Is this the best Leeds United have looked since Marcelo Bielsa took over the reins? Quite possibly.
No one can question the job Daniel Farke has done at Elland Road. While the Bielsa reign was full of joy, there’s something a bit more pragmatic about the current regime and it’s doing the job.
Like Bielsa, Farke got Leeds promoted. Like Bielsa, he looks on course to keep Leeds in the Premier League after a season.
The challenge will, of course, be sustaining them at this level, something the club’s great Argentine ultimately failed to do in his second term. However, this squad looks hungry, it looks full of fight and importantly, they’re scoring goals.
In the shape of Dominic Calvert-Lewin, they’ve found the club’s modern-day iteration of Patrick Bamford in his prime. They may well have also found their new Pablo Hernandez in recent weeks.
The numbers behind Pablo Hernandez’s wonderful Leeds career
Calvert-Lewin signed on a free transfer over the summer and while he’s doing his best to emulate Hernandez, the Spaniard still remains the club’s best bargain of the modern-era.
Initially signed on a loan deal from Qatari club Al-Arabi during the 2016/17 campaign under Garry Monk, his spell was made permanent in January of that season. While the fee was undisclosed, it was widely thought that it wasn’t very much at all.
Well, whatever the fee was, he certainly repaid it in spades. Leeds have enjoyed the services of players like Raphinha, Georginio Rutter and Crysencio Summerville in recent years, but no one entertained the Elland Road masses quite like Hernandez.
In the twilight of his career, he lit up Yorkshire with some stunning performances, rifling home 36 goals and providing 41 assists during his time at Leeds.
So magical was the playmaker’s performance that he won the Player of the Season award on three separate occasions. He’s deserving of a statue outside the stadium, that’s for sure.
While he only played 16 times in the top-flight for Leeds, failing to score, he was a wizard in the second tier, notably scoring 12 goals and assisting a further 12 during the 2018/19 campaign. A season later, he registered 18 goal involvements, scoring and assisting nine apiece.
Since then, Leeds have had the likes of Raphinha and Rutter to create magic, but have always lacked something of a spark and a swagger in the Premier League. That is, until now.
Leeds star is playing like Pablo Hernandez
It wasn’t long ago that it looked like Leeds were slipping towards relegation. Farke was under pressure and, realistically, could have faced the sack.
However, the Whites have enjoyed a phenomenal turnaround in fortunes, buoyed by the goalscoring form of summer signing Calvert-Lewin and a tweak in formation.
Farke, whose record in the Premier League has left plenty to be desired in previous spells, appears to have finally worked out what it takes to win points in this testing division.
Over the last 13 matches in all competitions, Leeds have only been beaten twice. It’s been a phenomenal run of form and despite that 4-0 defeat to Arsenal, they bounced back in some style against Nottingham Forest last weekend.
They owe a lot of that not just the aforementioned ‘DCL’ but also to Brenden Aaronson, whose turnaround in fortunes at Leeds has been nothing short of a miracle. The American has been much-maligned over the last few years but has four goals and three assists to show for his efforts now.
That said, he’s not the only one who has enjoyed a turnaround in recent weeks. Ilia Gruev enjoyed what was perhaps his finest game for the club in the win over Nottingham Forest last Friday and even emulated a certain Hernandez in the process.
The £5m Bulgarian had started just two games between 13th September and 23rd November and it’s safe to say he looked done in a Leeds shirt. However, he is now in the middle of a more consistent run of starts and repaid his manager with two assists last week.
Remarkably, Gruev became the first Leeds player to register two assists in a Premier League game at home since Hernandez against Newcastle in 2020.
|
Gruev vs Forest |
|
|---|---|
|
Minutes played |
90 |
|
Accurate passes |
44/45 (98%) |
|
Chances created |
4 |
|
Shots |
1 |
|
Assists |
2 |
|
Touches |
58 |
|
Defensive contributions |
8 |
|
Blocks |
1 |
|
Clearances |
2 |
|
Interceptions |
1 |
|
Recoveries |
4 |
Furthermore, he became just the sixth different Leeds player to provide a brace of assists at Elland Road in the top-flight since 2000. He’s certainly in fine company. The others do so are Hernandez, Lee Bowyer, Olivier Dacourt, Alan Smith and Stephen McPhail.
What makes this statistic even more extraordinary is that before this game, he had only provided five assists in his entire Leeds career. On that basis, Gruev has some way to go before he totally emulates Hernandez but his performance against Sean Dyche’s men was exceptional.
Not only did he complete a stunning 98% of his passes, but he also created four chances and registered eight defensive contributions. It was a phenomenal performance and one Leeds supporters will no doubt hope he can build on as they aim to secure survival.
Move over Buonanotte: Leeds may have just signed the next Aaronson
Leeds United could have their next Brenden Aaronson in the making in this teenage starlet.
