Phil Hay has slammed Leeds United’s inability to sign a first-team-ready striker over the summer amid their current woes in the league while speaking on The Phil Hay Show.
Despite being backed heavily over the summer by the Leeds board, Jesse Marsch was not handed a new senior striker, this is despite his man Patrick Bamford, only managing to play nine games in the league last season.
This may well have largely been down to the fact Rodrigo started the season so well and the board could have seen him as the answer, but since the window closed, Rodrigo has only scored one goal, leaving Leeds rather toothless in the final third.
Hay believes that Leeds’ inability to sign a striker meaning they have limited options outside of Bamford and Rodrigo, will be what could end up costing them this season.
(43:00) “I do wonder about that [Leeds putting the cart before the horse] it’s something I’ve been thinking more about, when we were chatting about strikers recently, I was saying you’ve got two groups at the moment at Leeds.
“At the top, you’ve got Bamford and Rodrigo, one player in Rodrigo who’s never looked like a particularly good fit and is still going through that battle and one in Bamford who’s been short of fitness and form and kind of a finishing touch for a long time now. And beneath them, you really do have a gap until you get into the Under 21s.
Will Leeds avoid relegation?
Yes!
No!
“There is nothing in the middle ground and I think that’s a mistake, that’s something which is costing them, so questions are going to be asked.”
TIF Thoughts on Leeds’ striker department…
While Leeds did end up signing a striker over the summer it was 18-year-old Wilfried Gnonto who, when he arrived at Elland Road, hadn’t played a competitive first-team club game outside of the Switzerland top division, which shows he was clearly not going to be ready to push the likes of Bamford and Rodrigo.
That’s gone on to be true with the Italian international yet to be handed first-team minutes by Marsch this season, despite the Whites’ woes of not winning in any of the previous eight league matches.
Bamford, who is seen as Leeds’ main striker and the one who’s led the line for numerous years has seemingly lost his touch in the final third having missed the most big chances out of any player in the Premier League, despite starting just four games.