Conor McGilligan has urged Leeds United to replace players who aren’t up to Premier League level.
Following Leeds’ 2-1 friendly win over Elche, Whites fan and presenter McGilligan was left with a daunting feeling that many of the players who featured aren’t at the level to play in the Premier League.
Jesse Marsch’s side saw Joel Robles, Luke Ayling, Adam Forshaw, Liam Cooper and Jack Harrison all start and still continue to suffer from their early season struggles which have left Leeds hovering above the relegation zone.
All of those players featured for the Whites in the Championship, bar Robles, and have all faired differently since the step up to the top flight, but all have endured drops in form this season which led McGilligan to say on his YouTube channel that adding quality in depth should become a priority at the club.
(3:05) “I’m still looking at it thinking, God we are so light in quality and it just still doesn’t look like a fully-fledged Premier League side, I still think it feels so ‘Championshippy’ when you look at the starting line-up last night [Thursday], even when you’re looking at the bench and the depth.”
“When you look at Leeds’ actual quality on the bench, I do still think it’s still lacking and on the pitch, there’s still parts of that side which are just problematic which just brings you back down to Earth,” McGilligan said.
TIF Thoughts on McGilligan’s comments…
It’s clear to see that Leeds are a side in transition as they look to move on their older players and replace them with fresh faces such as Tyler Adams and Brenden Aaronson, who’ve both had huge impacts on the side.
Of the aforementioned players, Harrison is the eye-catching name with him previously being the subject of bids from Newcastle United in the summer, however, his four league goal involvements all came in the opening three games, which has been an issue for Marsch.
Cooper has been an ever-present figure since his return from injury but his performances in a backline that’s conceded 17 goals in just their last eight games leave a lot to be desired.
For the others, it seems that time is up and all could be at risk of being replaced should Marsch be given the tools in January to improve and continue the rejuvenation of his side.