Leeds United man reveals fitness technique Jesse Marsch has used after postponement disruption
Leeds United have held behind-closed-doors intra-squad friendlies since their last competitive outing against Brentford 16 days ago
Leeds’ Premier League schedule has been disrupted by the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, rendering fixtures against Nottingham Forest and Manchester United postponed.
Those matches will be rescheduled later in the season, but in the meantime head coach Jesse Marsch has been tasked with keeping his Leeds squad fit ahead of their return to action on October 2.
Seventeen players from the first-team and academy will join up with their national teams this week as the final international break before FIFA World Cup 2022 gets underway.
That still leaves a large number of players at Thorp Arch however, who would be out of practice if not for appearances in the Under-21s’ most recent fixture and a pre-season method to maintain match sharpness.
During a USMNT press conference this week, Leeds midfielder Brenden Aaronson revealed there had been intra-squad friendlies organised at Thorp Arch given the 29-day break between competitive first-team fixtures.
"I've had some time off, so it's been kind of tough not being able to get back in the swing of things, but we've had some intra-squad [matches] and we've been training hard, so I feel ready to go,” Aaronson told Stateside reporters from the team’s camp in Germany.
Ordinarily, behind-closed-doors games between members of the squad are reserved for pre-season in order to mitigate the risk of picking up injuries during what is an already busy first-team schedule between August and May.Due to the present circumstances, Marsch has chosen to take that risk with the hosting of friendlies.
So far, it appears all members of the team have come through unscathed.
Upon assuming charge at Leeds, Marsch took the view that United’s players had been over-trained under their predecessor.
A contributing factor is likely to have been Marcelo Bielsa’s insistence on holding ‘Murderball’ sessions with an already depleted squad; a non-stop, 11-vs-11 exercise which is designed to test the physical boundaries of professional players.
Marsch’s friendlies are likely to have been lower octane and more conventional, but the more established players will certainly be accustomed to such activity.
Leeds host Aston Villa at Elland Road in their next Premier League fixture on Sunday, October 2.