Bubble burst: ‘Unbelievable’ Leeds player has come crashing back down to earth – Our View

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What can you say about Leeds United this season?

The Whites are yet to win a single Premier League game, they sit in the relegation zone and if they’re not careful, they could end up in serious trouble.

How have we gotten to this point? Well, a run of tough fixtures certainly hasn’t helped Marcelo Bielsa’s cause, but if we’re being brutally honest, Leeds have regressed as a side.

Perhaps it’s down to other teams figuring Leeds’ style out, or maybe it’s the famed ‘burnout’ that’s often been associated with Bielsa’s sides in the past, but for one reason or another, the Whites aren’t playing at their very best at the moment.

There are plenty of players you could point the finger at, but in our view, the one player who has most noticeably gone backwards this season is Stuart Dallas.

Last season, Dallas was nigh-on unplayable. He looked like the fittest player in the Premier League and every week he put in a shift he could be proud of.

His statistics from last season perfectly highlight just how effective the all-action Northern Irishman was, he was averaging, 1.3 shots per game, 1.9 tackles, 1.2 interceptions and to top it all off, he contributed to a goal every 3.8 matches.

Last term Dallas was covering every blade of grass and making meaningful contributions all over the pitch, but this time around, he’s not doing nearly as much.

He’s averaging almost half as many shots per match, his tackling numbers are down, while he’s making 30 per cent fewer interceptions per game. Meanwhile, he’s yet to find the back of the net, while he only has one assist to his name thus far.

Perhaps it was to be expected. After all, Dallas has played most of his career as a middling Championship player, so his run as a bona fide Premier League star may have always been unsustainable, but you can’t underestimate just how good he was last season.

Yes, Leeds have had tough games so far, but those matches used to be the stages where Dallas would thrive. His showing against Manchester City earlier this year was one of the best we’ve ever seen from any Leeds player, while he also put in brilliant shifts against both Liverpool and Arsenal last term.

Dallas may have been described as ‘unbelievable’ last season, but it seems as though his purple patch is over and he’s come crashing back down to earth.