Leeds United: Rosler “irritated” by concession

The club’s head coach gave a positive assessment of their second friendly of the summer, saying his side were “much more competitive” than they had been in last week’s stalemate at Harrogate Town.

United struggled to get going in a 1-1 draw at Wetherby Road on Friday but they dominated York at Bootham Crescent, taking the lead through Sam Byram’s 35th-minute header.

Rosler watched a string of chances go begging in the second half before City snatched a draw with an 80th-minute tap-in from Marvin McCoy, a rare opportunity created by the hosts.

Rosler, who sent a different XI to a friendly at Tadcaster Albion yesterday, pushed seven players through 90 minutes and conceded that his side had suffered from fatigue late on.

“There was a lot of good stuff,” Rosler said. “It was an unnecessary goal against us but you focus on the positive things.

“The way we pressed was far more competitive than against Harrogate. We had a higher line and we were braver in our defending. In midfield we passed the ball occasionally very well.

“I was happy with the chances we created and we should have won the game. The thing to learn from is that when we’re getting tired we have to keep it simple. It was understandable because it was our first 90 minutes but sometimes we over-complicated things and that cost us.

“I’m just irritated that we didn’t win. In the end all coaches want to win. The defence were much better than against Harrogate but we couldn’t keep it up for 90 minutes.”

Rosler adopted a 4-3-3 formation, using Byram and Lee Erwin either side of Steve Morison who stepped into the breach up front after Chris Wood was ruled out with a tight hamstring.

Byram provided a constant attacking threat and claimed his goal after Alex Mowatt picked him out with a precise cross towards the far post.

“Sam looked very good,” Rosler said. “The combination between him and (right-back Gaetano) Berardi was excellent

“Sam looked very energetic throughout the whole 90 minutes and I was very happy. He scored, he could have had a couple more and he was very influential in our forward play.”

Rosler was critical of Leeds’ attempt to master a 3-5-2 formation at Harrogate but said he would continue to work on alternative tactics during the club’s forthcoming tour of Austria, despite United looking comfortable in the system used at Bootham Crescent.

“The formation worked well but we will still try out other things,” Rosler said.

“You always need a plan B. If what you’re doing is not working, you can’t throw something at the players which they’ve never tried. We’ll continuing developing the style of play.”