Football presenter Joe Wainman has urged new Leeds United manager Jesse Marsch to replace Luke Ayling at right-back.
Since losing 4-0 at home to Tottenham Hotspur last weekend, the West Yorkshire club have sacked manager Marcelo Bielsa and replaced him with the former Red Bull Salzburg boss.
With Leeds heading steadily towards the bottom three, the new man in charge really needs to help arrest that negative trend. One of the key issues has been the club’s leaky defence. Indeed, in Bielsa’s last month as manager, they shipped 20 goals across five matches.
With that in mind, while speaking on his YouTube channel, Wainman considered how Marsch may line up his backline in the coming weeks.
He said: “I think the back four will be Meslier, Ayling, Llorente, Struijk, Firpo,” before then concluding: “If I’m being honest, I’d like to see a new right-back come in.”
TIF Thoughts on Luke Ayling and Leeds United…
Considering Ayling was pretty much a stalwart under Bielsa – playing all 38 Premier League games in the club’s first season in the top flight under the Argentine, and 17 more times this term – it might come as a surprise to hear Wainman say he’s ready for a change.
However, as mentioned earlier, the Leeds defence has been so poor lately, questions must be asked of one of its key members. At 30 years of age now, the right-back isn’t getting any younger, either.
Should Leeds look to replace Luke Ayling?
Yes
No
Even so, looking at the current squad, options are fairly limited. With Cody Drameh out on loan, Marsch would most likely have to push Stuart Dallas or Jamie Shackleton into the role.
With that in mind, if Marsch was to agree with Wainman, he may have to be patient and address the issue next summer when the transfer market reopens.
In other news: From bad to worse: Leeds fans won’t be happy as news emerges ahead of Leicester clash – opinion