MOT View: Incredible display v Barnsley from Leeds youngster who wanted to leave after criticism
Some Leeds United fans were taken aback when Marcelo Bielsa took Jack Harrison off, replaced him with 20-year-old Pascal Struijk and then put the youngster in central midfield.
But by the end of the game the overriding opinion was that he’d done an absolutely incredible job in exceptionally tough circumstances.
Struijk had only made two short cameo appearances this season before last night and took a lot of criticism for his display in the 3-3 draw with Cardiff.
Cardiff came back to draw 3-3 after being 3-0 down, with a late goal breaking Leeds’ hearts.
However, Struijk stepped up last night in an extremely high-pressure situation and Leeds stats site All Stats Aren’t We showed just how effective he was.
The green symbols on the left show that he made eight interventions and succeeded in all of them – three clearances, three aerial duels, one tackle and one interception.
Struijk was put on because Barnsley were showing lots of attacking threat and Struijk was put into the fray to nullify that. He did an exceptional job.
The All Stats site pointed out that Struijk, “Wanted to leave the club because he felt that he had let them down” after the Cardiff game.
Considering that, the pressure Struijk must have felt last night is amazing. It also shows that Bielsa trusted him to do a job.
There have been plenty of unsung heroes this season – you can now add Struijk to that list.
In other Leeds United news, What a raging Bielsa barked at Leeds staff before bringing Pablo Hernandez off v Barnsley