Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United are dreaming of a return to the Premier League but there’s another few months of Championship football to navigate first.
Leeds United never make it easy for themselves.
And, despite an eight-point gap separating themselves from third heading into Christmas, fears of another extraordinary collapse continue to linger ominously in the back of everyone’s mind.
So Marcelo Bielsa could do with a big year from his first-choice number nine, his England U21 starlet and Leeds’ biggest signing in 20 years.
Patrick Bamford
The Paddy Bamford fan club will no doubt be up in arms to see Leeds’ ten-goal top scorer make this list. But, as long as this floppy-fringed enigma of a centre-forward continues to oscillate from purple patches to periods of prolonged profligacy, lingering doubts will remain about whether he’s really the man to make dreams come true at Elland Road.
A much more complete number nine these days, the £7m man has transformed himself into a sweat-shedding targetman with Leeds’ promotion hopes resting on his increasingly square shoulders.
But Bamford, and Leeds as a whole, cannot afford a repeat of that ten-game barren run between August and November. He’s in the form of his life right now but consistency is key and the former Middlesbrough man cannot afford to let his standards slip again.
Eddie Nketiah
The Arsenal loanee has claimed cult hero status in record time in West Yorkshire. Even the merest glimpse of Nketiah trotting down the touchline is enough to provoke a impassioned cry of ‘Eddie, Eddie’ from the Elland Road terraces.
But for all of the 20-year-old’s potential, not to mention his ruthless goal-poaching from inside the six-yard box, there’s a reason why Nketiah is yet to start a single Championship game under the famously demanding Marcelo Bielsa.
These days, a centre-forward at Leeds has to provide more than goals; he has to lead the line, hassle and harry opposition centre-backs, while opening up spaces for Pablo Hernandez, Mateusz Klich and co. Nketiah simply doesn’t offer enough in a possession-heavy team – maybe he’d benefit from taking a leaf out of Bamford’s book.
Helder Costa
In the sweltering days of mid-July, Leeds struck what looked to be a potentially title-winning deal when they landed Helder Costa on loan from Wolves, with the obligation to sign the winger permanently for should they end the season with an open-top bus toar through the streets of West Yorkshire. So far, however, Costa has done very little to suggest that he is worthy of becoming the club’s most expensive player since Rio Ferdinand arrived two decades ago.
There have been moments of game-changing class from the Portugal international, that blistering assist against Brentford, that bullet strike against Middlesbrough, but it’s fair to say Leeds expected more from a man who has contributed to just four goals in 22 games so far – especially for a reported £15 million.
With father time seemingly catching up with 34-year-old Pablo Hernandez, Bielsa had hoped that Costa would step up to the plate and prove that there’s life after the evergreen talisman.
So far, however, Costa has looked closer to a £5 million forward than a £15 million one.
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