Leeds United spent more than £100m in the summer, but questions are being asked whether the recruitment strategy was a complete blunder. The lack of spark in the team has been exposed after failing to score an open-play goal in their opening four Premier League games.
Daniel Farke’s men have scored one goal in their opening four Premier League games, and that goal came from the penalty spot in their 1-0 win over Everton in their opening fixture at Elland Road.
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The jubilant scenes at the end of that game now seem a bit too distant. A 5-0 drubbing at Arsenal was a reality check, and while the 0-0 draw at home against Newcastle United was a positive result, the 1-0 defeat at Fulham has again deflated some of the confidence around the Yorkshire giants.
The biggest concern with Farke’s team is the lack of creativity and goals, which brings their sporting director, Adam Underwood, and his recruitment team under sharp focus for some of the transfer decisions made.
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“Where are the goals?” – The £100m Leeds United blunder is getting brutally exposed
The lack of goals in the Leeds squad has become far too obvious, and Jeff Stelling and Ally McCoist delved into that on talkSPORT this morning
Stelling admitted at the start of the season that he was worried about Leeds this season because he couldn’t see them scoring too many goals. He pointed that out earlier today.
McCoist stressed that Calvert-Lewin missed a great chance, and conceded that a team such as Leeds need to take those opportunities away from home.
“My concern has been from right at the start of the season, I don’t know where the goals are coming from”, Stelling said.
McCoist replied: “If memory serves me right, I wrote it down after I watched the game. I think Calvert-Lewin had a great chance. Was it a header?
“But particularly if you’re a club like Leeds, Sunderland or Burnley, going away from home, you’ve got to take any chances you get. Any chances you get, you’ve got to be clinical.”
They spent more than £30m on back-up defenders but couldn’t find the big money needed to spend on a forward who could have found the back of the net regularly.
Nmecha and Calvert-Lewin’s scoring record is abysmal
Farke needed proven goal scorers this summer to bridge the gap in quality in the Premier League. However, he was given two strikers who have scored 34 league goals between them in the last four seasons.
Calvert-Lewin has netted 18 goals in the last four campaigns, while Nmecha scored 16, with only eight in the last three seasons.
Joel Piroe is not a proven striker in the Premier League and has not looked like making that jump early in the campaign.
Leeds also failed to add proven quality on the wings or an attacking midfield, which has further exacerbated the problem in the team.
Underwood and his recruitment team placed two underperforming and injury-prone strikers in a team that do not create much for their number 9s.
Is it truly a surprise that Leeds are yet to score from open play?
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