Daniel Farke must make bold Glen Kamara call at HT in Leeds United v Norwich City
Daniel Farke must contemplate replacing Glen Kamara at half-time to ensure Leeds United see the job through against Norwich City at Elland Road.
An early piece of inspiration from Ilia Gruev saw the Bulgarian open the scoring with a free-kick before Joel Piroe doubled the home side’s advantage.
Georginio Rutter then added a third on the verge of half-time to put the Whites in complete control on home soil.
Despite moving one giant step closer to the Championship play-off final, there will be aspects that Farke will want to improve upon before the two sides head out onto the Elland Road pitch for the second half.
Glen Kamara was a passenger for most of the first half, struggling to make much of an impact in the middle of the park and being outshone by Gruev next to him.
With Connor Roberts back on the Leeds bench, this will give Farke the option to push Archie Gray into his natural centre-midfielder role and take Kamara out of the lineup.
Glen Kamara to be replaced at half-time in Leeds United v Norwich City
The game seems to have been passing the Finland international by, having missed the chance to enter several duels in the middle of the park and has been slow to react.
Of course, when your midfield partner scored the opener in such a crucial match at Elland Road, it is difficult to compete, but this is not a one-off in the last few weeks.
He has only started four of the last seven Championship matches, including the play-off first leg against the Canaries, and was even hooked at half-time during Leeds’ 2-1 defeat to Coventry City in April [FotMob].
Despite the two-goal advantage heading into the second half, Farke will not want to take any chances with a spot in the play-off final at stake and Kamara could be sacrificed.
Gray played in midfield during the first leg and would probably prefer to be pushed into his natural position, rather than cover for Sam Byram at right-back.
With Roberts on the bench, there is no reason why Farke could not put this plan into action.
And if nothing else, it means giving Gray some confidence in central midfield – where he will likely play in the play-off final – and getting another player in Roberts on the field to gain some fitness.
In other Leeds United news, one player had a 3/10 shocker in the first-leg draw against Norwich.
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