“He needs to make changes”- BBC Pundit Aidy White claims there’s two Leeds players Daniel Farke should drop on Saturday against Blackburn
Leeds United need something to change if they are to get back to winning ways against Blackburn Rovers on Saturday. The Whites once again missed the chance to move top of the Championship last night as they were held to a frustrating 0-0 draw by Sunderland at Elland Road.
Since the international break, Leeds have picked up just five points from a possible 12 available with this blip in form coming at the worst possible time considering what is at stake.
Leeds registered just one tame shot on target across 90 minutes through Joe Rodon against Sunderland and while a stonewall penalty was waved away, the lack of potency in attack was worrying.
Daniel Farke opted to name an unchanged side yesterday from the one that was beaten at Coventry City, a decision which in hindsight was very much a mistake. That said, he hardly looked to rectify it given how late he waited to make changes.
Whites claims that Farke should drop Rutter and James on Saturday
Leeds have still been relatively solid at the back in recent matches despite losing their incredible record of not conceding from open play for almost three months.
The bulk of the issues have actually come at the other end, with practically the entire front four having simultaneously lost form since the break, with the possible exception of Crysencio Summerville.
As mentioned, Farke has opted to stick by those underperforming players, though, but speaking on BBC Radio Leeds last night, Aidy White has now called for changes.
He believes both Willy Gnonto and Joel Piroe should come into the starting XI, with both Georginio Rutter and Dan James dropping out.
He said: “He needs to make changes, I would potentially play Willy Gnonto out on the right [in place of James]. I would put Piroe back in for Rutter. Then up top it is a really tricky one, but I would stick with Pat.
“It’s a big one and I know Joseph is obviously young, but we are judging him off 10 minutes here, 10 minutes there, not full appearances. At this stage of the season I am going with experience.”
Throughout the season Farke has been prone to keeping the same starting XI for consecutive matches, but that was when the team were actually playing well.
Ultimately at this stage of the season, Farke cannot afford to give time to players to play themselves back into form, and there have been no signs of the likes of James or Patrick Bamford doing so.
Obviously wholesale changes are unnecessary given how good Leeds have been for so long, but a couple at least to freshen things up could go a long way.
Gnonto and Mateo Joseph in particular are among those who have been in good form lately, and now is the time to pick those playing well, regardless of inexperience.
