Another long international break has passed, and it is now time for Villa to return. A journey up north to Elland Road is in sight. The question on Villa fans’ minds is if Gerrard can build on his recent positive results with a positive performance.
I spoke to @Jake___2003 to gather his thoughts on Leedsβ season so far.
UTV PODCAST X @Jake___2003
Last time out, Villa cruised to a victory against a sorry Leeds side at the beginning of Jesse Marschβs tenure. Six months later and this Leeds team looks completely different. What has Marsch done to achieve this?
The main thing has to be the ability to bring his own players in and have that pre-season to implement his system. Last season was simply a survival job with what was an exhausted and poor squad, so it was never going to be pretty.
Fans were often critical of the football but I think it was obvious to anyone whoβd researched his system that it wasnβt his true style of play.
This season especially in the Chelsea game we can really see what heβs trying to do – be compact out of possession in order to be able to counter-press as a team and attack more vertically and centrally with the width mainly coming from the full backs, so the players have definitely taken what heβs asked of them on board.
Many neutrals were surprised that Leeds let both of their star players go at the start of the season. However, with Phillips and Raphinha gone, it freed up funds for some much needed incomings. How have they adapted to the Premier League?
Most of the signings have been great so far – Marc Roca is probably the standout for me whoβs had the most progressive passes in the league so far. Heβs such a silky and technically impressive midfielder that sadly is underrated by a lot of Leeds fans as heβs not necessarily got the doggedness and βin your faceβ style that Tyler Adams has (Rocaβs double pivot partner and summer signing whoβs worked under Marsch many times before and been very impressive in that midfield).
Brenden Aaronson has probably been the standout in attack with his energy and speed, but has tailed off slightly in recent games, still clear to see heβs a very good player though. Luis Sinisterra signed from Feyenoord for Β£25m looks like a top class piece of business, Raphinhaβs replacement and heβs certainly filling that void very well indeed with his pace and sumptuous skill. Definitely the main one to watch out for on Sunday.
18 year old Willy Gnonto, signed on deadline day and featured from the bench for Italy against England last week, should be another option from the bench in attack who looks like a tasty prospect with bundles of potential.
The only slightly underwhelming signing so far looks like Rasmus Kristensen at right back, but I think heβs just taking time to adapt to the league so I have hope heβll come good.
Over a month will have passed since the last time Leeds would have played football before the Villa game. How can you see that impacting the game?
I think it probably works in our favour because the fans will be especially up for the game due to the recent break, I could say weβve had more time off but you have had a two week break so I donβt see that being of any advantage.
Our last game was a weird one at Brentford as we did play quite well for large parts of the game but just had a horrendous day with refereeing decisions and incompetence from a certain Spanish defender of ours.
Jesse Marsch is in the stands for this game as well so Gerrard can relax, phew.
Finally, whatβs your score prediction?
Iβm feeling fairly confident for this game due to Villaβs injuries and start to the season to be honest, and as I said I think the crowd will be very up for it so it should make for a tricky test for Gerrardβs side. Iβll go for a 2-1. At least Gerrard gets to go to a proper ground for his last hurrah before he gets the sack, thatβs nice for him.
OPPOSITION FOCUS | JESSE MARSCH
When Leeds parted ways with their beloved Bielsa midway through last season, whoever took over was always going to face a difficult task. The players were hurt, the fans were upset by the firing, and the results simply weren’t coming in.
This was going to be difficult for anyone, let alone someone who is new to managing. Jesse Marsch, on the other hand, stepped up and, after a rocky start, appears to be thriving with this Leeds team.
Before we look at what Marsch has done though, letβs take a look at the situation he came into. Bielsa’s training techniques have split his squad, who were fatigued, emotionally tired, and physically tired. Furthermore, Bielsa’s passion for attacking appeared to leave his defenders unsure of how toβ¦ well, defend.
It was clear that Marsch had to find a way to sort the defence out without parting from his attacking style of play which his players knew so well. He did this mainly through a change of formation. Marsch introduced a very flexible 4-2-3-1 when in possession. This could change into a 4-4-2 when out of possession to enable the doubling up of opposition wide players.
Leeds were now slightly more compact and temporarily fixed some defensive issues. As well as this, Marsch implements a high ball pressing system which, similar to the βgegen pressing styleβ, focuses on winning the ball high up the pitch. He did this to such an extent that the 4-4-2 Leeds occupy without the ball could turn into a 2-4-4 effectively leaving the centre backs as a last resort when it came to defending.
Marsch may have been clever to do this as the overwhelming issue with the Leeds defence was the defenders incompetence. To start with, Leeds accumulated the most yellow cards ever in a 38 game Premier League season – 101, and also lead the Premier League with the most errors leading to goal with 14.
As well as this, Leeds lacked pace in their back line with the likes of Ayling, Llorente, Strujk, Cooper, Klich and Dallas hardly boasting electric pace. Pair this with the high line both Bielsa and Marsch play and it was a recipe for disaster.
Overall, it is clear to see that Marsch has improved this team from the position he picked them up in. Yes, itβs not perfect and there still are defensive qualms as shown by their 5-2 battering from Brentford last time out. Having said that, Leeds are now playing a style of play that can be sustained with a larger squad of players that are suited to Marchβs football – unlike when Villa hammered them 0-3 last season.
MY PREDICTION
Itβs always an entertaining watch whenever these two teams meet and I canβt see that changing. Last time out, Villa really turned on the style and silenced Elland Road, that needs to happen again this Sunday if we want a result. I can see this being an entertaining, high intensity game with Villa rescuing a point. 2-2 Mings heading home and Coutinho rescuing some form against a team he shone against in both fixtures last season.
AUTHOR | ELLIS BURNETT
Author’s UTV PODCAST archive ellisburnett – UTV Podcast | An Aston Villa Blog
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