Leeds United continue to go form strength to strength at the moment, winning game after game in the hunt for automatic promotion – but every team has weaknesses and Leeds are no different.
Up top, Leeds are probably the best and most-exciting side to watch in the League. The pace of Dan James, the skill of Cree Summerville, the wily experience of Patrick Bamford, the magic of Georgi Rutter.
Midfield is incredibly solid, and quality in transition with Ilia Gruev and Glen Kamara combining well. In defence, Farke’s men have conceded just three goals in the Championship since the turn of the year.
Joe Rodon and Ethan Ampadu are combining to perfection. Connor Roberts is excellent competition for Archie Gray, and Illan Meslier is slowly returning to his 2020-21 form. But left-back remains a problem.
That is despite Junior Firpo laying on five assists since the turn of the year – and, winning a place in this week’s Championship Team of the Week. But his inability to defend consistently is still very obvious.
Phil Hay says Leeds man Junior Firpo cannot shake off issues
Even, in a Championship side that are attacking for most of a match. Firpo is superb going forward but he simply cannot get to grips with defending in English football. He has not lived up to the early hype.
Signed from Barcelona, Leeds fans were extremely optimistic that we had brought in a world-beater – the one to end our left-back woes. But it has merely added to them, Firpo struggling to stay fit or adapt.
Phil Hay told The Square Ball this week that Firpo still has “issues” on the pitch when it comes to the defensive side of the game – and he cannot seem to shake them off. He claims it is “not ideal”.
“Defensively, there are still issues there. There are moments in his defensive game that are not ideal. But in an attacking sense, five assists. Add it up among the full-backs, he has more than the rest combined.”
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