14-assist ace is Bielsa's best hope of fixing Leeds' biggest issue - opinion

Leeds United’s promotion push is in serious trouble. Having led the Championship title race for so much of the campaign, the Whites have recently stumbled and now find themselves behind both Sheffield United and Norwich City.

Marcelo Bielsa’s side have lost their cutting edge in recent weeks and are struggling to create and take goalscoring chances.

The Argentine coach must now find a way to get his side back amongst the goals before their Premier League dream is taken beyond their reach.

Tensions boiled over between Leeds and Bolton at the weekend and our man Thogden was on the scene. Check out the video below…

On the chalkboard

Full-backs play a vital role in the modern game. For many teams, the full-backs are expected to push forward, join attacks and provide creative outlets for their side. Bielsa’s outfit are not unusual in this regard, as both of Leeds’ full-backs are encouraged to attack.

In recent weeks, Ezgjan Alioski has regularly been playing at left-back and Luke Ayling has been starting at right-back. Neither are in great form though, and it’s time for Bielsa to turn to other options to provide something different in these key areas of the pitch.

Fresh attacking endeavour

Barry Douglas and Jamie Shackleton were both introduced from the bench against QPR last time out. They should be included in the starting XI, in place of Alioski and Ayling respectively, against West Brom at Elland Road on Friday.

Alioski and Ayling could both do with some time out of the firing line. Douglas and Shackleton would also bring some freshness and some extra attacking endeavour into the team. Last season, as a Wolves player, 29-year-old Douglas racked up 5 goals and 14 assists in 39 Championship outings, according to Transfermarkt’s stats.

If he could produce that kind of end product for Leeds for the rest of the season then he could play a huge role in getting the Whites’ title bid back on course.

from FootballFanCast.com https://ift.tt/2EktbYU