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MOT View: C'ship boss may have a point when he names player with more ability than Leeds aces
John Swift has been one of the stand-out players of this Championship season and Leeds United will do well if they can keep the Reading ace quiet on Saturday.
Reading may be 15th in the table but they travel to Elland Road this weekend with a few dangerous players in their side and Swift, 24, is one of them.
He has scored five goals and supplied nine assists in 27 Championship appearances this season and ahead of his side’s trip to Yorkshire, Reading boss Mark Bowen has been bigging up his influential midfielder.
Bowen claims that while Leeds’ midfielders stand out physically, he does not think that any of the central players in Marcelo Bielsa’s squad can match the technical aspect of Swift’s game.
“They (Leeds) might have a midfielder who runs harder and faster than John Swift but they won’t have his ability so it’s about getting that balance,” said Bowen, as quoted by LeedsLive.
“As a coach I’d much rather work with him than someone who can just run up and down – that’s not doing them a disservice because they do more than that.”
We really want to argue against what Bowen has said but after looking at the stats, you have to admit that the Reading manager might make a good point.
Kalvin Phillips has been one of the best players in the league this season but he is a defensive midfielder and Swift has occupied an attacking central role for Reading this term, so it is best to compare the Royals ace with Pablo Hernandez and Mateusz Klich.
According to stats by WhoScored, Swift has a higher pass accuracy, averaged more key passes, scored more goals, assisted more goals and averaged more crosses and long balls this season than both Klich and Hernandez.
In fact, Swift leads the way in the whole of the Championship for key passes made per appearance this season [2.6] while only West Brom’s Matheus Pereira and Bristol City’s Niclas Eliasson have assisted more goals.
Swift is one of the best attacking midfielders in the league and you know what? We wouldn’t mind it if he made his way to Elland Road in the future.
He’s not one of the most physical players around but there is no denying his ability on the ball is fantastic and he would really stand out in a team at the top end of the Championship or, perhaps in the Premier League.
In other Leeds United news, this 26-year-old Leeds player should silence his doubters against Reading this weekend.