Leeds United are heading into the New Year top of the Championship table.
Marcelo Bielsa has lauded the ‘specialist’ Eddie Nketiah for the performance he put in during Leeds United’s dramatic 5-4 win over Birmingham City on Sunday.
The Leeds boss claimed that the Arsenal loanee was ‘forced’ to ‘make a lot of effort’ during the game because the ‘dynamic of the team’ made him do that.
Nketiah started only his first league game for Leeds at St Andrew’s, with the heavy fixture schedule forcing Bielsa to make changes to his side.
After that quite dramatic win against the Blues, Bielsa lauded Nketiah’s performance on the day and the improvements he made in his game.
“I think Eddie gave a forward step,” Bielsa told Leeds Live. “He came to Leeds with the goal to play but he had one more difficulty that he deserved to play. I think today he did good things.
“Obviously, he is a player full of resources. I think the dynamic of the team forces him to make a lot of effort and he has adapted well to this and we have to say that he’s a player prepared to put all his energy in the offensive play, not the defensive play.
“We attack with all of us and defend with all of us. He’s a specialist and he made a big effort to meet with the team and add to the play.”
Patrick Bamford is still Leeds’ number one man up front, but Nketiah’s lack of starts this season has been a problem for the player who is trying to improve his game.
It seems as though Nketiah will be recalled by his parent club when the transfer window next month because of his lack of game time, as reported by Football London.
That would be a big blow for Leeds because it means they will have to dip into the market once again and sign another attack-minded player just to add some depth to what is an already thin squad.
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