Marcelo Bielsa’s plans for his Leeds squad in the Premier League have started to take shape.
The Argentine was never going to demand wholesale changes to the players who got him promoted, but extra depth and quality was clearly needed.
Robin Koch has been signed to replace Ben White, while the club smashed its transfer record to sign Spanish international Rodrigo.
It seems likely Bielsa will stick with the high-energy 4-3-3 system which helped Leeds get promoted.
Illan Meslier should start the season between the sticks, given Kiko Casilla’s propensity for a mistake.
There’s a decision to be made at left-back. Gianni Alioski can bomb on from there, with Stuart Dallas adding his battling style to the centre of midfield.
As for Koch, Bielsa will hope he can slot in alongside Liam Cooper and take to life at Elland Road as easily as White did – he shone on debut against Bristol City and never looked back.
Then there’s a decision to make over Patrick Bamford.
He has seen off competition from Eddie Nketiah and Jean-Kevin Augustin – both signings who generated much initial excitement at Elland Road – to remain Bielsa’s first-choice striker.
Bamford clearly understands Bielsa’s off-the-ball demands but just doesn’t score as many goals as some Leeds fans would like.
Surely the club record signing hasn’t been bought to sit on the bench. Once he’s up to speed with Bielsa’s specific regime – although who knows how long that’ll take? – Rodrigo should be the main man in attack.
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