Leeds United head coach Jesse Marsch and his players hail Elland Road atmosphere as Whites open with win over Wolves

So given Leeds United had four Premier League debutants in their first line-up of the season – Luis Sinisterra started it injured – and Wolverhampton Wanderers’ only addition (Nathan Collins) was a centre-back signed from Burnley, any opening-day victory was going to be significant.

Despite going behind to a scruffy Daniel Podence goal, despite looking like doing so again when Wolves responded to Rodrigo’s equaliser by dominating the first 20 minutes of the second half, Leeds did win.

This is a league where a slide-tackle like the one Rasmus Kristensen thundered into on Rayan Ait-Nouri is as likely to be cheered to the rafters as the beautiful skill which saw Brenden Aaronson drag a pass from behind him and dribble Leeds onto the counter-attack without breaking stride.

“What an atmosphere!” exclaimed Kristensen. “Everyone told me how it is at Elland Road and to experience it myself was unbelievable, incredible. It doesn’t compare to anywhere I’ve played - this tops everything.

“It’s by far best league in the world and I felt that.”

There is an intensity about English football American Jesse Marsch has always been in tune with and his style feeds the mindset on the Elland Road terraces.

“I came out of the tunnel and after 30 seconds I wanted to play!” he said. “It’s awesome here.”

Marsch even managed a match-long – and beyond – ding-dong with Bruno Lage. All the coaches would reveal was that Marsch said something “unacceptable” to the Portuguese.

It would be a shock were it not about the poor centres of gravity behind Wolves players tumbling in the most un-(old) English way at the merest hint of a contact sport on a day when goalkeeper Jose Sa cuffing Kristensen coming for a cross did not yield a penalty.

Three of Leeds’s debutants –outstanding narrow winger Aaronson and contrasting holding midfielders Tyler Adams (the scuffler) and Marc Roca (the stylist) hit their straps from day one. Kristensen looked uncomfortable defensively, never more so than when Pedro Neto outmuscled him to create Podence’s goal, but his penalty-area tackle banked some brownie points.

He may not have worn black boots - a refreshing bugbear of Marsch’s for us petty traditionalists - but a black eye made him look more like a proper defender.

It was not just the new boys who gave encouragement.

Mateusz Klich - an endangered species now Adams and Roca have made the popular Pole ponder if he will get the game-time to play in this winter’s World Cup - turned the match, replacing Rodrigo in the hole and snatching midfield control.

The trick now this is legitimately Jesse Marsch’s Leeds United is adding quality to break down some of the planet’s most expensive teams. Like for the winner.

When a sequence of short, sharp, straight passes from Adams to Klich to Patrick Bamford created a cross from the inside-left channel Aaronson’s run forced it in, albeit Premier League spoilsports deemed the final touch Ait-Nouri’s despite sketchy evidence.

A bad start makes life so difficult. Even going into last season’s second international break on the back of a first home win, Leeds were in the bottom five and a relegation battled ensued.

One victory does not constitute a good start but it will help ward off post-traumatic stress disorder from last season that Leeds are a quarter of the way towards its tally of home league wins.

“When you watch Fulham-Liverpool (a 2-2 draw between a newly-promoted side and European Cup runners-up) you see teams aren’t in top form yet so finding a way to pick up points in these early stages can help you at the end of the season,” argued United chief Marsch.

That the debutants were attuned to his ways was handy.

“Three players have played for me before but also Marc Roca, when he was at Bayern Munchen, learnt a lot of the kind of behaviours of what we like to do against the ball,” Marsch pointed out.

He feels his biggest advantage is director of football Victor Orta.

“There’s the Premier and then there’s playing at Elland Road, which we all love,” he said.

“In the recruitment, speaking to all the players, it was trying to explain the feeling of what it means to play for this club. I knew the history but I didn’t know (the feeling) and I had a crash course.

“If you were to listen to the meetings Victor Orta has with prospective players and the way he’s able to explain to people statistically, mentality-wise, playing style-wise, the mentality of the city and the club, why it’s special here and why certain people fit, he’s an incredible recruiter.

“I look forward to every time we sit down with a prospective player to see what twist he has on what the player is, who the player is and why they belong here.

“When Victor does such a good job of finding the right kind of people it makes the adaptation in every way a little easier.”

A new season has started well.

“I think we can only get better,” said Kristensen. “I hope so.”