'This Week Is Very Pivotal' – A View Of Leeds
- Leicester City host Leeds United at King Power Stadium on Thursday (8:15pm BST kick-off)
- The Yorkshire Evening Post reporter Joe Donnohue has provided the lowdown on the visitors
- Donnohue says Jesse Marsch's men are still searching for their best form in 2022/23
Jesse Marsch's men are 15th in the Premier League after nine matches, but are without a win since late August. They travel to King Power Stadium on Thursday to tackle a Foxes outfit who are also striving to climb the standings – currently sat bottom of the table.
"Leeds started the season pretty well, beating Wolves at home and then beating Chelsea at Elland Road as well," Donnohue told LCFC Radio this week.
"They’re currently winless in six and, while there have been some encouraging performances of late, or some 45-minute stints where they’ve played some decent football, they haven’t really been able to put it together into a 90-minute performance over the last couple of weeks.
"Against Arsenal last week, they just weren’t able to find a goal, which was as frustrating for the fans as it was unbelievable because of the various opportunities that they had.
"The supporters don’t really think they’ll be wrapped up until a relegation battle, but at the same time, they know this week is a very pivotal one."
The 2022/23 campaign is Marsch's first full season in charge at Elland Road following the reign of hugely popular Marcelo Bielsa. Donnohue believes the signs are there that Leeds are improving under their new American manager, but there remains areas where more work is needed.
"It's been 20 or so games now," he explained. "There’s been progress, certainly on the defensive front. That was the issue with Leeds when Marcelo Bielsa was sacked. The team just couldn’t stop shipping goals. Marsch and his coaching team appear to have plugged a hole so to speak.
"The team appear a bit more secure, but the problem appears to be going forward now. They’re not scoring enough goals to kill off games, or hold leads, or even just to be in the game in the first place.
"I’d say there’s been mild progress from the position which Leeds found themselves in last season, where they were constantly battling relegation.
"I’d say they’re more of a mid-table outfit this year, but again, that depends on the next couple of results because they haven’t seen off teams that are likely to finish around them in the table. That was always what they were able to do under Bielsa.
"It’s a bit of a difficult one. If you’re not beating the teams around you, then you can find yourself in trouble come the end of the season. You only get 12 games against the big teams and it’s all well and good putting in performances, but it’s very difficult to get points off them."
Patrick Bamford's return from a long-term injury offers hope for Leeds supporters. While the 29-year-old is still striving for full fitness, Donnohue outlined the significance of his return and what he will offer Marsch.
"It's massively important," he added. "Bamford offers the team a focal point. There’s not really anyone else with the same sort of profile as him in the Leeds squad. There was a lot of debate over the summer about whether Leeds needed to sign a striker because Bamford missed the vast majority of last season.
"There’s always that question of whether he was going to be ready to come back into the team and play 90 minutes straight away. That hasn’t been the case. He was on the bench against Arsenal and he’s been subbed off or subbed on a couple of times, so he’s not been at 90-minute fitness yet this season.
"He’s very important to the way the team plays, he’s robust enough to fulfil a lonesome role at the top, but he’s also good at linking the play as well.
"That’s very important for Jesse Marsch’s style of play in particular, where the team are going to play very vertically and centrally – facilitating those moments of interplay between the attacking players."