Leeds United gap still 'too big' so Jesse Marsch plots bridge for quartet as he singles out teen - YEP 1/10/22

The gulf between Under 21s football and the Premier League is too big for Jesse Marsch's liking, so he's trying to bridge it for four Leeds United prospects in particular.

By Graham Smyth

It was highlighted again recently, in a meeting with Southampton's youngsters at Elland Road, that for some players Premier League 2 is no longer presenting much of a challenge.

Crysencio Summerville, as was the case for much of last season, was nigh on unplayable, scoring once and contributing a hat-trick of assists.

The problem for Summerville, still only 20 years of age, is that at a time when his development must move on from 21s football, he's not yet established himself as a starter in Marsch's first team.

And for another quartet of Leeds youngsters, the same issue may not yet be as pressing but it is not difficult to imagine them proving too good for PL2.

"I think the gap right now between the 21s and the first team is a little bit too big," said Marsch, who went on to pick out Darko Gyabi, Archie Gray, Sonny Perkins and Mateo Joseph as prime examples of players whose development requires more than just 21s fixtures.

"We try to include them in first team training almost every day because I think that them being around that level is very, very important for their development and their confidence.

"And so the beauty of having those guys around is I don't think anyone in our squad treats them as young players or development players, I think they see how good they are and how much they fit in."

The next step would be first team minutes and Perkins in particular could not have done much more to state his case to Marsch, since arriving from West Ham United.

Eleven goals in his first eight outings for club and England Under 19s left Marsch with a growing urge to give Perkins something more than PL2 football.

"Eventually, you know, I would like to give those players bigger and bigger opportunities in the Premier League, in cup matches, and we'll see how everything pans out but certainly the one that comes to mind is when you see Sonny Perkins right now, scoring in every game, at least one goal," said the head coach.

"And developing within the idea of how we want to play football, you start to feel like he deserves a big chances and big moments, and he needs them.

"So let's see what happens here in the next weeks and months but I'm certainly really pleased with all four of those guys."