Leeds United’s Centenary – A Pre-Season Assessment (Part Two)

The second of my pre-season assessments begins with the options in goal.  

As I said in Part One, I expect Kiko Casilla will be that man, assuming he remains with the Club. Pushing him for that starting place will obviously be Northern Ireland international Bailey Peacock-Farrell, but Joshua Rae has emerged from the U18s over the summer, and Kamil Miazek had a very impressive season with the U23s last year.  

There’s also the somewhat forgotten man, Will Huffer, who made one first-team start last season and has played for England at youth level. Five goalies is a lot to carry in the squad, as only one will get regular football. I expect age and experience to favour Peacock-Farrell or Miazek as Kiko’s cover and would not be surprised to see a ‘keeper leave the Club.  

How could I write about the backline of the squad without going into the Pontus Jansson sale? No questions can be asked about the ability that saw him into the Championship team of the season. However, overall this deal probably suited him and Leeds United. For Pontus it’s a fresh start, and Leeds get to stay within the boundaries of the EFL’s Profitability and Sustainability rules without resorting to the curious tactics allegedly deployed elsewhere in the division, involving stadium sales and taxi companies that have no taxis!  

It can be frustrating as a fan when your club doesn’t splash money in transfer windows. But so many clubs gamble with their fate, so getting Ben White in on loan and pocketing £5m from the sale of Jansson is sensible business, even if it ruffles fans’ feathers.  

With Luke Ayling (when fit) and Barry Douglas the clear stand outs at full back, and assuming White and Liam Cooper are the preferred centre back pairing, I see Leif Davis and Pascal Struijk providing options at the back, along with two other players who are very much the “Bielsa type”. Professional and versatile, Stuart Dallas and Getano Berardi will get time on the pitch under Marcelo.  

With White and Helder Costa in, and Pontus Jansson departed, Victor Orta has been saying publicly that he sees the squad as 90% complete. I reckon that leaves scope for a maximum of two additions.  

Since last season, we’ve trimmed a lot of players who were at best fringe contributors – Jamal Blackman, Izzy Brown and Lewis Baker all returned to Chelsea, and Samu Saiz has moved on. That should leave opportunities for youngsters like Jack Jenkins, Oliver Casey, Alfie McCalmont, Robbie Gotts and Clarke Odour.  

As ever in the first month of the season the team will be looking at mini targets – first clean sheet, first goals for Bamford, staying unbeaten and getting past Salford in the Carabao Cup. Whether that comes with the familiar 4-1-4-1 formation, or the 3-1-3-3 we’ve been experimenting with in pre-season, we’ll have to wait until Sunday in Bristol to find out!  

All the best  

Ben  

Marching On Together  

Photograph by Mark Wheelwright.

Do you have a story to tell?
We want to hear your stories and help you share them.