Noel Whelan praises two Leeds debutants after Bolton win; suggests another was not at his best

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Leeds United opened their Championship season with a narrow win over Bolton Wanderers.

Noel Whelan has heaped praise upon two of Leeds’ debutants following their narrow victory over Bolton at the Macron Stadium, but suggested that he was somewhat underwhelmed by another, BBC Radio Leeds reports.

Thomas Christiansen began life as the Whites manager with a nervy 3-2 win over the Trotters thanks to a brace from Kalvin Phillips as well as a header from Chris Wood.

The game saw five players make their competitive debuts for Leeds, with Felix Wiedwald, Matthew Pennington and Gianni Alioski all starting, while Vurnon Anita and Conor Shaughnessy came on during the contest.

Of all the debutants, Pennington and Anita both impressed Whelan, with the latter – signed on a free following his departure from Newcastle earlier this summer – receiving particular praise from the former Whites forward.

“I thought Anita stepped in and did a great job. He looks a quality player, he’s experienced, he covers round well, he looks after the ball in possession,” he told BBC Radio, before assessing Pennington’s display.

“He looked really assured at the back, alongside Cooper.”

While it will be looked back upon as a generally positive day for Leeds given the amount of change that has taken place over the summer, Whelan suggested that Alioski’s display perhaps left him slightly disappointed.

“I was excited before the game today to watch him, I don’t think he had particularly the greatest game. I think he kept things very simple at times, [it] took him a bit of time to get into the game. I want to see more direct running, show us that pace that you’ve got, show us that trickery you’ve got,” he later added.

What will please Leeds fans about Alioski’s display was that he was always keen to get on the ball and did not shy away from getting stuck in.

Meanwhile, they will also be hoping that the injury that forced Pennington off will not be too serious as his performance was extremely encouraging.

But it is perhaps hardly surprising that Whelan appeared to be most impressed by the debut of Anita, as the Dutchman arguably shone in a somewhat unfamiliar position after left-back Gaetano Berardi had to be taken off in the latter stages of the first-half.

The utility man looked like he was never going to lose the ball when he had it at his feet, and looked so composed that he made it look like he had all the time in the world even when he was being closed down and put under pressure, and that certainly helped during the stages when Bolton looked to be on top as they pressed for an equaliser.