Leeds United aren’t having the best of seasons so far – that’s for sure.
The Whites have won just two of their first 11 league games and they sit precariously close to the relegation zone.
Why are they struggling? Well, there are a few things you could blame it on.
You could blame it on the fact there’s been something of an injury crisis at Elland Road or you could put it down to the dreaded ‘second-season syndrome’, but, in our view, the first place to point the finger is at their summer recruitment.
Leeds went into this summer knowing that they needed a few bodies through the door. Phil Hay summed it up nicely on his podcast over the summer.
“It’s gotten to the point where they need an out and out left-back, a real specialist in that position, they will try to get some cover for Kalvin Phillips and I do expect them to go for a midfielder further up the pitch, whether that’s an 8 or a 10 or some kind of hybrid,” Hay said.
However, the summer came and went and Leeds only made one senior addition – Junior Firpo at left-back, and it’s fair to say he’s been underwhelming thus far.
Interestingly, two players Leeds were linked with in the summer did get moves to clubs of a similar stature to the Whites, and they’re shining.
Indeed, the Yorkshire outfit was strongly linked to Maxwel Cornet and Conor Gallagher this summer, and they’re thriving at Burnley and Crystal Palace respectively.
They have 10 league goals between them this term – meanwhile, Leeds have only scored 11 all season – and they’re both up for Premier League Player of the Month awards.
While it’s unlikely that either player will scoop the accolade, after all, Mohamed Salah was red hot during October, the fact they’ve both been nominated shows just how brilliant they’ve been as of late.
Cornet and Gallagher were two very attainable targets for Leeds, but for one reason or another, Victor Orta failed to bring them to Elland Road, and with each passing week, that’s looking like more and more of a failure.
We can only wonder where Leeds would be if they’d managed to bring Cornet and Gallagher to Elland Road.
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