Samuel Saiz has come in for criticism, but he provided a moment of magic in Leeds United’s defeat at the weekend.
Leeds’ defeat to West Brom will be one that the Elland Road faithful will want to forget quickly. And Marcelo Bielsa may be tempted to not allow his squad to dwell on the result given that he took the blame for the thrashing at The Hawthorns.
The Whites have arguably earned the right to consider Saturday’s game an off-night. They have played brilliantly at times this season, and the Baggies were the first team to tear the team apart – which is almost an impressive feat given the nature of the Championship.
But while Bielsa may want to forget the game, there is one moment that he must not overlook when he considers his lineup against Bristol City following the international break – and that was a piece of brilliance from Samuel Saiz.
The Spaniard came off the bench and provided the assist that allowed Leeds to get on the scoresheet in stoppage-time. Saiz received a pass from Pablo Hernandez and proceeded to dink a delicious ball in between the West Brom defenders which Hernandez then headed over Sam Johnstone.
With the Baggies 4-0 up at that stage, a clean sheet was virtually the only thing they were still playing for, so Saiz unlocking the defence with that pass must be considered impressive.
It is particularly important because Saiz has not had the best time at Elland Road lately. He was dropped after the win over Ipswich, was outshone by Jack Clarke after coming on against Nottingham Forest and was not missed as an unused substitute at Wigan.
Remarkably given his quality, the pass for Hernandez was only Saiz’s third assist of the season in the Championship, while he is yet to score a league goal.
But, on an incredibly poor night for Leeds at the weekend, Bielsa will be hoping that the result he would like to forget includes the moment that will be remembered as the turning point in Saiz’s season.
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