This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…
How do you solve Leeds United’s striker conundrum?
Even the man who was once heralded as the ‘best coach in the world’ by Pep Guardiola can’t quite seem to figure it out as the Whites’ woes in front of goal continue.
However, there is one man who believes he knows what Marcelo Bielsa needs to do to get the best out of his team.
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What’s been said then?
Former Leeds United defender Joe Newsome has stated that he believes the solution to Leeds’ striking puzzle is to play both Patrick Bamford and Eddie Nketiah together.
In an interview with Yorkshire Post, he said:
“I think they have tightened up a little bit at the back, they look to be a little bit stronger defensively but it is quite apparent that they don’t score enough goals and there’s this issue between Bamford and Nketiah.
“I know Eddie came on against Preston last Tuesday and scored but then I was at the Birmingham game last Saturday when he took Bamford off and put Nketiah on at half time but I felt we lost a bit of the physical side of it. We lost some of the work that Bamford does.
“Like everybody else, I’d like to see them play together but whether that is going to happen under Bielsa or not we have to wait to see.”
We mastered the trick in the video below in 8 attempts… could you do better?
How would it work?
It’s all well and good for Newsome to say that he wants to see the two strikers playing together, but there’s no explanation for how that would work.
Of course, playing two strikers would see another player lose their spot in the team, and in Bielsa’s system that may not be possible.
Every role is there for a reason, and if you take one player out the team it doesn’t always tick in the way it usually does.
Unfortunately, it seems as if Newsome’s dream of seeing Bamford and Nketiah together isn’t going to come true as it would require a huge tactical rejig, and with Leeds playing as well as they have been doing that just doesn’t make much sense.
After all, Bielsa has previously stated he’s seen no evidence the system would actually work.
