Leeds United’s run without a win continued as they could only draw their latest Championship clash.
Leeds fans have been reacting on Twitter after watching Caleb Ekuban’s performance during their 2-2 draw with Reading, and the general feeling is certainly that he is not performing well enough to start for Paul Heckingbottom’s side.
Just a handful of games into his tenure, Heckingbottom needed to see a big performance from his team after they suffered 3-0 defeats to Middlesbrough and Wolves and have won just once in 2018 – though the new manager obviously cannot shoulder all of the blame for that fact.
There was a sense that Heckingbottom is still trying to work out what he has got to work with as the lineup saw top goalscorer Pierre-Michel Lasogga dropped to the bench and the much-maligned Eunan O’Kane come back in alongside Adam Forshaw. January signing Laurens De Bock also had a point to prove after a disappointing start to life at Elland Road.
Ekuban had a half chance early on as a cross from De Bock eventually found the striker on the edge of the six-yard box. However, his desire to take a touch to control the ball gave the Reading defence the chance to snuff out the chance and ensure that his wait for a first league goal for Leeds continues.
He then lost the ball just inside Reading’s half and that ultimately led to the game’s first goal. Although the home side still had plenty to do and Ekuban was not the only Leeds player to make a mistake in the move, it was disappointing that he did not look to hold the ball up when he had no teammates in the Royals’ half when the ball reached him and instead tried to make something happen.
While Ekuban’s work-rate and desire to succeed cannot be questioned, a number of fans believe that he may simply not be good enough to be a first-choice striker for a side that should be targeting a play-off spot in the Championship – though those hopes appear to be gone now for this season.
In fairness to the striker, he has struggled with injury this season and not been able to enjoy a prolonged run in the team. But the supporters fear that the 23-year-old may not have the quality to prove his critics wrong.
Here is the best of the reaction…
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