Leeds are struggling to score goals having produced the least amount of any team in the top nine in the Championship, with preferred striker Patrick Bamford enduring a nine-game goal drought, and Marcelo Bielsa’s other forward Eddie Nketiah not trusted enough to start a match yet.
Could the solution to Leeds’ goalscoring woes be Ryan Edmondson?
The 18-year-old striker who scored 19 goals for the Whites’ youth teams last season and he’s already appeared twice for Leeds in the Championship this season.
Last night the former York City man managed to bag himself a goal in a 1-1 draw between Burnley and Leeds United’s Under-23 sides at Elland Road.
This has led to some Leeds fans wanting to see Edmondson in Bielsa’s team.
23' GOAL #LUFC! McCarron floats in a beautiful cross, it finds the head of Edmondson who directs it into the bottom right. 1-0 pic.twitter.com/5UfHZ42HJR
— Leeds United (@LUFC) October 28, 2019
Get that lad in the first team, Marcelo
— Michael L. Maynard (@MaynardM) October 28, 2019
Why oh why doesnt MB give this lad a chance??!!
— Aaron Taylor (@AzzaLufc) October 28, 2019
Put him in the 1st team
— Chris Whiteley (@ChrisWhiteley4) October 28, 2019
Better than Bamford.
— . (@LeedsYunited) October 28, 2019
However, the goal he scored was largely down to a superb cross by Liam McCarron and an awful error from the Burnley goalkeeper. This, though, has not stopped Whites fans wanting Edmondson to be involved in the first team.
Why can’t he play up front
— ?? (@HernandezSZN_) October 29, 2019
Can’t be far off getting into the 1 st team squad
— David Michael Cox?? (@gurucox) October 28, 2019
Get him on the bench, not tonight but on Saturday ?
— Deano (50 Shades of Ray) (@deanoooh) October 28, 2019
What do we think?
Edmondson has proved himself a capable goalscorer at youth level but is he ready to make the step up to the first team?
The Championship is tough, and for a player who has featured in only two games of EFL football, it might be too challenging at first.
However, Edmondson will never be close to the first team if he is kept in the reserves – so perhaps a loan move to a League One or League Two club in January will aid his development. Indeed, with Nketiah struggling to even nail down a starting place at this moment in time and Bielsa opting to play with one striker, the only real chance he may have is if either one of the two suffer an injury.