Leeds United lost 3-0 at Stoke City on September 1 in their first publicised pre-season friendly before returning to the Premier League.
As we made clear yesterday, there was very little live coverage for any of us to get our teeth into with this behind-closed-doors friendly.
However, the Potters have released some extended highlights for YouTube to finally give us some actual action to assess and over-analyse.
Here is a run-down of the key points of interest we picked out of the five-minute reel.
More Bielsa reassurance
The wait goes on for official confirmation around the Argentine’s stay despite the fact most of the squad have mentioned him in interviews and he’s been spotted several times in the new training kit.
However, while his lieutenant Pablo Quiroga prowled the touchline as per usual, Marcelo Bielsa remained out of sight on the footage until the final whistle when he emerged to shake Michael O’Neill’s hand.
Bielsa is right where we need him to be 10 days out from the start of the campaign.
Subs and shape
The 4-1-4-1 remains. We know Bielsa likes to experiment and tinker, but the formation we know best was in place at bet365 Stadium.
As predicted, Leif Davis began the match as the left-sided centre-back while Pascal Struijk took up the defensive midfielder role he filled so well at the end of 2019/20.
Robbie Gotts, Tyler Roberts and Ian Poveda all got off the bench in the game too. Gotts came on first for Struijk before Pablo Hernandez and Helder Costa were replaced by the other two after the break.
When Gotts came on, he took Jamie Shackleton’s place in the middle. Shackleton went to right-back, pushed Luke Ayling into the middle and Oliver Casey into the holding role.
The only shifts in formation were, obviously, brief in such a short video, but out of possession there were hints of a 4-2-3-1 in the first half and then a more familiar 3-3-1-3 while defending in the second period.
More on that below.
Douglas in midfield?
In one of the later clips in the video, Barry Douglas was clearly playing in central midfield as the holding midfielder.
In recent years, full-backs and defensive midfielders have traded roles in some of the more modern systems you see played. Perhaps Douglas has the positional sense, tackling ability and passing range to play that role under Bielsa.
Roberts did play
None of the updates on Twitter hinted at Roberts’s entry from the bench, which was an interesting sub-plot after his withdrawal from the Wales squad this week.
United say that decision was precautionary after the forward missed several training sessions last week. They do not want to push him over the edge and risk injury.
Roberts did not replace Bamford, but Hernandez in that role as an attacking midfielder through the centre.
Casilla flaps again
Kiko Casilla looks to be sticking around as the Whites head into the Premier League despite his difficult conclusion to 19/20.
With Illan Meslier away with France’s under-21s, Casilla played at Stoke, but will have to take the blame for the first goal.
Coming off of his line, Casilla back-pedalled into a crowd as he tried flapping at a high Stoke cross into the back stick, but failed to claim the ball.
In an effort to right that wrong, he sped to the opposite side of the goal, leaving an acreage for Nathan Collins to volley into.
