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MOT View: Holloway has got it all wrong in column about Nketiah
There’s a growing clamour for young striker Eddie Nketiah to get his first Championship start for Leeds.
However, former manager Ian Holloway thinks that the Leeds manager is doing the right thing by using him off the bench.
Writing in his column for the Mirror, Holloway claimed that Nketiah was young, inexperienced and perhaps not ready to play the full 90 minutes.
He also said that it’s working with him coming off the bench so why change things?
“Marcelo Bielsa is doing the right thing by keeping Eddie Nketiah on the bench – and bringing him on to score goals,” Holloway wrote.
“He’s not starting because he is inexperienced – but he is brilliant at what he does in the moment. In 90 minutes he might not give you what he is giving you as an impact off the bench. That’s clever management.
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“Some young players who start regularly lose their efficiency. They think they are ready for the 90 minutes but they aren’t quite. I fully understand what Bielsa is doing and fully respect it.”
Nketiah is young, we’ll give Holloway that, but he’s no teenage star anymore. Nketiah is 20 and came to Leeds with more top-flight experience than Ben White who’s played every game for Bielsa so far.
He’s started two games for Leeds so far – both in the EFL Cup and scored on both occasions.
He started in the last game for the England Under-21 side and scored a hat-trick.
We wouldn’t go as far as saying Holloway doesn’t know what he’s talking about, but he probably hasn’t looked into the situation at Leeds enough.
He says if it’s working, why change it? But Leeds are dropping points through not scoring goals. Nketiah might be scoring off the bench but Patrick Bamford’s not scoring when he starts. He hasn’t scored since August.
If Bamford was scoring at a decent rate we wouldn’t be having this debate about Nketiah. He’s not and to not mention Bamford’s travails in a column about whether Nketiah should be starting or not doesn’t make any sense.
Sorry Ian, you’re wrong here.
In other Leeds news, MOT Super Fans: Will Bielsa’s stubbornness cost Leeds promotion?