MOT View: Why Leeds fringe player has seen importance decline despite being signed by Bielsa
Marcelo Bielsa hasn’t made too many permanent signings in his time as Leeds United manager but Barry Douglas was one of his first.
Leeds paid £3million to sign the Scottish left-back from Wolves during Bielsa’s first summer at Elland Road.
It was no surprise that Leeds wanted Douglas as the 30-year-old has scored five goals and supplied 15 assists in 42 appearances in his one and only season at Wolves, which ended as the Midlands club winning the Championship title.
However since joining the Whites, Douglas hasn’t come anywhere near close to performing the way he did at Wolves.
In his first season at Elland Road, Douglas struggled with knee and hamstring injuries as he went on to make just 26 Championship appearances and assist five goals.
Although that is still an impressive figure for a left-back, it was nowhere near what he managed at Wolves and perhaps his injury issues played a major role in what was to come next.
Over the summer, after he recovered from a serious knee injury, Douglas remained a part of Bielsa’s starting line-up.
He started at left-back in the first three Championship games of the season before a niggling injury saw him drop out of the side.
Since then, Douglas has not managed to string three or more league appearances in a row due to a number of injury issues and the fact that he was being outperformed by Stuart Dallas.
Dallas has become a player of the season contender for Leeds United after impressing at right-back, left-back and in the centre of the midfield.
However it has been his displays at left-back that have impressed the most with Bielsa picking the Northern Ireland international – and Ezgjan Alioski – to play there over Douglas despite the Scottish ace being back to full fitness.
Stats by WyScout show how much Dallas has outperformed Douglas at left-back this season.
When only their league displays at left-back are taken into account, Dallas has won 63.5 per cent of his defensive duels and won 66.7 per cent of sliding tackles attempted. Dallas has also averaged 6.02 interceptions, 9.68 recoveries and 2.15 clearances per 90 minutes of Championship action at left-back.
Douglas, in comparison, has won 48.7 per cent of defensive duels and not completed any sliding tackles all season. The one-time Scotland international has also averaged 4.41 interceptions, 7.1 recoveries and 1.54 clearances.
As you can see, his defensive output has been nowhere near that of Dallas’.
Going forward, Douglas has averaged more crosses per 90 minutes than Dallas when both are playing at left-back. Douglas has averaged 3.07 to Dallas’ 1.94.
However Dallas has averaged 2.04 dribbles, 6.13 offensive duels and 3.66 progressive runs per 90 minutes in the league. Douglas has averaged 1.15 dribbles, 2.49 offensive duels and only 0.38 progressive runs.
Douglas betters Dallas when it comes to getting crosses into the box but that is about it.
The former Wolves left-back has started only four Championship matches this season and hasn’t appeared for Leeds in the league since the 2-0 loss to Sheffield Wednesday on January 11.
It is no surprise that he’s become a fringe player under Bielsa due to his injury issues and how superior Dallas has been in the left-back position compared to him.
In other Leeds United news, this Leeds-linked defender has seen his value drop due to the coronavirus pandemic.