Elche 1-2 Leeds United: The good bit, with Mateusz Klich
With the Festa d'Elx trophy at stake nobody knew if a draw meant penalties, a dance-off, competitive hot dog eating or what.
Remember, remember, it's just a friendly in December. Usually we can switch off after a lacklustre out-of-season friendly game and take our frustration outdoors into a sweltering pub garden, but that doesn't work three weeks before Christmas. Maybe this is better, though, because a disappointing game at this time of year would normally mean dropping league points and increasing dread, whereas beaming over from Elche was Mateusz Klich grinning his head off, running around with an oversized trophy to celebrate his winning worldie. So thanks Fifa, I guess?
The only problem with these so-called 'meaningless' games is that the long shadow of the league season prevents everyone from switching completely into exhibition mode. It restricts the players, who are trying to impress coaches with their workrate rather than fans with tricks, and it restricts fans, who can't watch Crysencio Summerville limping off after five minutes without fretting about what it might mean for the league season. That's all weeks away. We could have used this game for some fun. It was broadcast across all Leeds United's social channels for free, and I spotted 19,000 on the YouTube counter at one point. It was probably higher at kick-off, but then the first half happened, which was not fun and quite discouraging. (But remember, remember, just a friendly...)
Elche are wack, bottom of La Liga with more coaches this season (five) than league points (four). But with the Festa d'Elx trophy at stake, they went hard from the start and got Leeds responding in kind. Just an easy kickabout, lads? I don't think either team's playing style really suited that anyway. Of the two high presses on display, it was Elche's working better, their players swarming around Leeds at the back and turning it into a playground game, white shirts (them), black and orange ones (us), like beads in a twisting kaleidoscope.
Jesse Marsch tends to like chaos football and that's what he got, but I think he might have liked his forwards involved in some of it too. Leeds had started with Jackie Harrison as a 10, as if confirming his bromance with Brendan Aaronson — if Jackie can't be with him, he'll be him. For five minutes, anyway, until Summerville limped off and Harrison went left wing so Sam Greenwood could play behind Rodrigo. Or stand, more accurately. As Luke Ayling tried desperately to get the ball past a load of defenders to right-winger Joe Gelhardt, Greenwood was standing ten yards behind Rodrigo on the edge of the box, both just watching, Harrison to the side of them also waiting to see what might happen. What happened was predictable with such an unimaginative lack of movement — the ball got nowhere near Gelhardt, because Elche won it and countered.