Leeds United can’t go too American as ‘quarterback’ Marc Roca set for medical
Bayern Munich midfielder Marc Roca is edging ever closer to a move to Leeds United with his medical scheduled to take place on Friday 17 June.
The 25-year-old is surplus to requirements at the Allianz Arena and Jesse Marsch has acted quickly to sign the former Spanish Under-21 international for a bargain price of £10.4million.
He would be the Whites’ second midfield signing of the summer after United States international Brenden Aaronson signed on the dotted line from RB Salzburg, Marsch’s former side.
But while the 21-year-old is someone who fits the mould of a high-pressing team as an aggressive attacking midfielder, Roca is much more reserved in his game.
“Roca plays like a quarterback,” former Bayern Munich technical director Michael Reschke said, as quoted by the Daily Mail. “He has good passing, short and long-range, his technique is good and he has a good mentality.
“Defensively, he is very aggressive in one on one situations and brings a lot of emotion to the team. He was certainly well respected by his teammates. The one downside perhaps is that he could be a little stronger.”
The quarterback might be the highest-paid player in any NFL team but Marsch could do with reminding that this is association football, not American football.
We’re not guaranteed to have countless chances to attack in every game and the other midfielders can’t purposely barge into opposition players as soon as they get close to Roca.
There is a danger that the boss could end up over-Americanising this Leeds United squad and we’ve seen in the past the negative effect it can have on a side.
Teams that dominate the game can afford to have a luxury player like Roca dictating the game, such as Rodri at Manchester City, but given how few games we are likely to be on top of, the Spaniard had better get used to intense pressing for 90 minutes.
In other Leeds United news, a rival Premier League club have been priced out of a £30million move for Whites winger Jack Harrison this summer.