Leeds United are set to appoint Javi Gracia as their new manager and fans will be wondering just what tactics he will bring to Elland Road.
The Whites finally appear to have a manager on their way to Elland Road.
More than two weeks after sacking Jesse Marsch, Leeds are on the verge of confirming Gracia as his replacement.
BBC Sport report that Gracia is on the verge of being announced as Leeds boss.
The Spaniard has been out of management since leaving Qatari side Al Sadd last year, but only after winning the league title there.
Formerly of Valencia, Gracia has history in the Premier League with Watford and will now look to prove himself in England once again.
Many Leeds fans will now want to know what tactical approach Gracia will bring to Leeds, so let’s take a look.
What tactics will Javi Gracia bring to Leeds United?
Gracia has long favoured a 4-4-2 system, even going back to his time with Malaga.
The 52-year-old would often use two deep central midfielders with two wide players who had the freedom to drift infield and contribute centrally.
That may worry Leeds fans after the incredibly narrow approach under Marsch but Gracia doesn’t quite play that way.
Gracia brought that system to Watford in 2018 and he had a fairly settled midfield quartet.
Abdoulaye Doucoure and Etienne Capoue would protect the back four whilst having the freedom to get forward to support the attack when possible.
Tyler Adams and Weston McKennie are both athletically-gifted and may be asked to do a similar job under Gracia.
The ‘wide’ players were Roberto Pereyra and Will Hughes, two players who may not be considered as completely natural wingers.
That meant utilising full backs for width with Pereyra and Hughes relied upon to drift infield to offer passing options in the final third and support the front two of Troy Deeney and Andre Gray.
The ball-side winger would often hold the width with the opposite winger tucking in to provide another midfield option, something seen at Valencia too.
Gracia took a similar system to Valencia, but it did change a little.
Lee Kang-in is more of an attacking midfielder but was often used as a striker, dropping into deeper positions to sometimes form more of a 4-2-3-1 – a role that may suit Rodrigo or even Georginio Rutter at Leeds.
Gracia likes to press the opposition and Ben Foster outlined that during his time under the Spaniard at Watford.
“He is very big on pressing and pushing higher up the pitch, and that suits us because we’ve got the players to do it. But the main thing is work-rate: There’s a lot of high-intensity running, closing down and closing the space. We’re quite aggressive as well,” Foster told The Mirror in 2018.
Gracia was happy to go long into Deeney at Watford and had a similar physical presence at Valencia in Maxi Gomez, but whether Leeds have the attackers to be more direct is up for debate.
That’s not really the style of Patrick Bamford, Rutter, Rodrigo or Wilfried Gnonto, and direct balls seemingly frustrated Bamford on Saturday.
Against bigger opposition at Valencia, Gracia would sit in a low-to-mid block and break with athletic players on the counter.
That could suit Leeds with the likes of Gnonto, Luis Sinisterra and Crysencio Summerville in the ranks.
We could therefore see Gracia go with Illan Meslier in goal behind a back four of Luke Ayling or Rasmus Kristensen, Robin Koch, Maximilian Wober and Junior Firpo; Firpo may not be a popular shout but he is a little more natural at overlapping than Pascal Struijk.
Tyler Adams and Weston McKennie would play in midfield with Wilfried Gnonto and Jack Harrison coming in off the flanks to support Patrick Bamford and Georginio Rutter up top.
Alternatively, Brenden Aaronson could play wide with Gnonto moving up top should Gracia stick to a 4-4-2.
It is though worth noting that Gracia changed a little at Al Sadd, switching to more of a 3-4-2-1. This was a very attacking setup with wingers Akram Afif and Hasan Al-Haydos on the flanks rather than natural wing backs.
Attacking midfielders Ali Asad and Santi Cazorla featured too in what ended up looking more like a 3-2-4-1.
That helped Gracia win the league title in Qatar but it’s unlikely we see him go so gung-ho with Leeds in a relegation battle.
We’re expecting a 4-4-2 with wide full backs, wingers drifting infield, one striker dropping a little deeper, quick transitions and a desire to press as Gracia heads to Leeds.
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