Jesse Marsch has reportedly promoted as many as six U-23 players to the Leeds United first-team, taking a big step away from how Marcelo Bielsa ran things around Thorp Arch.
According to Leeds Live, Lewis Bate, Charlie Cresswell, Joe Gelhardt, Sam Greenwood, Nohan Kenneh and Crysencio Summerville are now all considered first-team players, breaking tradition on how Bielsa separated the U-23s from the senior squad.
As per the report, the Argentine manager was a big fan of keeping the senior Leeds squad small, with U-23 players only called up to fill in for injuries to first-teamers and take up places on the bench.
Despite numerous academy products making their debuts under Bielsa, only Gelhardt has been a regular for Leeds this campaign, with the rest struggling for minutes under the South American and the likes of Cody Drameh and Summerville requesting loan moves in January.
Indeed, this decision from Marsch to promote these six players as members of the first-team shows how the American intends to utilise youth at Leeds, with the former RB Leipzig coach a big fan of integrating academy talents into the senior squad.
This was evident on Saturday in his debut match, when Marsch opted to send on Gelhardt in the final third against Leicester City rather than the likes of Tyler Roberts and Patrick Bamford, who were both also on the Leeds bench that day.
Marsch youth revolution is a step in the right direction for Leeds
Bielsa’s approach to youth players and the scene, in general, was interesting, to say the least, yet whilst it did have its positives, there’s no denying that Marsch’s decision to revolutionise the setup is a big step in the right direction for the club.
The American coach has first-hand experience in handling youth players and has an impressive record of developing talent from academies, and at Leeds, the next generation can be brought through by Marsch and play significant minutes this season with the seniors.
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