The Leeds United youngster put his fellow midfielders to shame this weekend.
Given Ronaldo Vieira’s performances since he returned to the Leeds United starting XI, it is absurd to think he was omitted from Thomas Christiansen’s side for so long. But whatever the reason for that decision, his latest showing against Brentford should be a lesson to his older teammates, even if the Whites were defeated for the seventh time in eight matches.
Vieira attempted to influence the game from first minute to last, covering every blade of grass and working his proverbial behind off while Kalvin Phillips and Eunan O’Kane struggled to keep up.
The latter pair may have started the season as Leeds’ first-choice central midfielders, but Vieira is clearly a cut above and he proved it on Saturday evening.
Phillips may have got the goals this season, but he continues to struggle to dictate the play in a key area of the field and O’Kane has also seen his form falter as Leeds have struggled for wins.
In contrast Vieira continues to play like his life depends on it, putting his fellow midfielders in the shade and reinforcing his importance to a Leeds side that has fallen away alarmingly just when it looked like a prolonged promotion push was on the cards.
If O’Kane and Phillips want to know how they should be playing to kick-start Leeds’ campaign, and if Christiansen is unable to get that point across on the training field, they need only watch a repeat of Vieira’s latest performance.
He knows what it means to represent Leeds, it is just a shame so many of his fellow players are unable to follow his lead.
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