Leeds United ownership due credit for sensible decisions but ‘no-brainer’ can earn serious plaudits

Of all that might burden the head coach and his players as they make their very final preparations for the Premier League opener, unhelpful hype and all-too-lofty targets will not feature in their thinking.

It did, a little, last summer when a number of senior players expressed in wary tones their belief that a second top-flight season would be harder than their first.

Luke Ayling predicted that teams would not be caught off guard against Leeds as they were in the 2020/21 campaign. Patrick Bamford pondered if that incredible top-10 finish would lead to the abandonment of realism and a far weightier expectation on the team.

This time around few can really claim to know what to expect from Marsch's side now that he's had a summer to work with the players on his style, system and philosophy, having been able to bring in players who already know the hows and whys of it all.

And, as sensible as the recruitment thus far has looked and as seamlessly the new boys have fitted in at Leeds, there's just no way of telling how many of them will take as easily to the English top flight.

Add last season's brush with relegation and Leeds can safely concentrate on the battles ahead without concerning themselves with predictions and illusions of grandeur. A forecast of top-half positioning or European qualification you will not find anywhere, this summer.

Yet, while Ayling and Bamford's alarm may have been well founded and it may even have played some part, the main factors in Leeds' near-demise last term were far more tangible.

Squad numbers, injury numbers and the number of goals scored and conceded combined to leave Leeds in real trouble.

And of all that it felt very much like Bamford's absence for so much of the season was a problem the Whites could never adequately solve.

On Sunday, the striker completed 90 minutes for the first time since September 2021 and couldn't keep from his face a smile that has appeared frequently during pre-season.

A fit, in-form Bamford gives everyone at Leeds cause for good cheer. Last season they missed his presence, his hold-up play, his ability to link up with fellow attackers, his pressing but, most importantly, his knack for being in the right place in the area to try and finish off attacks.

Not having another experienced out-and-out natural nine - Rodrigo we now know just isn't that - proved costly and almost fatal.

That's why the signing of a striker before the September 1 deadline feels so very crucial for Marsch and Leeds, if they are to make a better fist of the club's third-successive season in the top flight.

The versatility of Charles De Ketelaere would have made him just about the perfect signing because he could have played as a nine if the need arose but would have fit in nicely as part of the three behind the lone striker in Marsch's 4-2-3-1.