Leeds United drew 1-1 with European giants AC Milan in their final game of pre-season at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
Leeds United went behind in the first half when a back-post cross found its way through the box and Santiago Jimenez smashed home to open the scoring in front of a packed out stadium of white, yellow, and blue.
It was sure to be an exciting occasion when Leeds faced AC Milan, according to Gary Kelly, with Illan Meslier dropped for the Milan game. In truth, the Whites put together some promising attacks.
In that sense, the interplay was largely impressive when working towards the box through passing sequences. However, Leeds lacked some thrust and someone to unlock the game once it reached the final third.
Leeds’ second half eventually saw Anton Stach score a stunner to level the game and they looked the likelier to make something happen late on, having made a number of substitutions to rotate in attack.
Tony Dorigo’s verdict on the remaining signings Leeds need
Most fans are keen for Leeds to sign a number of players yet, especially in attacking areas. That is where the focus is now, with it reported that Leeds are eyeing forward players to end the window.
However, does Tony Dorigo see it the same way? He has provided his verdict to The Square Ball Podcast, stating: “I think they’ve they’ve signed very well indeed.
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“What you have to kind of realise is that we only have a set amount of money that we can spend.
“We’d love to spend what we want, but we can’t. So, in that set amount, we know how many players we need. It is not four or five, it is eight, nine, or 10.
“So, making sure we don’t overpay for someone, which allows us to actually buy the depth that we’re going to need to have a really good chance of staying up and that’s I think what we’ve been doing.
“And we’ve bought some really good players. Yes, we’ve got that physicality. But we need a bit of experience as well. It’s always a balance and where can we get value and that’s what we’ve been trying to do.
“So, when we’re going fishing in the pool of buying players, we aren’t the first ones in there. We’re having to wait. We’re having to wait for the big boys to go and get whoever they want.
“And after that, we’ll pick up those bits of value. And that’s where I think the higher up the pitch you go, the more that’s going to come into play. And it’s proven that we’re going to have to be patient and wait for these one or two players to drop.
“Then there’ll be a domino effect and hopefully then we get our man at the right price that gives us a great chance.”
He added: “Maybe full-back now if Schmidt does go and then of course the difference makers at the top of the pitch — and they’ll be working extremely hard but we just need two or three other teams to to get their business done and that’ll then filter down to us.
“So I think back to who was the one that went really late? Was it Raphinha? We ended up getting — it was almost October because it was post COVID, wasn’t it? I think? Yeah. Yeah. Season had well started. Well started.
“We got him for £17 million or something and look what he turned out like. So, I get you, you know, an ideal world, he should be here. They all should be here now going through everything.
“But also I think we just need a bit more at the top third of the pitch to unlock stuff. The stardust. You’re absolutely right. Yeah, we need a sprinkling of stardust.
“And I think we all we all see that. The clubs see that, the manager sees that, and I think even the players see that that they’re waiting for one or two to come through to to finish it off. And you know, we’ve all got to be patient.
“And, you know, we expect that to happen.”
Daniel Farke during pre-season friendly against Villarreal.
Photo by Neal Simpson/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images
Is anything else required from Leeds in the transfer window?
Beren Cross has since named the four areas he believes Leeds will sign players before the deadline, and they very much align with Dorigo’s verdict.
That includes three attacking bodies and a full-back. Farke agrees with that assessment of the window, which means Leeds have work to do before the window is closed.
In terms of anything else, it would depend on outgoings. On top of that, Leeds need to consider how they prioritise things ahead of their first competitive game. Is a full-back needed if Jayden Bogle’s injury issue is serious, for example?
A full-back for depth and three attackers aren’t necessarily a priority all before the fixture. Leeds will hope, in an ideal and realistic world, to have at least one of the forward players in, though.
The striker would perhaps be the priority on top of the full-back, but a winger would also be a real asset.