Jesse Marsch considers young Leeds United side question and eyes next steps after Whites 'mimic'

Leeds lined up for Saturday's Premier League clash at Tottenham Hotspur with nine players aged 26 or under and only captain Liam Cooper and striker Rodrigo in their 30s. Nineteen-year-old Willy Gnonto was handed a Premier League debut out wide and United's second youngest player in the side in 21-year-old Crysencio Summerville was responsible for firing Marsch's side into a tenth-minute lead.

Harry Kane then equalised just 15 minutes later but Leeds continually battled back and led three times only to suffer a 4-3 defeat after a late and rapid Rodrigo Bentancur brace. Marsch felt the game was a microcosm of 15th-placed United's season so far and has highlighted the need for his young players to grow as the season progresses.

Asked if it was too easy to use the excuse of Leeds being a young team, Marsch reasoned: "No, but it's also a reality. We need to just continue to build the infrastructure of how we want to play and then continue to mature, to understand what the league is, what the best opponents are. It's why I say the game mimics the season, it's moments where we look really good and then it's moments where we look really vulnerable and it happens in over 90 minutes span and it happened over the last 16 matches."