Manchester United 0-0 Leeds United: Get into ‘em

It’s difficult to justify watching a pre-season friendly when it’s summer and you could be having fun in the sun. But it pissed down on Saturday and Leeds were in Sweden to face That Lot from across the Pennines, adding just enough intrigue to pass an afternoon. After all, it meant we got to see some new faces like Jaka Bijol, Lukas Nmecha and that lad wearing number 38 on the wing, what was his name? Jack Harrison? Sounds familiar.

Leeds named only two of their five summer signings — Bijol and Nmecha — in their starting XI, also choosing to bring Harrison back from exile on the left wing with Sam Byram behind him. There were audible boos from the Leeds end as Harrison initially touched the ball, suggesting that he’s on the first step of the Leeds United fans’ path to redemption. Max Wober never got any further than that first step, but it only took a couple of goals at the start of last season for people to start liking Brenden Aaronson again (at least for a few weeks), so stranger things have happened.

This was the third pre-season meeting since 2019 between Leeds United and Manchester United Football Club, or ‘United’ as BBC, Sky and the rest of the charlatans insisted on calling them. Watching Leeds lose 4-0 and 2-0 in the past two fixtures had me feeling uneasy about this one. Why do we have to play fierce rivals in pre-season and risk embarrassment?

Four minutes into the match, I shut up. Jayden Bogle picked up where he left off in the Championship, terrorising opponents and finding space behind defences. Willy Gnonto completed a one-two from Bogle by chipping the ball over Luke Shaw’s head and into the path of Bogle, whose cross forced a rushed clearance from Noussair Mazraoui at the back post. It was the first moment of quality in the match and, surprisingly, it came from Leeds.

Leeds’ success continued down the right in the opening fifteen minutes as Gnonto played a one-two with Ao Tanaka — playing as a number 10 — and broke towards the Man Utd penalty area only to be tripped. That foul was much less aggressive than Byram clattering Amad Diallo shortly after, and then having another pop at him in the same minute. Rather than let this friendly pass him by, Byram chose to address his own technical deficiencies by channeling his inner David Batty. Who knows when Byram might get to play against this lot again? There’s no point waiting for tomorrow; get into ‘em!

The first half passed without much quality football at either end as both sides flirted with the idea of creating chances but struggled to find the final ball, which was to be expected given the rustiness that comes with a two-month break without playing. A positive for Leeds was seeing Nmecha for the first time. His sharp link up play was a pleasant surprise, purely because Nmecha has missed almost fifty matches through injury in the past two years. He looked nothing like a free transfer who had been limited to only 455 Bundesliga minutes in 2024/25 and his first-half cameo will have done wonders for his confidence, and to raise expectations among us Leeds fans who are promising that we won’t get carried away. We will. Sorry, Lukas.

Nmecha’s bright start during the match contrasted Daniel Farke’s admission afterwards about the future of Pat Bamford, saying: “I got him into my office and I told him that he’s not in my plans for the upcoming Premier League season.” Despite his best efforts to beef up this summer, Bamford’s stay at Leeds appears set to end after seven years. It seems cruel that he’s been told he can find another club while Jack Harrison is allowed to mope around as though he didn’t leave for two years and come back having decimated his transfer value, but that’s football.

Harrison was withdrawn at half-time with seven other Leeds players as Sebastiaan Bornauw, Sean Longstaff and Gabriel Gudmundsson all made their unofficial debuts for the club. Leeds started the second half brightly, creating several chances and probably should have been at least two goals ahead just after the hour mark. Joel Piroe appeared sharper than most on the pitch, creating chances for Bogle and Largie Ramazani, but both were unable to convert.

Scum’s limp performance continued into the second half as they emptied half a billion pounds worth of ‘talent’ onto the pitch. Leeds held their own and didn’t appear under the cosh until Bogle’s substitution in the 77th minute forced something of a reshuffle and their expensive new-ish left-back Patrick Dorgu found himself attacking Sam Chambers, who had filled in at right-back. Man Utd finished the match in the ascendancy and could easily have put a couple past half-time sub Illan Meslier. But they didn’t, because they’re relegation fodder, right?

The match ended goalless, a disappointment to the 45,345 packed into the Strawberry Arena maybe, but a decent performance and result for Leeds in pre-season. And a run out for the new away shirt too.

Leeds are heading off to Germany with a squad still under construction but showing promise in the defensive half of the pitch. The imminent addition of Hoffenheim midfielder Anton Stach can only help, and not just because he’s 6ft 4ins tall. Once he’s ducked under the door frame and becomes a Leeds player, then surely it’s time to deal with the goalkeeper position and revamp the attack. A nine-figure transfer spend looks almost certain — and necessary — this summer, and the four defenders plus Sean Longstaff represent a decent beginning to Premier League squad building.

None of the five new faces gave Leeds much to worry about in their 45 minute showings, which is something we can be grateful for. We’re never going to learn much about matches like this other than the shape of the team, both tactically and physically, and initial signs indicate that Leeds might not be the worst team to ever grace the Premier League. It’s a start. ⬢

(Photograph by Sipa US, via Alamy)