Rare Leeds United luxury for Jesse Marsch’s Aston Villa revenge bid as 29-day advantage pays off

Jesse Marsch may have lost Adam Forshaw and 16-year-old Archie Gray for this weekend's game against Aston Villa but time has been more than a healer for Leeds, since that defeat at Brentford.

A 29-day gap between games was, for fans at least, barely tolerable and in a season that already boasts such a long break for the World Cup, hardly ideal in terms of momentum and fixture scheduling.

It was timely, though.

Just like at any other club, those who did not head off on international duty had a little time off and a lot of time on the training ground with Marsch and his staff, working on tactics, set-pieces and conditioning.

But Leeds were also able to use the hiatus to their advantage, because it allowed Rodrigo to miss just one game as he rehabilitated his dislocated shoulder and it gave Patrick Bamford, Liam Cooper, Luke Ayling and Junior Firpo an opportunity to build their fitness towards potential October 2 comebacks. Rasmus Kristensen, who sat out at Brentford, made a comeback from injury with Denmark and got 90 minutes against France.

To have six of his senior players back at his disposal, five of whom were considered starters last season and one who has been since his summer, is a huge boost for Marsch, but this was always the aim for Leeds this season. The addition of Tyler Adams, Marc Roca, Brenden Aaronson, Kristensen and Luis Sinisterra in the summer were a £90m-plus bid to raise the floor of the squad and give it a more filled-out look.

And while it will lead to some difficult selection decisions across the back four and up front, Leeds' matchday squad on Sunday will be among the strongest and most experienced in recent memory.

"Now on the backline we have Coops, we have Luke and we have Junior all back, and those guys featured, when healthy, almost every time for me last year and I think all three are going to be a big boost to our team and add more depth," said Marsch.

"Speaking about Rasmus and Luke, I think that I can't make a wrong decision there. They're both playing at a high level. That will be a tough decision to make, but I know both will be ready.

"Junior I think he's gotten more and more fit and healthy and ready to contribute. So I think that's a big boost. And I think Coops is as close to 100 per cent as I've seen him and really ready to go. So we certainly have a lot of options there.

"Up front we've got Rodri, we've got Patrick, we've got Joffy in the 10 position, we've got lots of options.

"What a great situation for us to have and now we need to use it, where when we come off the bench we get stronger every match and that will be the challenge whether guys are in the starting 11 or whether they're coming off the bench, that everybody's ready to put in top, top performances and helping us pick up as many points as possible."

Another boost came in the diminutive form of Willy Gnonto, whose involvement with Italy in the Nations League elevated external expectations.

And as Marsch is happy to admit, the deadline day signing has forced internal revisions of the plan for him.

"I can say that he has pleasantly surprised all of us," said Marsch.

"And in almost every way. On the pitch and training he has been fantastic. I thought he was very good in the 21s match against Southampton.

"He will be in the squad this weekend. And we think he can play a big role for us now. So yeah, I guess you can say I would revise my statement. And again, that statement had more to do I think with the fact that we had targeted him and we identified him, but more for future windows. And not exactly this one. But the fact that we're able to start the process early I think is really advantageous for everyone."

With Sonny Perkins catching the head coach's eye with goal-every-game form and Darko Gyabi getting involved in senior training on a daily basis, Marsch has at his fingertips more tools with which to do his job than ever before as Leeds boss.

Having them available is one thing, and a good thing, but not the only thing to consider.

"Now when you look at it, we've got all of those players healthy, and I think most of them close to 90 minutes fit, so that's a good feeling, right?" said Marsch.

"But it doesn't ensure anything. In this league, you take nothing for granted. And so I feel good about where we're at, but I know we've got big challenges ahead."

The first of those big challenges will be presented by Steven Gerrard at Elland Road on Sunday.

Marsch is yet to get the better of the ex-England midfielder in two attempts. The less said about the Villain's last trip to LS11 the better, although the American still counts it as a valuable learning experience having encountered the home atmosphere for the first time, and a pre-season friendly ended in a draw and plenty of bumps and bruises.

Marsch believes Leeds are better, now, than they were for either of those two games, but acknowledges that Villa have bounced back from a tricky start to the season to show their quality, defensive organisation and transitional threat.

"Villa was the first real opponent that we played in pre-season that was at our level," said Marsch.

"And so I think we used that to continue to push ourselves and I think now the team has gotten clearer and clearer as to what the tactics are, the behaviours and exactly how we want to play. That being said, it's going to be a very good match and a very difficult one. And again, I think we know already from not having success against Aston Villa that we have to be at our best."

This might be the best squad the American has had to choose from in his eight months in charge. All that remains, to ensure a strong start to this pre-World Cup block of fixtures, is to get the best out of it.