Joe Rothwell impressed in his first outing as a Leeds United player in the pre-season friendly at Harrogate Town.
Rothwell looked busy and forward-thinking during his 45 minutes in the middle of the park on Friday night as Leeds ran out 3-0 winners in their first match of the summer.
The 29-year-old is now in his second consecutive loan spell away from Bournemouth having spent January onwards of last season at Leeds‘ promotion rivals Southampton.
Despite scoring four goals, it wasn’t the most successful of spells for Rothwell at St. Mary’s as he managed just four league starts, of which Southampton didn’t end on the winning side once.
Incidentally, he was actually an unused substitute in the Championship play-off final at Wembley, where Southampton pipped Leeds to promotion.
Rothwell is already comparing Southampton spell to Leeds
LeedsUnited.News spoke to Southampton expert Fraser Spinney upon Rothwell’s arrival earlier this month regarding what he could bring to Elland Road.
His ball carrying ability and ball striking were named as Rothwell’s two key assets, but he wasn’t really able to show the former on the South Coast.
Russell Martin’s style of play is predominantly based around keeping possession and so there isn’t really much scope for midfielders to get on the ball and dribble with it.
Speaking in an interview with Leeds Live out on the club’s pre-season tour of Germany, Rothwell has echoed those claims as to why he did not show his best at Southampton, but is more confident Daniel Farke can bring that out of him.
He said: “I’d say I’m a box-to-box number eight. I like to pick the ball up a bit deeper and run with the ball, which is something that makes me probably stand out from other midfielders because not many people do it.
“It’s something that’s stuck with me at an early age and I’ve tried to take it with me. I’ve probably played a different role over the last couple of years in teams I’ve been in because of the situations.
“At Bournemouth, it was more about staying in the league, a bit more compact. And then went to Southampton last year as more of a ball player, keeping the possession, so hopefully I can come here and go back to that role I know.”
- READ MORE: ‘Amazing’ player left out of club’s pre-season tour after reports Leeds United want to sign him
Joe Rodon’s first impression of Rothwell revealed
Joe Rodon and Rothwell form half of Leeds’ set of summer signings so far and speaking last week, the former was asked about his first impressions of the midfielder.
Rodon says it is already clear in training that Rothwell is a ‘top player’ and the level of the sessions have already gone up a gear with him involved.
He said: “Joe settled in very nicely, you can tell he’s a top player. He lifts the level in training, everyone can see that, and I’m sure he’ll be a great addition to the squad. He has only been here a few days.
“I think he adds that extra thrust in midfield, a player who can go both ways, very good in build-up and gets the team playing. That’s what we want to do, we want to keep possession and dominate the ball so Joe will be a great addition to that.”
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