Welsh newspaper reacts to Daniel James performance as Leeds United ace plays in major Wales win
Daniel James played a major role for Wales on Thursday night as the Leeds United forward starred in his nation’s 2-1 win over Austria at the Cardiff City Stadium.
Robert Pages’ side are just one win away from qualifying for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar after their play-off semi-final win over the Austrians, in which Gareth Bale scored both goals.
James, 24, still played his part in the victory though. WalesOnline awarded him seven out of 10 in their player ratings but said the Leeds ace “was guilty of spurning two very good opportunities midway inside the second half”.
The Western Mail’s print edition on Friday [25 March, page 46] also pointed out James missing a couple of opportunities to make the game easier for Wales.
Ian Mitchelmore wrote: “James spurned two golden chances to strengthen Wales’ hand as he was thwarted by [Austria goalkeeper Heinz Lindner] before being tackled by Nicolas Seiwald when it looked for all the world to see that he would get a shot away.”
More to come from James
It’s something we’ve seen a lot at Leeds this season where James has been played up front and struggled to take his chances.
Since joining from Manchester United in the summer in a deal worth potentially up to £30million, James has been underwhelming.
The ex-Swansea attacker has scored four goals and supplied four assists in 28 Premier League appearances in a team that creates a lot of opportunities for forward players to score.
He has, however, shown a steady improvement.
It’s never easy for new players to come in and shine for Marcelo Bielsa and James did show he was getting better under the former manager.
James’ start under Jesse Marsch has been relatively quiet, but he’s by no means done badly in the American’s first few games at the helm.
For Wales to be one game away from the World Cup is a huge achievement and Yorkshire-born James should be very proud of what he’s done with them.
It could be him versus Liam Cooper’s Scotland for a spot in Qatar.
We’re not going to say who we’d prefer to win that one.
In other Leeds United news, this Elland Road ace has less than two months to save his career at the club.