Leeds United had an incredible end to the season, and it’s no coincidence that their fantastic run coincided with Rodrigo Moreno’s best performances in a Leeds shirt.
The former Valencia man hasn’t had the best of debut campaigns in the Premier League. He’s been blighted by injury, played out of position and unfortunately a little bit slow to adapt to the English game and Leeds’ style.
Patrick Bamford best summed up Rodrigo’s debut season earlier this month, claiming that he’s a quality player, but it’s been a stop-start season for the Spaniard.
“He got Covid, then he got injured, then he got another injury and it took him a while to get into the team, but that pass and vision just showed [his quality],” Bamford said.
“He played another one as well where I probably should have squared it by I shot from the tightest angle.
“I love playing with him because he likes dropping short to get the ball.”
However, he now looks like he’s finally found his footing in this Leeds team, and he’s a player who could have a massive 2021/22 season.
Indeed, in the last few games of the season Rodrigo looked like a player worth every penny of the £26m Leeds spent on him, earning a Player of the Month nod and scoring four goals in his last four games.
It’s not all that much of a surprise to see Rodrigo’s form heating up at Leeds. After all, it often takes attacking players a while to get into the swing of things under Bielsa.
Bamford and Jack Harrison are prime examples. Nobody can argue that they weren’t two of Leeds’ most important attacking players last term, scoring 25 league goals between them and assisting a further 15, but football under Bielsa didn’t always come so easy for this pair.
Bamford had a slow start at Leeds, scoring just nine league goals in his first season for the club, failing to net in any of his first five league appearances for the Whites, while Harrison scored just three times in his first term at Elland Road.
However, as the pair got used to the rigours and the demands of playing under the Argentine, they improved tremendously to the point where they’re now two of the most potent attacking threats in the Premier League, and it looks as though Rodrigo could do the same.
His last four appearances weren’t just a lucky purple patch either, the Spaniard looked faster, sharper and fitter than we’d ever seen him before in a Leeds shirt.
If he can carry that into next season, he’ll be able to do exactly what Bamford and Harrison have done by kicking on after a slow start under Bielsa.
Jermaine Beckford called Rodrigo ‘amazing’ earlier this term for a reason, and next season we may see a lot more of him at his best.
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