Despite being relegated last season, Leeds United have actually managed to improve their defence and whole squad in the process.
The Whites had a major task in picking up the pieces after being relegated under Sam Allardyce back in May, but did well starting off with the appointment of Daniel Farke.
New signings added to that with the club strengthening across the board, including the signing of Joe Rodon among others.
Who did Leeds get rid of in defence?
After dropping out of the Premier League, Leeds saw a host of players leave the club on loan, with Rasmus Kristensen, Diego Llorente, Robin Koch and Max Wöber all departing.
It wasn’t as though much sleep was lost when these players moved on, though, as much as empty platitudes were shared on social media.
Gabby Agbonlahor, of all pundits, summed it up well after Leeds went down (via Football Insider):
“I’d strip the whole back four.
“I’d tell them not to come back to pre-season. Koch, Struijk, Ayling, Firpo, Kristensen – they’re not good enough.
“They can’t defend, they’ve got no pace, they ball-watch.”
Koch being one of those names that ended up jumping ship, as he left for Eintracht Frankfurt on loan in the final year of his contract, ensuring Leeds likely don’t get a fee for the German.
Taking the spot at right-centre-back under Farke was Joe Rodon, who joined on a season-long loan from Tottenham and is already proving to be a cut above who played there previously.
A towering defender, Rodon has shown real aerial presence at the back when dealing with crosses and corners, but also being much more effective on the ball, as this 22/23 DataMB radar compares him favourably to Koch
A far greater success in defensive duels, and immensely superior in ball progression – we are already seeing the improvement at the back by signing Rodon as Koch’s replacement.
A red card away at Hull doesn’t tell the story of his performance there either, given that he was commanding again until a clumsy challenge for a second yellow – the sort of tackle that Koch often made.
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