Beren Cross has admitted on Leeds United Live he would love to see Joe Gelhardt start this weekend as a striker.
For the majority of this season, Leeds United have had to operate without their only senior striker in the form of Patrick Bamford who’s only been able to play nine games in the league this campaign, and that’s seen Daniel James forced to lead the line in most games.
Would you like to see Gelhardt start?
Yes!
No!
However, while his pressing numbers are very impressive, he’s in the top three amongst the team in that aspect, his goal tally is far from it with just four league strikes to his name, so it’s no wonder how Leeds have found themselves in this precarious situation.
Cross believes now would be a great time for Jesse Marsch to unless Joel Gelhardt who would surely be more accustomed to leading the line given he’s a natural striker, albeit just 19-years old.
(20:10) “There is again a lot of merit to playing Joffy [Joe Gelhardt] from the start and I think we all hope that on the balance of play we hope he does play, I think there are more pros than cons to bringing Joffy in instead of Dan James.
We’ve been saying this for weeks and Marsch has been saying it himself but hopefully, Joffy is finally getting this run in training that Marsch wants to see from.”
TIF Thoughts on Gelhardt…
While Gelhardt, who is valued at £4.5 million (as per Transfermarkt), is just 19-years old and only started two Premier League games during his entire footballing career, he has already popped up with some crucial goals for Leeds this season, none more so than the late strike against Norwich City.
Therefore, it goes to show he can be the man for big moments and with just four games left to go in this Premier League season, moments don’t get much bigger than these next few weeks for Leeds, so Marshc would surely be better served going for an out and out striker to lead the line, instead of a winger who has been forced to play in an unnatural position.
In other news: Familiar face drops worrying Leeds claim live on Sky Sports