Leeds United forward Kemar Roofe returned on Saturday.
Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa has told Leeds Live that he felt Kemar Roofe had less influence on the game as a striker than he did as a winger.
Leeds lost 2-1 at Blackburn Rovers on Saturday afternoon, with the Whites getting off to the worst possible start as Danny Graham headed home Harrison Reed’s second-minute corner.
Mateusz Klich grabbed an equaliser for Leeds before half time, but another corner undid Bielsa’s men, with Darragh Lenihan heading the winner for Rovers after the break.
That’s just a second defeat in the Championship for Leeds this season, but it’s also just one win in the last five for Leeds, whose form has taken a small dip of late.
Leeds did have a boost on Saturday afternoon, as Kemar Roofe made his return to the starting line-up, having been ruled out for around a month.
Roofe started out wide before moving up front, as Bielsa decided to stick with Tyler Roberts in attack rather than give Roofe the centre forward spot he occupied earlier this season.
However, Roofe couldn’t really have the impact he wanted, and Bielsa’s comments after the final whistle suggested that there is now a question to be asked about Roofe’s position.
Despite playing as a striker earlier in the season, Bielsa felt that Roofe didn’t have a huge impact in that role on Saturday, but did impress as a winger – and felt that Pablo Hernandez had a similar impact in that position as a substitute, meaning there is a dilemma about Roofe’s best option with so many options at Bielsa’s disposal.
“When he started the game as a winger he had a positive influence, he combined well with his team-mates,” said Bielsa. “Then he played as a nine and he was less influential as a nine. In the second half he played as a right winger again, but as he had made efforts before, it was harder for him taking into account the weeks he missed.”
“And the influence Pablo had on this sector, as a winger, was similar to the influence Kemar Roofe had in the first 30 minutes,” he added.
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