Pablo Hernandez has arguably looked bright in a couple of Leeds United’s recent games despite the Whites’ poor form.
On a hugely disappointing night at Griffin Park at the weekend, Thomas Christiansen would probably have not needed one full hand to be able to count the number of Leeds players who could have been relatively pleased with their performance in the 3-1 defeat to Brentford.
Samuel Saiz looked a constant threat, and Pablo Hernandez looked extremely bright when he came on for the second-half against the Bees, and perhaps a case can be made for a couple of the other players at a stretch.
Of course, Saiz is probably the first name on the teamsheet at the moment, with his form proving to be one of the few bright points during Leeds’ poor recent run.
Hernandez, on the other hand, is more of an enigma for Leeds. When the Spaniard is playing well, there are arguably few in the Championship better, but inconsistency has been a major problem for the 32-year-old since his arrival last year.
His performance against Brentford and against Leicester in the Carabao Cup previously – where he also scored a stunning goal – coupled with the lack of impressive displays coming from many of his teammates right now arguably means that Hernandez has earned the right to return to the starting lineup.
However, maybe the next game is not the right one for Christiansen to hand him the start he arguably deserves.
Leeds face Middlesbrough at Elland Road, and that means a return to familiar surroundings for Garry Monk – the man who brought Hernandez to Leeds and worked with him previously at Swansea City.
If anyone is going to know how to keep Hernandez quiet and nullify his threat, it will arguably be Monk, and thus, it may be worth Christiansen holding the attacker back and using him as a substitute again when he can take advantage of the opposition’s tiredness.
It would be a gamble for Christiansen to hold Hernandez back for that reason, and there are arguably few members of the squad giving the boss a reason to leave him out – but with Monk knowing the Spaniard extremely well, he may need to be at his very best to make the kind of impact that Christiansen needs him to make.
Would you start Hernandez against Middlesbrough?
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