Phil Hay claims Bielsa faces Rodrigo and Roberts headache in Leeds v Chelsea
Tyler Roberts has endured a rough few weeks in the Leeds United midfield and Phil Hay thinks his starting spot could be in jeopardy v Chelsea.
With Kalvin Phillips and Rodrigo absent in recent weeks Marcelo Bielsa has been forced to shuffle his pack and that has given Roberts the opportunity to stake his claim for a regular run of action.
The 22-year-old has started the last four games but this transpired into a disaster with the Whites losing three of these without scoring and the Wales international has failed to impress.
Writing on The Athletic’s Leeds v Chelsea pre-match discussion board Hay claimed Bielsa must give serious consideration to dropping Roberts and starting the fit-again Rodrigo.
He said: “The big call as far as I can see surrounds Rodrigo. There must be a temptation on Marcelo Bielsa’s part to bring him back into the starting line-up.
“I still don’t feel like Tyler Roberts is exerting a consistent influence.”
Rodrigo is the route to creativity
Rodrigo was bought in for big money and he will not settle for a place on the bench.
Despite starting just 12 Premier League games and contributing just one assist since his summer move from Valencia the £57,000 per week [spotrac] star has brought a spark to this Leeds side and that has been missing with him out injured.
Before replacing Roberts for the last half hour of Monday’s defeat to West Ham the Spanish international had been absent for the previous six games and we suffered for it, losing four of our six games and registering three blanks.
According to Wyscout the 30-year-old makes 0.74 key passes per 90 in the Premier League this season ranking him in the top 20 while he sits in the top 10 for second assists (0.17) as well as scoring three goals.
He is vital to the build-up of our play and Roberts is not a ready-made replacement.
Roberts has zero second assists and is yet to score this season while duel success rates of 40% and 31% v West Ham and Aston Villa respectively shows his ineffectiveness.
If he does start against Chelsea he will have to really turn it on to ensure it is not his last start for a while.
In other Leeds United news, Vinnie Jones predicts Whites v Chelsea.