Adios, Marc Roca - Square Ball 18/7/23

YOGA MAT

Written by: Rob Conlon

Marc Roca’s loan to Real Betis has followed the same pattern as Marc Roca the midfielder. There has been a tediously long wait for something seemingly obvious to happen, while the internet has been telling us something definitely is happening.

Roca’s agent was talking about a move to Betis before Leeds had even played Spurs in the final game of the season, long before we’d heard of Eintracht Frankfurt’s interest in Robin Koch, Brenden Aaronson joining Union Berlin or Rasmus Kristensen being wanted by Roma. Leeds confirmed his exit on a season-long loan on Monday, meaning Roca has finally progressively passed back to Spain.

How it started

There was a novelty to Roca’s arrival in that he was the first player to join last summer who hadn’t already played under Jesse Marsch — and he was the first senior central midfielder Leeds had bought since Adam Forshaw three-and-a-half years earlier. He’d played against Marsch’s Fizzy Salzburg for Bayern Munich in the Champions League, when he was sent off.

Victor Orta was certainly pleased with himself. When asked by El Pais in October which piece of business he was most proud of in the previous window, he replied: “To replace Kalvin Phillips with Marc Roca.”

A few minutes into Roca’s first appearance at Elland Road in the friendly against Cagliari, my dad asked me who the blonde haired number 8 was. “He’s good,” he confidently decided. He’d only needed to watch Junior Firpo for a similar amount of time the previous summer to tell me he was rubbish, so I was optimistic about his judgement of Roca. Turns out I should have trusted my instincts all along: my dad talks bollocks.

How it went

He was definitely there, even if it was difficult to work out what exactly he did. Roca is keen on working hard off the pitch to get the best out of himself, practising mindfulness and posting videos to social media of himself doing extra stretches at home. It’s admirable, really, but Leeds needed more in central midfield than a yoga teacher.

By the end of the season, Roca was trying to look meaner by shaving his head, as if he’d watched some YouTube videos and was ready to take up Brazilian jiu jitsu, yet he still had less fight than a half-fit Adam Forshaw.

Best moment

Forest! He was definitely good against Forest! He did some tackles, he did some passes, he offered Brennan Johnson out for a scrap in the carpark.

Tyler Adams was injured, but Leeds could still win a game with a midfield of Marc Roca and Weston McKennie. 13th in the league, and a Crystal Palace team with only one win since December next up at Elland Road. This was going to be fine.

Worst moment

As much as it was difficult to say what Roca does well for most of the season, it was also tough to say what he was particularly terrible at. For all people criticised his general lack of impact, there were always people on Twitter pointing to some previously unheard of stats to defend him.

Credit, then, to Roca, for standing in front of the away end at Fulham and hitting three consecutive corners into that giant of a defender Harry Wilson at the front post as if trying to settle the argument once and for all. With each attempt, the Leeds fans next to him boiled from frustration to what-the-fuck-is-going-on anger, resulting in one supporter throwing an extra ball onto the pitch in an attempt to prevent him having a fourth go.

What might have been

If only Leeds had not sold Mateusz Klich, not signed Weston McKennie, or not lost Tyler Adams to injury, Roca might have been saved from himself and been able to reset over the summer. Likewise, if only Jesse Marsch hadn’t played Adam Forshaw twice in three days when he was “60 per cent” fit over the New Year period, sidelining him until the run-in, maybe Roca would have had some help.

Rate the goodbye

Roca went for the full tearjerker on Instagram, although it didn’t sound like he’d be returning after his year’s loan in Spain:

“Today is the day to say goodbye to what has been my home for the past year, a short period of time that has made me realise how special both the city of Leeds and Leeds United are.

“I want to thank the fans, all the club staff and my teammates for their help, support and generosity during this time. A city and a fanbase always by their team’s side, never leaving us alone, supporting us in both good and bad times.

“I feel blessed to have been one of yours on the field, giving everything I could in every moment. It has been a pride and a pleasure to defend this shirt. I will never forget the atmosphere that I experienced game after game at Elland Road, nor the support of the lead United fans.

“Now, I become one more of the fans who support the team, and I sincerely hope that we return to where we deserve to be. I know firsthand that this will happen because the values, strength and unity between the team and the fans will come together to achieve the goal. MOT. Once white always white.”

A few hours later, he was posting about how happy he was to be joining Real Betis. They do have a nice shirt, to be fair.

Where they’re going

Roca will get to play in the Europa League next season after Betis finished sixth in La Liga under former Manchester City and West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini. He’ll be back in England this week for a pre-season friendly against Middlesbrough that is being played in Chesterfield. And he thought the Championship was unglamorous.