Fans of Leeds United have been reacting to Phil Hay’s posts on Twitter, in which the journalist relays information about the injury of the club’s defensive midfielder, Kalvin Phillips.
In his first tweet, Hay quote tweets a post by the official Leeds United Twitter account, which confirms that a shoulder injury picked up against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Monday could see Phillips ‘face up to six weeks on the sidelines’, with Hay adding that the injury is a ‘big set-back for Leeds’.
In his second post, Hay shared an article from The Athletic which explained how the £19.8 million-rated 24-year-old’s injury came about, as well as discussing the impact the England international’s absence will have on Marcelo Bielsa’s side.
So, what did these Leeds United fans have to say in reaction to the news that Kalvin Phillips is set for a spell on the sidelines?
https://twitter.com/thepraneetc23/status/1318596832524529666
This is the problem when you you keep buying wingers we all knew we needed a central midfielder now we are going to pay a heavy price we could go on a loosing streak that could really hurt us
— stephen (@banditsteve123) October 20, 2020
Main man we couldn’t afford to lose. Not the same team without him
— Matthew Carlyle (@MatthewCarlyle7) October 20, 2020
While some of these fans appear to be blaming Bielsa for not adding another central midfielder to his squad over the summer transfer window, it is hard to argue that the club did not try to strengthen in that area of the pitch, with Leeds even agreeing a fee for Bayern Munich midfielder Michael Cuisance, only for the player to reportedly fail a medical.
Do you blame Bielsa for Leeds' lack of cover in midfield?
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However, what is, in our opinion, more agreeable, is the belief that Phillips will be a big loss for the Whites, as the midfielder proved his importance to the side last season, scoring two goals and providing two assists over his 37 Championship appearances, averaging a WhoScored match rating of 7.22 – ranking him as the club’s joint second-best performer in the league.
5 defeats in 5 incoming
— James B (@JBeeton_) October 20, 2020
The clubs transfer policy of investing in wide men continuously instead of central midfield is now going to backfire a little bit on them. That said, Kalvin last night looked knackered and hopefully he will now miss the next internationals too.
— Kevin Lufc Blueman (@kevin_1966) October 20, 2020
Risk we run with small squad and little backup for key players.
— Paul Crosbie (@pnxb1019) October 20, 2020
All in all, it would seem that the majority of these Leeds fans are disappointed to hear that Phillips will be sidelined for what looks to be around a six week period, with some blaming Bielsa for not strengthening in the position over the summer, while others appear to be more concerned about how their side will perform in the absence of the 24-year-old.