Tyler Adams has gone into detail about what Javi Gracia is doing differently to Jesse Marsch at Leeds United.
What’s the story?
Well, the £20m man spoke to BBC Sport West Yorkshire about the Spaniard and the American, where he made some interesting comments about the differing tactical approaches.
Adams said: “He’s impressed me a lot. When he first came in, we didn’t have a lot of time to execute a perfect game plan for Southampton but what he did is focus on key bullet points, or key details that we need to improve.
“One of those things was with the ball. How can we break teams down more efficiently in possession, whether from goal kicks or when we get into the attacking third. Not just going to the goal straight away.
“Leeds are notorious for winning the ball back quickly and going straight to the goal, but not every time we win the ball, do we need to play the first pass forward that we see.”
Clearly, the United States international feels things were maybe a bit too rushed under his fellow American, whereas Gracia has adopted a more measured outlook in which he is slightly more analytical when looking at the opposition.
It is interesting to hear Adams say this about Marsch’s tactics, as that is exactly how it seemed to those of us on the outside looking in.
Leeds did often seem to be desperately trying to attack the goal at every given opportunity and playing the same way regardless of the opponent, which of course ended up costing the 49-year-old his job.
Unlike Marcelo Bielsa’s approach, which was similar, but seemed more organised in regards to pressing and attacking patterns, the Leeds forwards often looked lost under Marsch.
In total, Marsch oversaw 32 Premier League games in charge of Leeds, winning eight while losing 15 as the Whites scored just 39 goals in that time, and worryingly conceding 53.
Gracia gives Leeds more balance than Marsch
In our view, the 52-year-old brings a more balanced style of play to Elland Road, which is exactly what was needed.
Leeds fans may not see many more 4-3 wins like the one over Bournemouth earlier this season, but we would expect plenty of Gracia’s victories to be by a tight 1-0 margin like his debut win over Southampton.
There is nothing wrong with that whatsoever, and hopefully, Leeds can build on the Spaniard’s impressive Premier League debut win over the Saints.
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