How Leeds United can use Elland Road noise to lift them up Premier League table

Elland Road was pumped-up and passionate as the Whites began the 2022-23 Premier League by coming from behind to beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-1 with a Rodrigo equaliser and a Rayan Ait-Nouri own goal scored under pressure from man of the match Brenden Aaronson.

In fairness, though, the old stadium was no less noisy and supportive during so many games during a difficult 2021-22, which saw coach Marcelo Bielsa sacked when results took a turn for the worse, and Leeds only avoid relegation when results went their way on the final day.

Had it been purely down to home form, they would have gone down, only accumulating 18 of their 38 points in West Yorkshire. To already be a quarter of the way to equaling the number of wins they managed there was of great comfort to coach Marsch, who not unusually found plenty of positives to take from the afternoon.

“I think the good thing about last season was we found some important points when we played away matches but we didn’t win enough at home,” said the American, who was in charge for the last six Elland Road games, winning just one and drawing two.

“Someone said to me, which I wasn’t even aware of, that we only won four matches here at Elland Road (last season) and that was disappointing to hear, our fans deserve better.

“I’m glad we were able to put in a good performance for many stages of the match and to get three points.”

Leeds handed starts to four Premier League debutants in Aaronson, Tyler Adams, Marc Roca and Rasmus Kristensen and although they were on the back foot for the first 20 minutes of the second half with the score at 1-1, the introduction of Mateusz Klich allowed them to wrest back control.

The Polish substitute, who could be leaving in this transfer window, played his part in a flowing move which looked to have ended with Aaronson putting the ball in. Television replays looked far from conclusive but the Premier League decided the final touch was Ait-Nouri’s.

Marsch has clearly hammered home the message about home form to his players, judging by right-back Kristensen’s post-match comments.

“We want to do well, especially in front of our fans at home,” said the Dane. “We want to give them some great experiences and the best way to do that is winning games and we did that. It was tough, a tough fight but we did it.”

Elland Road certainly left a big impression on the 25-year-old former Midtjylland, Ajax and Salzburg defender, who is a full international. “What an atmosphere!” he remarked.

Great importance was placed beforehand on Leeds showing how they had been improved by their new signings and Marsch’s first full pre-season having started his time as coach in a mid-season firefighting role.

Whilst a more ruthless team than Wolves – and there are plenty of them in the top division – might have punished Leeds for how long it took them to get going in the second half, Marsch still saw plenty he liked.

“We’re making progress,” he concluded. “I think we were much better with the ball and in the build-up goal. The second goal was a really good representation of the kind of football we want to play. In every phase I feel like we’re growing. There’s still so much work to do but clearly we’re growing.”

There remains, though, one over-riding problem with the atmospheric 19th-Century ground which pre-dates the club, spelt out by chief executive Angus Kinnear in his programme notes: “The fundamental issue is that Elland Road is simply not big enough.”

Leeds have for a long time had plans to extend the capacity from its current 37,792 to 55,000 but only once the club had the security of three seasons in the Premier League. This is their third top-flight season and Kinnear told supporters “progress (towards expanding) is accelerating.”