Is Leeds United’s academy strategy paying off?
Leeds United have had a hectic week even by their standards, sacking manager Thomas Christiansen and replacing him with Paul Heckingbottom.
Before that came a 4-1 loss at home Cardiff, and last Friday the club’s academy was blasted by former player Ian Harte who said he was ‘fuming’ at the foreign make-up of the under-23 side.
Lost amongst all of this was the achievements of Leeds’ under-18 team, who reached the top of their division with a 2-0 win at Barnsley.
The Whites have subsequently slipped to second on goal difference behind Bolton, but there are impressive strides being made.
This Leeds under-18 team have amassed 33 points from 20 games, with a goal difference of plus 12.
It is a turnaround from last year where the team finished a lowly eighth in the same division out of 10 teams.
The team is made up of a mix of homegrown talents like Jack Clarke and Harrison Male, and summer imports like Kun Temenuzhkov.
There has been a lot of spotlight on the under-23 team, who sit seventh of 11 teams in their league, but that too is progress on last season where they finished bottom.
The progress at academy level is slowly being made, and for all the furore over Harte’s comments, the strategy being implemented by the club is gradually yielding results.
The under-18 team moving to the top of their league, even briefly, might just have been the best part of the week for Leeds United amid a chaotic seven days.
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