Bailey Peacock-Farrell was on Leeds United’s bench for their recent Championship defeat as Felix Wiedwald came in for more criticism.
On a very poor night for Leeds, Felix Wiedwald gave his critics even more ammunition as Paul Heckingbottom’s men were soundly beaten by Middlesbrough in a game which has dealt a huge blow to their already-slim play-off hopes.
The pressure was on Wiedwald instantly following his summer arrival as he relegated Rob Green to the bench after the latter’s excellent first season at Elland Road. But rather than leaving fans feeling like the call to drop, and subsequently sell, Green was justified, Wiedwald has evoked memories of Marco Silvestri’s disappointing two years as the Whites’ number one.
On his day, Silvestri could be sensational and kept Leeds in games where they had no right to secure any points. However, he never managed to shake off the reputation of being error-prone. Similarly, Wiedwald now appears to have absolutely no confidence, and the defence in front of him seem to have lost virtually all confidence in him.
The problem Heckingbottom now faces is what to do for the home game against Wolves on Wednesday. Andy Lonergan has been missing from the last two squads; and even if he is fit, his previous spell as first-choice left many pining for Wiedwald’s return, and Bailey Peacock-Farrell boasts just one senior appearance for Leeds.
Heckingbottom may not view a game against the runaway league leaders as the right time to throw Peacock-Farrell in, but perhaps it may actually be the perfect game to drop Wiedwald and select the 21-year-old.
Peacock-Farrell appears to be the goalkeeper that the club see as being the long-term number one, but he needs that chance in the first-team if he is really going to prove himself. And there may be no better chance to give him that run of games – certainly if they hope to be right in the promotion mix next season – than there is now with Leeds finding themselves needing an incredible run of results to get themselves back into the top six.
Of course, the fans will not want to see the team fold and put all their eggs into next season’s basket when there is so much time left in the campaign and the play-off places are still within reach. But realistically, Leeds’ chances of reaching the top six now look bleak at best, especially as all of their momentum was quashed by the result against Boro.
And it is not as if Wiedwald is proving to be a brilliant stopper and Peacock-Farrell’s inclusion will represent a huge gamble. There is a positivity that comes when an academy graduate gets a chance in the first-team so taking the risk on Peacock-Farrell may well prove to be a much more popular decision than sticking with the German.
And with Leeds set to go into Wednesday’s game as underdogs, there will be much less pressure on the Northern Ireland youth international than there would be if he was coming in for a fixture that the Whites were heavy favourites in.
It will not change Friday’s result or the disappointment following it, but if Peacock-Farrell comes in and grasps his chance then perhaps Heckingbottom will be able to reflect that something positive indirectly emerged from the loss to Boro. Sticking with Wiedwald now may be asking for trouble.
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