Noel Whelan asked if Leeds should recall Pierre-Michel Lasogga for Wolves if German’s fit

Follow us on Google Discover

Pierre-Michel Lasogga was missing from the Leeds United squad that took on Middlesbrough at Elland Road.

Noel Whelan has told BBC Radio Leeds that even if Pierre-Michel Lasogga is fit for Leeds’ clash with Wolves on Wednesday, Thomas Christiansen should keep faith with Kemar Roofe.

Lasogga was missing for the Whites’ clash with Middlesbrough due to illness, leaving the path clear for Roofe to make a rare start up front against Garry Monk’s men.

Though Roofe did not get on the scoresheet, he certainly staked a claim to feature more often with a fine performance as Leeds picked up a hugely impressive 2-1 win against a Middlesbrough side that had gone into the international break off the back of three wins on the spin.

And with Lasogga coming in for criticism on several occasions this season – despite scoring five goals in 10 Championship appearances since arriving on loan – Whelan insisted that, if it was up to him, he would not change the lineup for the daunting trip to Molineux, even if Lasogga is available for the clash with the table-toppers.

“Stick with what we’ve seen [the side that played against Middlesbrough]. I like a striker that can work the two centre-halves, not just coming into areas, coming deep to pick up the ball but going in behind, running channels, taking them diagonal into areas they can’t go because they want to keep that solid back four and that shape, and he’s got intelligence and he does hold the ball up and bring us into play,” he told BBC Radio Leeds when discussing Roofe.

“I think sometimes when we get the big man up front, unless you can run in behind and got the pace to trouble and run out wide – static strikers, it falls right into the hands of the centre-halves. That’s what they want, they don’t want to be moved out of position, they want to just come on and head the ball back. I don’t like it. He’s got to work on his mobility, his fitness, his speed, there’s so much more that he needs to bring to the game and Roofe, for me, is bringing more up front than he is,” he added, referring to Lasogga.

There is surely no question that Roofe did a brilliant job leading the line and it would be incredibly unfair for Christiansen to pick Lasogga ahead of him unless he changes to a system which sees two strikers deployed – though that seems highly unlikely given that he has shown a lot of faith in the current formation.

And Christiansen may perhaps be hoping, if he does stick with Roofe for the game against Wolves, that it also helps bring the best out of Lasogga, as he will know that he will need to step up when he gets back into the side.