Redfearn produces not one but two masterstrokes with Alex Mowatt

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The Leeds boss got the best out of the 20-year-old against Millwall on Saturday afternoon.

Alex Mowatt has been one of Leeds United’s linchpins this season.

Mowatt’s form of late, however, had been well below par – as he freely admitted after yesterday’s 1-0 win over Millwall.

During that win, though, it was the 20-year-old who struck Leeds’ winner (his fifth of the campaign), as the midfielder produced a dominant performance to look like the promising playmaker he is known to be.

And it is perhaps no coincidence that Mowatt had recently been left out of Leeds’ side. Redfearn dropped him against Brentford and suggested the move was purely down to tactical reasons.

But the young midfielder has bounced back firing and, no matter what he says, Redfearn knows the rest would have done Mowatt some good before he came back against Reading and then the Lions.

It proved a masterstroke. Simple but effective management – what the 49-year-old is all about. And it wasn’t Redfearn’s only brilliant move.

As Opta stats show, Mowatt was hugely influential v Ian Holloway’s Millwall, completing more final-third passes than anyone bar Sam Byram, taking 66 touches and making more overall passes than any other team-mate.

He did this from the left-hand side, a position the 20-year-old says he’s not used to but happy to play in.

There, he linked up brilliantly with Charlie Taylor. But the freedom Redfearn allowed Mowatt didn’t stop there. Indeed, the Leeds boss spoke delightedly about how Byram and the man down the left frequently swapped wings, confusing Millwall’s back line.

Therein lay Redfearn’s second Mowatt masterstroke. By allowing the youngster to cover more ground and play with more creativity, he unleashed the star who ultimately won Leeds the game – and ended up the ‘best player on the pitch.’