Why Jesse Marsch's favoured formation is likely to return in Leeds United pre-season - Leeds Live 4/6/22
Leeds first lined up in a 4-2-2-2 under Jesse Marsch
On his arrival at Leeds United, Jesse Marsch was careful to
stress that his 'principles' of playing would be more important than the side
adapting to particular formations that they weren't used to playing under the
previous manager, Marcelo Bielsa. With the Argentine at the helm, Leeds were
best known for attacking in 4-1-4-1 and 3-3-1-3 shapes and utilising width in
their attacks.
However, Marsch prefers narrowness, and the formations he
favours reflect that, as he is best known for lining his teams up in a 4-2-2-2.
In fact, according to Transfermarkt, RB Salzburg played the formation for every
league game in the 2020/21 season. In the early games of his reign at Leeds,
that's how the Whites lined up. With Jack Harrison and Raphinha playing behind
Rodrigo and Dan James in the attacking four and with Adam Forshaw and Mateusz
Klich playing as the deeper midfield two.
As time went on, that formation became more of a 4-2-3-1,
with Raphinha and Harrison playing wider. That formation ended up being more
common by the end of the season, apart from the period of three games where
Leeds faced Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea and they attempted to make the
game stodgy for their opponents with a three at the back formation, which proved
unsuccessful.
Although Leeds ultimately stayed up and Marsch achieved his
first goal as manager of the club, there was a sense that the American compromised
on much of his playing philosophy the moment he moved away from the 4-2-2-2.
That's why it seems mostly likely that it will return in pre-season, as Leeds
will be able to work on it properly without the stress of relegation hanging
over them. They can also focus on bringing in players who are more comfortable
in the positions required and have already done with their first signing, as
Brenden Aaronson played on the left side of the attacking midfield two when
Marsch lined up his Salzburg side in the formation.
During the run to the end of the season, there was a growing
sense amongst Leeds' fan base that Marsch's penchant for narrowness would not
work well in the Premier League and that it was leading to 'ugly' football, as
seen in the Watford win and the draw at Crystal Palace. Therefore, many on
social media expressed relief to see the team playing with more width as they
picked up four points in their final two matches to stay up.
It's important to note that a compact shape in possession is
vital to the way Marsch wants to play. In this video from Coaches' Voice,
Leeds' manager explains the importance of the front four moving as a unit, with
and without the ball. That's because pressing is such a vital part of the way
the American wants his team to play. In fact, it's seen as one of the primary
ways in which the team should be looking to score goals, thanks to Marsch's
'pressing to score' philosophy.
In fact, Marsch is happy for his team to be very aggressive
with the ball and not worry too much about turning it over to the opposition,
because when they do, they have an opportunity to win it back quickly and
create a goalscoring chance out of the chaos. In order to do that, the players
need to be as close together as possible so that they can hunt the ball in a
pack of four, with the near-side full back and deep midfielders pushing up to
squeeze the space and make it more difficult for the opposition to escape.
The 4-2-3-1 formation can work well in that regard and it is
easy to shift between that shape and the 4-2-2-2 as it simply requires one of
the wider players to join the lone striker to make a front two, or for the
central attacking midfielder to do so and vice versa. However, the 4-2-2-2 is
the best shape for winning the ball in the centre, as if Leeds can manipulate
their opponents to move the ball into the middle of the pitch, they have
numerical superiority and can 'fall' on the ball with the six players in
midfield and attack.
However, if Marsch compromises on narrowness and attacks with
more width, the pressing style he has worked with over his career thus far will
be much less effective. Having wingers holding position wide on the touchline
would mean they were too far away to squeeze the space, should the ball be lost
in central areas, which is where Marsch wants the ball to be the majority of
the time. This is due to the fact that the central area just outside the
penalty area (sometimes referred to as Zone 14) is the position statistically
proven to lead to most goalscoring chances.
In terms of the players Leeds already have in the squad who
could still adapt to the formation, Harrison has looked comfortable playing
more centrally and his assist for the goal Joe Gelhardt 'scored' on the final
day demonstrated that he could work well in compact areas. As Raphinha seems
most likely to leave, Leeds could line up with a front four of Aaronson,
Harrsion, Gelhardt and Bamford in a 4-2-2-2, before any further attacking
signings are considered. There is no denying that the games against Watford and
Palace were poor for Leeds, in terms of their play in possession. However, with
that attacking four it could be far more promising and with a pre-season to
work on the combinations and movements required, it could be much more
effective and easy on the eye.
As such, the summer will be the best time to bring the
formation back. Should Marsch choose to go another way and utilise more natural
width, it will be a departure for him from what he has done previously. Whether
he can come up with a new game-model in a short space of time seems unlikely.
In that case, narrowness will likely return and with it, his favoured
formation.