Adam Forshaw has looked a brilliant signing by Leeds United at times, but is he being used correctly?
Andy Couzens has told LUTV that he wants to see Leeds United boss Paul Heckingbottom play Adam Forshaw in a more advanced midfield role.
Forshaw joined Leeds in a £4.5 million move from Middlesbrough in January but although he has looked the part, he has been unable to influence results.
The 26-year-old has lost five and drawn four of his first nine games in a United shirt, missing the 1-0 victory over Brentford – Heckingbottom’s solitary win since taking charge in February – through injury.
Heckingbottom has tried a number of different combinations in midfield, with Eunan O’Kane, Kalvin Phillips and Ronaldo Vieira also competing with Forshaw.
And although Couzens is certain that Forshaw is good enough to play every week, the former Leeds man wants to see him play further up the pitch.
He told LUTV: “Paul is still trying to work out who is good enough to play for this team. I think everyone [of the midfielders] has played now, he has seen every player in the first team so he is going to work out what’s the best plan.
“For me I do like Phillips in there because he gives a bit of grit, he’s around people’s ankles and things. I do like Vieira, but it’s always difficult, the second season.
“Forshaw is got to be in there because he is one of our best players, but he has got to play further up the pitch. We struggle in midfield because we are too deep.”
Despite Leeds’ form, Forshaw has shown signs of being a very good investment and perhaps Couzens is right.
O’Kane, Phillips and Vieira have their uses, but none of them offer as much in the final third as Forshaw and athough the Whites have Samu Saiz in the number 10 position, it wouldn’t hurt the Elland Road side – who are 12 points behind the top six, but 17 clear of the bottom three – to experiment with giving Forshaw slightly more freedom in midfield.
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