Paul Robinson: Joe Gelhardt should have played in Leeds United loss v West Ham, not Tyler Roberts
We’re delighted to welcome former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson as our exclusive columnist as each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Leeds United.
Paul Robinson was baffled by Marcelo Bielsa’s decision to play Tyler Roberts as Leeds United lost to West Ham on Saturday.
Roberts, 22, came off the bench in the second half of the 2-1 defeat at Elland Road to replace goalscorer Raphinha.
However, the Wales international has been in poor form as of late and Robinson feels that young striker Joe Gelhardt should have replaced the Brazilian instead.
“I don’t know why he didn’t put Gelhardt on,” Robinson told MOT Leeds News.
“Tyler Roberts came on and he didn’t really do a lot.
“But from the moment Raphinha went off, Leeds looked a different team.”
Roberts’ future has been a talking point lately.
The ex-West Brom attacker hasn’t really raised his game since the Whites won promotion to the Premier League and there’s a feeling he could be on the chopping block at Elland Road if he doesn’t improve.
According to The Athletic journalist Phil Hay, Roberts “needs to start clicking properly” in order to not follow Helder Costa out of the door at Elland Road.
As for Gelhardt, the 19-year-old striker made his senior debut for Leeds in their Carabao Cup win over Fulham last week and has scored six goals in six Premier League 2 appearances this season for the Under-23s.
There’s no doubt the youngster has potential and he needs to start playing more games in the senior side.
In other Leeds United news, this player will return to the starting line-up against Watford according to a BT Sport pundit.