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A hamstring injury has limited Joe Rodon to making just three Leeds United appearances this season.
The Welsh defender, who rarely ever misses a game for Leeds, has not featured since being forced off in our 1-1 draw at Elland Road back in August.
Daniel Farke will likely give us another update regarding Rodon’s return to action when he speaks to the media ahead of our clash with Man United at Elland Road on Sunday.
However, in his absence, James Justin has been thriving in that right-centre back role. After scoring against Arsenal over the weekend, the Englishman has been the subject of major praise from a BBC pundit.
Troy Deeney labels James Justin ‘a joke of a centre-back’
The more I see of Justin as a centre-back as part of that back three, the more I’m convinced that that’s his best position in our current system.
Even if Rodon was back 100% fit and match sharp for our game against Man United, I’d still start Justin.
When Justin has to act like a right back at times in build-up, the transition is seamless.
His superior crossing ability also makes him more of a threat in the final third than Rodon. We also saw against Arsenal that Justin is more than capable of cropping up with a goal.
His performance at the Emirates led Troy Deeney to include him in his Team of the Week for the BBC.
When explaining his decision, Deeney said: “I know he (Justin) loves playing against Arsenal. But the transformation he has had from when he was at Leicester to Leeds – the ability to play right wing-back, right centre-back.
“Everything that he gives you in that situation, he’s just a joke of a centre-back. I don’t believe he gets anywhere near enough credit. An unbelievable goal and he could have had more on the day.”
Joe Rodon will be sweating as James Justin continues to excel
It’s nice that Justin gives us more going forward when our system allows him to act like a right-back. However, at the end of the day, he’s a centre-back when we don’t have the ball. His primary job is to defend and not concede.
And for me, Justin has looked just as exceptional defensively ever since he’s played that role for us this season.
Against Arsenal, Justin had six defensive contributions and also won three duels (Sofascore).
Ever since joining us initially on loan back in 2023, Rodon has been incredible and a large reason behind why we have been so successful in recent years.
But when he returns from this hamstring injury, surely Farke can’t just throw him back into the starting XI; Justin hasn’t put a foot wrong in his absence.
This would be a first for Rodon if he’s not starting every week at United.
I feel like if both are fit, we could begin to even see Rodon play in the heart of our defence. That way Nico Elvedi would drop out of the starting XI and not Justin.
However, I wouldn’t be surprised in the long run if our defence changed based on our opposition. In tough away games where we are settling for a point, we may choose to start Rodon at right centre-back.
But Justin may be favoured in that role at home if we really want to go at a team.