve got to be compact. The lads have ran themselves into the ground, they’ve worked for each other, they’ve pressed together as a team.
“Excellent.”
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