Three and a half games cannot justify a £10m outlay but one of Leeds United's less popular or understood summer transfers is beginning to make more and more sense.
For a long time - one full Championship season and 18 games of a Premier League one - Jayden Bogle's place in the starting XI was undisputed because he made the right-back berth his own. In a team that dominated the ball he was a menace, making runs inside and outside full-backs to create havoc and goals for the free-scoring Championship title winners. This season it has been a different brief and though he has at times come under severe pressure from elite wingers, like almost every full-back in the Premier League, Bogle started well and has dug in to keep his place.
But at Liverpool, Farke rested his main man with the idea of unleashing him and a few other mainstays at Elland Road against Manchester United. And then two things happened to present Farke with a new and exciting question mark. His replacement, James Justin, played brilliantly at Anfield. And Bogle got injured. Somewhere between the Liverpool game and Manchester United's arrival in Leeds, Bogle picked up a calf problem and handed Justin another game at right wing-back. He didn't hit the exact same dominant performance level as in his previous game but Justin was pretty solid.
Bogle's minor calf strain was major enough that it was Justin again at Newcastle United, when he yet again played well and came oh so close to scoring a great goal. The crossbar denied him and Leeds the chance to take three points at St James' Park on a night when they agonisingly lost in the 103rd minute.
"It was kind of one of those heart wrenching ones at the end, and obviously the dressing room was down afterwards," said the ex-Leicester City man. "But reflecting, obviously you can be proud of the performance that you put in away at Newcastle like this. Obviously, there's things to learn, which is the same in every other game. But when you go down, you want to go down fighting, and that's what the fans want, and that's what we want ourselves. We'll always give it to the last second."
Having suddenly found himself getting big minutes in a short space of time, the plan was to rest Justin at least for the first half of the FA Cup game at Derby County. He might well have come on at the break regardless but Sebastiaan Bornauw's adductor injury made up Farke's mind for him and on came Justin. He played a full part in a vastly improved second half and capped it all with a lung-bursting last-minute run and fine finish for his first Leeds United goal. A tap-in was how he described it, but adding end product - even against Championship opposition - simply added to his momentum.
Bogle has been so good for so long and given Leeds so much in possession that three and a half games would feel like scant evidence to build a case for him to stay on the bench against Fulham if he's fit and available. But what we know of Farke is that he will only put a returning player back in if they have rejoined team training, and the longer they sit out the smaller their chances of slotting straight back in - unless they're Ethan Ampadu of course. Two weeks might not be enough to let sufficient rust develop on Bogle and allow Justin to keep the spot.
But for the first time there is at least a conversation, if not an argument, and a realisation dawning on a fanbase that a player Leeds were happy to spend £10m on was perhaps worth the outlay. Previously the squad's vacancy for another attacker was held up as the major argument against Justin's arrival, with critics of the summer recruitment believing the money should have been spent elsewhere, but had he not been signed from Leicester then Sam Byram would have been the only cover at wing-back. Asking him to parachute into the side to play back-to-back-to-back 90s in the Premier League would have been difficult. This past week when the veteran's big chance of a start rolled around in the FA Cup he had to recover from some back issues to make the bench and come on as a late substitute.
Justin considers the elder statesman of the four full-back options to be part of the competition. But as the man with the most Premier League experience, by far, Justin is as confident about his own ability to take the starting role as he is supportive of his team-mates. He wants to make it a fight, not just a conversation or argument.
"I feel like there's great competition between me, Jayden and Gabi [Gudmundsson] and Sam, really, and whoever plays is going to put in a top performance," said Justin. "Obviously, they've [Gabi and Jayden] been playing a lot this season. They've been putting in top performances. And I'm at an age now where I understand when people are playing really well, and you want to keep that momentum going. But also, on the other hand, when I get my chance - and I'm wanting my chance - when I get the chance for a long period of time, hopefully I can show that consistency that they've showed in the first half of the season."
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