Leeds United's case for the defence: Analysing the central partnerships used under Jesse Marsch - Yorkshire Post 27/1/23

For a team Jesse Marsch insists until he is blue in the face is making good progress and achieving greater clarity, Leeds United's best XI is far from obvious.

By Stuart Rayner

Perhaps that is because this is 2023, when many clubs no longer have an identifiable strongest team.

The addition of Georginio Rutter, the emergence of Crysencio Summerville and Willy Gnonto, and the reinvigoration of Patrick Bamford means the Whites have plenty of options up front. Rodrigo is their top scorer, Luis Sinisterra is fit again, and Jack Harrison and Brenden Aaronson are in the mix too.

But it is in defence where Leeds most need to get their act together to avoid the sort of nerve-shredding relegation battle they put supporters through last season.

Marsch was brought in precisely because Leeds had become an embarrassingly soft touch defensively at the end of Marcelo Bielsa's reign.

Losing 3-0, 4-2, 6-0 and 4-0 was no way for one of the great figures in the club's history to sign off, centre-backs like Victor Lindelof and Joel Matip waltzing through them like a hot knife through butter, Antonio Conte pulling their formation apart.

Things are better now, but with 33 goals conceded in 19 league matches this season, still a long way from good enough.

Yet according to the statistics, Leeds have not even tried the best central defensive partnership of Marsch's tenure this season.

Perhaps on Sunday, though, they found a better one.

Leeds have never quite cracked central defence since returning to the Premier League in 2020.

As soon as they were promoted the Whites signed a Spanish and a German international in Diego Llorente and Robin Koch. But with Pascal Struijk used entirely at left-back this season – save for a shaky performance at Cardiff in his preferred position – Liam Cooper remains the go-to man for Marsch.

If only his body was robust enough to rely on every match. If only there was more pace around him to hide his shortcomings.

Sunday's draw with Brentford offered an interesting alternative with Koch and January signing Max Wober paired for the first time. Ivan Toney was quietened and Leeds kept a rare clean sheet.

The expectation when Wober arrived was that he would mainly be used at left-back but he is first and foremost a central defender.

He looked every inch one on Sunday, the Austrian delighting fans with his slide tackling and striking a good partnership with fellow German-speaker Koch.

"I think the reason they performed well together is they're both very intelligent," commented Marsch. "They understand the tactical roles and the principles."

This being Leeds, it is never quite that straight-forward. Koch picked up a yellow card on Sunday and will be suspended for the next league game, at Nottingham Forest a week on Sunday.

So at the City Ground, if not the Crown Ground in Saturday's FA Cup fourth-round tie at Accrington Stanley, Marsch will have to look at another alternative.

He could return to his most effective partnership last season.

Llorente and Cooper played together six times in 2020-21, often with Koch in close proximity.

Leeds only conceded six goals in that time, half at home to Chelsea in a game Dan James was sent off in, and picked up more points per game – 1.5 – than any of the six other combinations the American has tried in the last 10 months including a one-off experiment with a back three which had the misfortune to run into Manchester City.

Llorente, though, has fallen from favour since September's 5-2 defeat at the hands of Brentford, starting only one league game since. That was a miserable 2-0 defeat at Leicester City although the bleeding was staunched when Cooper replaced Koch at half-time.

Generally, though, the 29-year-old has not inspired confidence, his adventurousness and willingness to look for the killer pass less than reassuring alongside lapses in concentration and moments of rashness.

And yet, in December, Leeds tied Llorente down to a new contract for three more years.

Koch and Cooper are Marsch's preferred combination, starting 11 games together, and were on duty for the New Year's Eve clean sheet at Newcastle United. Apart from the 0-0 at home to Aston Villa, it has been their only shut-out under him, shipping 21 goals.

They have only been on the winning side once under him as a partnership, and few were hailing the 4-3 win over Bournemouth as a victory for defending. Fulham put three past them, Tottenham Hotspur four.

Despite both being right-footed, Koch and Llorente have been better together – eight games, 13 conceded and eight points. They were in tandem for August’s win over Chelsea.

So far, though, it feels like the American is yet to find his dream partnership. Wober and Koch may have changed that but one game is far too early to know for sure.

Premier League games under Jesse Marsch only