Leeds United’s two breakout midfielders from last season have had very different campaigns so far this time around.
Teenage star Lewis Cook has been Leeds United’s best performing midfielder in 2015/16 so far, according to Opta data.
Teammate Alex Mowatt has been struggling far more to, unable to replicate his outstanding form from the previous campaign which saw him named as the club’s player of the season.
Assessing the season’s data on a per game basis, including only players who have featured for Leeds in midfield in five or more games this season, Cook and new signing Stuart Dallas come out as the performers to make the biggest impact.
| Position | Team | Interceptions per game | Won Tackles per game | Key Passes per game | Dribbles per game | Shots On Target per game | Assists | Goals | Total | Appearances | Mins Played | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lewis Cook | MF | Leeds | 1.14 | 2 | 1.71 | 1.14 | 0.29 | 1 | 0 | 7.29 | 7 | 629 |
| Stuart Dallas | MF | Leeds | 1.2 | 0.9 | 1.3 | 1 | 0.4 | 2 | 0 | 6.8 | 10 | 833 |
| Tom Adeyemi | MF | Leeds | 1.67 | 1 | 0.33 | 0.11 | 0.22 | 0 | 1 | 4.33 | 9 | 679 |
| Sam Byram | MF | Leeds | 0.89 | 0.44 | 1.89 | 0.11 | 0.11 | 0 | 0 | 3.44 | 9 | 611 |
| Luke Murphy | MF | Leeds | 1.38 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.25 | 0.13 | 0 | 0 | 2.75 | 8 | 386 |
| Alex Mowatt | MF | Leeds | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 2.2 | 10 | 596 |
The ‘total’ column is the combined figure of key in-match actions, from defensive statistics such as tackles and interceptions and attacking elements like dribbling and shooting.
The fact Cook has been able to transfer his form from one season to the next is a real positive for Leeds, but Mowatt’s struggles are indicative of his team’s.
Leeds have won only two Championship games from 10 matches, and Mowatt has been ineffective, despite featuring in all of them.
The blame lies partly with head coach Uwe Rosler, whose desire for the attacking midfielders to press appears ill-suited to Mowatt, whose tackles and interceptions per game rank the lowest of any of his peers.
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