This is an excellent workout for his team with a new face, as Daniel Farke will have observed. In addition to a number of young players, like Harry Gray, receiving playing time, Joe Rothwell made his debut and Pascal Struijk made his eagerly anticipated comeback from injury.

After Georginio Rutter put Leeds ahead shortly after the hour, Junior Firpo opened the scoring for the team in the first half by finishing off a cross from Mateo Joseph.Undoubtedly, Leeds’ best performances came from those three.

Then, in a fantastic moment for himself, little Sam Chambers completed the score with what was essentially the last kick of the match.

These five lessons are what we took away from

Daniel Farke tinkers with new formation

Leeds seemed to setup in a 3-5-2/3-4-1-2 kind of system, with Firpo and Dan James shining in the first half as wing-backs and Joseph looking good in a front two. It will be interesting to see if this is something that Farke tries heading into the season, though additions will be needed at the back and in midfield for sure. Last season, Farke did not once stray from his preferred 4-2-3-1 formation, unless it was time to chuck on every attacker known to man late in a game. That was not the case tonight, as Farke went to a three at the back.

Mateo Joseph shines with new squad number

Some fans always check to see whether a player has changed his squad number throughout the preseason; Joseph was one guy who had a new one.

Following in the footsteps of both Pablo Hernandez and Rodrigo, Joseph was carrying on the tradition of Spanish players wearing the number 19 shirt at Leeds in the past. Additionally, it appears that Struijk has received the five shirt.

Leeds is hoping that Joseph can follow in the footsteps of those two with 19 on his back, and all the indications point to him succeeding.

Running the channels, setting up plays, and setting up Firpo’s goal, he was Leeds’ greatest player in North Yorkshire.

Leeds’ squad is ridiculously light

Since Farke started the game with four young players, including 15-year-old Gray, Leeds had only six senior players on their roster at halftime. Although Leeds had done a good job of clearing out a lot of deadwood this summer, they still have a small squad. Leeds will need to add a lot more players given that more exits could occur before the transfer window closes.

Ethan Ampadu with the armband

Liam Cooper’s future remains uncertain, so all eyes will be on who will wear the captain’s armband permanently. Struijk wore it for the most of the first half of the previous season, but he missed games due to injury starting on Boxing Day. Ethan Ampadu took over as captain from mid-January onward, and the Welshman was the one who kept it when both players were on the field in the second half. This could be a sign for the upcoming campaign.

Joel Piroe is a problem

Though it is still early in the preseason, there is ample evidence from both last season and tonight to suggest that Joel Piroe is a problem. Piroe is not a number 10 or a lone nine, where he played most of the 2023–24 season after joining from Swansea City. Nevertheless, last night, he was deployed in a front two in Leeds’ newly attempted formation, and he was a complete passenger during his 45 minutes on the field. Whenever he did get the ball, he consistently gave it away. Based on that performance, there is only one direction to go: up.