Leeds United should have kept Rob Green as number one this season

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The West Yorkshire club have struggled with the goalkeeper position all season.

Leeds United are still looking for their first win under the management of Paul Heckingbottom. After defeat against Sheffield United in his first game he saw his Leeds team fight back from 2-0 down to pick up a draw with Bristol City.

Once again though, a problem that has been an issue for Leeds all season, reared its head in the fixture.

Felix Wiedwald, the summer signing from Werder Bremen, struggled in goal again – making a ridiculous error from a Bristol City long throw.

The German has had a difficult first season in West Yorkshire. After errors earlier in the season he was replaced by Andy Lonergan. But with the Englishman not performing much better, Wiedwald came back in and performed better for a while, but the Bristol fixture highlighted his frailties once again.

It certainly highlights a big mistake that Leeds made in the summer. When the club signed Wiedwald it was seen as an odd move, considering they had veteran former England goalie Rob Green at Elland Road.

Although prone to the odd error himself he was nowhere near as likely to mess up as the new recruits have been at Leeds this season.

Green, a fine shot-stopper with plenty of experience, had developed a good partnership with the Leeds defence, many of whom were still at the club for much of the season – bar Kyle Bartley and Charlie Taylor.

Green was swiftly made number two to Wiedwald, which made no sense as he had done little to lose his spot between the sticks.

Instead of immediately dropping Green, Leeds and former boss Thomas Christiansen should have kept him as number one allowing Wiedwald time to train alongside a seasoned pro and move into the first-team slowly.

Instead, Green moved on and is now sitting on the bench at Huddersfield Town when he could have been a major influence for Leeds this season.

The club’s handling of the former England goalie and the goalkeeper position in general has certainly been one of their biggest mistakes of the 2017-18 season.