Leeds United man stakes fresh claim, ref's unwanted help, ball swap and off-camera Hannover moments — YEP 25/7/24

By Graham Smyth

Leeds United are off and running in Germany after a comprehensive win over Hannover 96 that saw a young player stake further claim to a position he covets.

Mateo Joseph was on target twice in the 4-1 victory and helped cause further problems for the Bundesliga 2 side, in an impressive second half display. Joseph as one of a number of Leeds players catching the eye, along with newboy Jayde Bogle and midfielder Ilia Gruev, who grabbed himself the opening goal. Here’s the YEP take and some off-camera moments.

Good day: Mateo Joseph. Didn't get the start but that rarely matters in pre-season friendlies when so many changes are made at half-time. He was one of those and it took him next to no time to make his mark. His first goal was all about the run in behind the last man and composure to finish. His confidence is clearly sky high at the minute, he looks in great shape and his manager is pleased with what feels like a step up since last season. The second goal was just a striker in the right place, adding the right finish. He still has a lot to do to secure that number 9 role but he's building towards it, at least.

Good day: Jayden Bogle. A right-back doing what Junior Firpo does at left-back and getting to the byline to cut the ball back and create a chance. This is why Leeds paid £5m to Sheffield United. Daniel Farke will hope he can get assists and chance creation from both full-backs this season to give Leeds real balance going forward. Bogle appears to have settled straight in with his new team-mates, too.

Good day: Harry Gray. Any minutes of senior action, even in a friendly, are to be cherished when you're still a teenager but when you're only 15 then it's dreamland. The plan appeared to be for the youngster to simply do some dynamic fitness work on another pitch for the last half hour, having been among the subs, but then he was recalled to the bench late on. All signs are that he's giving a good account of himself in training but his tender years have to be factored into any expectation.

Bad day: Pascal Struijk. The defender did not have a bad game, but as he walked off the pitch at the end the first thing he spoke about with Ilia Gruev was the moment when his backpass put Illan Meslier in trouble before Hannover's goal. Struijk seemed surprised by a bobble of the pitch or something of that nature. Better to get them out of the way now. But his overall performance was fine, particularly with the ball.

Bad day: Joe Gelhardt. He's trying incredibly hard, chasing down lost causes, harrying defenders and trying to get on the ball to make things happen for team-mates and himself. What he needs is for a shot to fly into the back of the net and for a moment it looked as if that might just happen against Hannover. He was heavily involved in the attack and got the ball back on the edge of the area but as he shaped to shoot he made next to no contact. In ice hockey they talk about players squeezing the stick too hard when goals have been hard to come by. Chances will come, hopefully, because there's a real player in there.

Bad day: Jessic Ngankam. The Hannover man put himself about a bit, quite unnecessarily went into the back of Ethan Ampadu very late and then copped some retribution from an unlikely source. Joe Rothwell took it upon himself to go in hard on the back of the German as he attempted to bulldoze his way through the Leeds defence and made sure all progress was halted.

Pre-game: Daniel Farke watching on during the warm-up from behind a fence before retreating back into the dressing room to await the team and his final team-talk. Teenagers Sam Chambers and Harry Gray being called into the possession game to help warm up the starting XI. Matt Robertshaw's sprinkler control adding an element of peril for club media staff and some poor German onlookers. Club doctor Rishi Dhand expertly ficking a stray ball into the kitman's basket and looking thoroughly delighted with himself. Daniel Farke joking that the media, sitting in the shade of an umbrella by the side of the pitch, looked ready to order ice creams. When he came back out for the second half he suggested the club's head of media had some vanilla on his face.

The game: Joe Rodon's constant verbal output. Demanding his team keep the ball. Urging Georginio Rutter to drop in and cover for a defensive throw. Sam Byram's in-game coaching of Willy Gnonto for defensive situations, telling the winger to go short because he had the long ball. Rodon exploding as Leeds squandered a great chance to go 2-0 up. Chris Domogalla assembling the substitutes on 27 minutes to go onto another pitch and warm up for the second half. Rodon helping referee Henry Schroder by counting the number of fouls on Willy Gnonto during the first half. Farke telling Rodon to 'expect the worst' in a pressure situation as Hannover pressed Leeds deep in their own half of the pitch. Something Rodon then later fed back to the manager had Farke grinning at his staff.

The substitutes passing around a 'Derbystar' at half-time, the Bundesliga 2 ball, after the first half was played with the Championship balls. The sound of it as Charlie Crew passed long balls to James Debayo marked it out as different, before the Welsh international described it as a 'fly-away.' The club's first team security chief being alerted to a man hiding in the bushes and appearing to film the game. Martin Sykes walked 15 yards to fetch his bike, cycled around 15 yards and then got off the bike to do the remaining bicycle-unfriendly distance on foot. The unsuspecting gardner presented no trouble and watched the rest of the game from a far less suspicious vantage point.

Sam Byram coming out of the dressing room at half-time with Domogalla to go and do a warm-down on a separate pitch. Georginio Rutter getting confused as to how many more warm-down sprints he had to do and erupting in laughter mid-run as he explained his confusion to Domogalla. Rodon continuing to assist the referee from a bench on the sideline having been substituted, helpfully critiquing his performance.

Harry Gray, Sam Chambers and Luca Thomas being told to go and do some fitness work with 30 minutes remaining, before Gray was recalled by Domogalla to replace Ampadu on 85 minutes. Struijk talking through his backpass as he walked off the pitch with Ilia Gruev at full-time, as Patrick Bamford discussed finishing technique with Ethan Ampadu.