The Leeds United hierarchy could be left with plenty to ponder after youngster Sam Greenwood put in an eye-catching performance during his last game.
Over the weekend, the Whites claimed a key three points at the bottom of the table as they beat Watford 3-0 away from home. After Raphinha had fired Jesse Marsch’s men into the lead, the game was still in the balance before Greenwood came off the bench in the 67th minute.
Just 18 minutes later, the match was out of reach at 3-0, with the young attacker providing an assist for Jack Harrison’s effort that sealed the win.
TIF has decided to take a look at what this could mean for Leeds and the talented forward following such a good cameo at Vicarage Road.
Marsch has new favourite
Speaking to LeedsLive after the game, manager Marsch heaped a great deal of praise on Greenwood, saying that he is the one player adapting best to his methods.
He said: “Sam’s been really good since we’ve been here and I said to him two days ago that if I look at the entire player pool, he’s the one that’s adapting the best and understanding what we want the game to be like.”
Under former manager Marcelo Bielsa, the 20-year-old had managed just 12 minutes of football in the Premier League. However, Marsch has backed up his recent claim by giving the striker 90 minutes of game time split across two outings so far in his short time in charge.
With two assists in these recent appearances, it looks as though Greenwood has been able to repay his manager’s faith already and this could be just the start of a promising relationship.
Radrizzani saves millions
The striker position has been a key issue for Leeds all season long as Patrick Bamford has struggled for fitness for much of the campaign.
While goals have come from wide-men such as Raphinha and to a lesser extent Harrison, central forwards like Rodrigo and youngster Joe Gelhardt haven’t been able to hit the back of the net with any great regularity (via Transfermarkt).
With that in mind, it was no surprise to see the club linked with a forward in the past January transfer market. However, with Greenwood providing assists in his limited appearances of Marsch so far, he can perhaps bring more goals out of his teammates if given a longer stint in the side.
Is Sam Greenwood set to shine under Jesse Marsch?
Yes
No
On top of that, at youth level, he has shown he can score at a pretty impressive rate. For the Leeds U23 team, he has 21 goals in 35 games, while with Arsenal’s U18s, he had 15 in 39.
If he can bring some of that goalscoring prowess to the senior team and continue being a good fit for Marsch’s system, majority owner Andrea Radrizzani may not have to splash the cash on a new forward this summer – especially if Bamford can get himself fit again to help with the burden, too.
In other news: ‘A sensitive decision’ – Marsch now reveals secret ‘meeting’ with Leeds duo