Leeds United’s fight for survival has seen Daniel Farke settle on his trusted group of players. The issue is that those on the fringes are unlikely to change his mind now.
The Whites are into the fifth round of the FA Cup and six points clear of the Premier League’s relegation zone under Daniel Farke.
You’d have absolutely taken that before a ball was kicked, no matter the means Farke’s gone to in order to manage it. That includes some former favourites of the squad falling by the wayside.
The FA Cup win at Birmingham City did little to restore much confidence in those fringe players forcing their way back into contention.
Here, I look at three players who look more and more likely to be sold in the summer, unless they can work their way back into contention…
Joel Piroe
Interest was there in the summer and in January for Joel Piroe. The club clearly left that decision in the hands of the striker himself, and he made it clear he wanted to stay.
There’s obviously family aspects that weigh on Piroe’s decision, he’s raising two children and won’t want to uproot midway through a season. However, he cited footballing reasons as the motivation to stay, wanting to fight for his place.
Farke made that look a poor decision away at Birmingham City. You’d have thought Piroe would start in an FA Cup tie against Championship opposition. He was instead held back until the 78th minute and didn’t impress when he was introduced.
He converted his penalty with serious composure to set the tone in the shootout, but lost the ball nine times from 23 touches prior to that.
If Farke isn’t starting him in FA Cup ties like that, there’s very little chance he’s going to play much at all in the Premier League.
The volume of interest in the summer and January suggests we could still get a solid fee for him at the end of this season.
Willy Gnonto
This one would hurt me.
Willy Gnonto is clearly more than good enough to play in the Premier League regularly. He’s clocked just league 350 minutes this season due to injury and Farke’s preferences.
However, in limited cameos since December, he’s still shown his quality to change games. Off the bench 2-0 down at home to Liverpool, he turned the tide winning a penalty that helped us draw. Away at Brentford, his delightful cross brought the leveller.
That sort of quality ought to be utilised more in my opinion. But, the other side of the argument is that Farke is currently getting a lot out of his attacking options. It’s at the point where you can’t have too many significant criticisms. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Now that we’re making do without leaning on Gnonto that much, it might be that he’s sold in the summer. He holds far too much value as an asset to be sitting on the bench. If we aren’t going to use him, the £20million-plus that he’d command would be better in our transfer budget.
Ao Tanaka
Another that would hurt.
Ao Tanaka, like Gnonto, is absolutely good enough to be starting most weeks for a Premier League team. Circumstances, though, mean he’s not what Farke wants in his midfield, and you half can’t blame him.
Ethan Ampadu and Anton Stach are nailed-on starters, while Brenden Aaronson and Ilia Gruev have been leaned on heavily too. It’s clear from those four (and Sean Longstaff) what Farke wants in his midfield: athleticism, aggression, and a lot of legs.
Tanaka is technically Leeds’ best midfielder on the ball. But, Leeds’ midfield is set up in a way where that sort of talent isn’t platformed too well. Not as much as Stach’s running power, or Ampadu’s ability to break up play, for example.
Like Gnonto, Leeds have a ruthless decision to make on players holding plenty of transfer value, that aren’t able to demonstrate it on the pitch. Tanaka is worth a lot more than we’re seeing right now.
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