FM23 Leeds United - Marching On Together

[WilsonJuve]

 

The club’s target for their opening two seasons after promotion was simply to stay in the Premier League, so with that objective achieved, Leeds can crack on, right? Not so fast. Following a ninth-place finish by going down to the relegation wire with Burnley left everyone shell-shocked, and what felt like natural next steps – progress towards Europe, work on expanding Elland Road – don’t seem that simple any more.

Instead of building on Marcelo Bielsa’s legacy, Leeds blew it all up, and 2022-23 feels like starting again in the unknown. The rush to sign players – two from Jesse Marsch’s former employers, Salzburg – suggests planned rebuilding, but dealing with high-profile departures might be the biggest test of the new coach while making his ‘energy drink football’ work.

Key injuries to the Whites’ spine proved crippling, as were a joint-league-high 19 goals conceded from set-pieces, and if the former were truly down to Bielsa’s training methods, then there should be provisions made to ensure there’s no repeat. Otherwise, the big lesson resembles Howard Wilkinson’s old maxim: ‘Fail to prepare; prepare to fail’. 

Nobody saw a bad second season coming, and nobody knew what to do when it arrived. Leeds won’t get away with that twice in this Premier League, and their hopes won’t be enhanced by hero Raphinha following Manchester City-bound Kalvin Phillips out the door.





 

Leeds United Football Club were founded in October 1919, taking the place in the Midland League vacated by Leeds City Reserves, and were elected to The Football League for the 1920–21 season. They won the Second Division title four years later to gain promotion to the top tier of English football, but had to wait almost 50 years before winning any major silverware, with success in the 1968 Football League Cup Final accompanied by success in Europe in the final of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. The following season brought league success when Leeds won the First Division championship. Their success continued into the 1970s with victory in the 1971 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final, the 1972 FA Cup Final, another league title in the 1973–74 season and runners-up in the 1975 European Cup Final. Leeds won the Second Division title in the 1989–90 season and were promoted back to the First Division. A third league title in the 1991–92 season, a second FA Charity Shield in the 1992 FA Charity Shield and a semi-final appearance in the UEFA Champions League in 2001, preceded a period of turbulence which culminated in relegation to League One in the 2006–07 season. They dropped out of the top two tiers of English football for the first time in their history, in a season that saw them deducted ten points for going into administration. In 2010, Leeds United were promoted back into the Championship. Ten years later, in 2020, the club were promoted back to the Premier League after a 16-year absence.

Leeds United have won the League Championship three times, four Second Division titles, the FA Cup once, the EFL Cup once, the Charity Shield twice and the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup twice. All these honours were won under the management of either Arthur Fairclough, Don Revie, Howard Wilkinson and Marcelo Bielsa . The club have also been runners-up five times in the League Championship, three times in the FA Cup, once each in the EFL Cup, the Charity Shield, the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, the Cup Winners' Cup and the European Cup, and lost the play-off to keep the Inter-City Fairs Cup trophy.


First Team Squad

By Premier League standards you have a very average squad with only 6 players in the whole team to be rated higher than 3 star current ability and none of the 6 are higher than 3.5 stars. I suppose the best counter to this is that the squad has some amazing potential.
Below I will list the key players at the club and the best youth products for the season ahead. Luckily you also start with an impressive £25m transfer budget and around £70k left in wages to improve on the current squad. I would definitely look to shift some players on to increase this further



Key Players
Let's start with your number one goalkeeper ILLAN MESLIER. Just look at them stats and you will see at only 22 years of age MESLIER is already a terrific goalkeeper. With low wages of £40k p/w and a contract until 2026 this is an area you should not need to touch. Backup wise you have JOEL ROBLES who just joined the club on a free transfer he only has a one year contract and is on the same salary as MESLIER despite being nowhere near as good. Attempt to sell or loan him out to remove the wages. January may be your best option with him only recently joining.



LUIS SINISTERRA is a new signing at the club and already one of the strongest options. Comfortable on either side of the pitch and also willing to cover in the ST position should you need him to. Another long contract means you shouldn't have to worry about him in the near future.



Next up we have a decision to make. Yes Rodrigo is one of the best players at the club but he is also a player who raises a few questions. He is listed on par with PATRICK BAMFORD as the strongest striker at the club but at 31 is three years older than BAMFORD. He also is on a seriously high wage at £100k p/w. So do you keep him as your main man/cover for the season or cash in on his £11m-£17m price tag and lose the £100k wages. He is only going to decline from here so the choice is yours.


 

TYLER ADAMS is another player who can be a mainstay in the club for years. A contract until 2027 can give you peace of mind going forward and a reasonable wage of £60k p/w means even an improved contract down the line shouldn't break the bank. Versatile in a lot of positions gives you the coach a lot of freedom in how you want him to develop. Do you want to keep in the centre of the pitch, push him slight back to the DM role or go completely crazy and make him your wing back going forward.



Other notable mentions include PATRICK BAMFORD (ST) MARCO ROCA (DM)(MC) and JACK HARRISON (AMR)(AML)

The Prospects

(Now some of these players have variable potential ability which means how good they will get will differ on each save)

A lot of Leeds and football fans will already be aware of JOE GELHARDT's talents. Still only 20 years of age the Englishman has the potential to be very good in game. First season or two you could loan him out or use him as a rotation/cup player he may also get more game time depending on what you decide to do with RODRIGO. His contract is due to expire in 2024 so negotiate this early to keep the increase to a minimum.



Net up is CHARLIE CRESSWELL who starts the save on loan to rivals Millwall. His stats should see him get some game time in the championship and hopefully continue his development. Again an English talent he could lead the back line of your Leeds team for the next 15 years if you can get him to reach his potential.



And finally ARCHIE GRAY. This is the player who could truly become World Class. At only 16 years of age at the start of the save with well balanced stats he is the future of Leeds United. He starts on a £160 youth contract which expires 30/06/2023 your very first priority should be IMMEDIATELY SIGNING HIM TO A NEW LONG TERM CONTRACT. As soon as the save loads. Don't meet the players don't look for signings GIVE HIM A CONTRACT. Again how you develop him is upto you. Will you decide to loan him to a team hoping he gets some game time? Keep him in the youth team to learn your tactics and way of playing? Or move him up to the first team to be mentored and play in easier games and cup ties? 



As far as club expectations they want you to avoid a relegation battle which with the £25m investment and standard of squad should easily be attainable. There is many ways you can approach this save, do you continue using the Leeds academy to bring youth into your squad? Do you try to bring some Italian flair into the club to impress the owner? Maybe bring some Argentinian talent over to Yorkshire in a mark of respect to Bielsa. Whatever you decide this is a team that has went from the top to the bottom and Champions League football is due back at Elland Road.

MOT

 

[Pablo Sanchez]

Super leeds