‘I was a little worried’ – Defender admits decision to join Leeds in 2018 was ‘difficult’
Young defender Pascal Struijk has had somewhat of a breakthrough season at Leeds United this term.
The 20-year-old joined the Whites in January 2018 and made his long-awaited first-team debut in December when he came off the bench in the final stages of the 2-0 win against Hull at Elland Road.
Struijk looked decent in that brief appearance but Marcelo Bielsa’s decision to hand him his second senior outing in the 3-3 draw with Cardiff was widely criticised at the time.
Struijk was thrown on – somewhat needlessly – with six minutes to go with Leeds defending a 3-2 lead.
However, the Dutch youngster went on to make an error in the lead-up to Cardiff’s 86th-minute equaliser and since then, Bielsa has avoided using him – although Liam Cooper’s return to fitness is likely the main reason behind that.
Now, speaking in an interview with Dutch news outlet VoetbalZone, Struijk has opened up about how tough it was for him to leave Ajax and try to make a name for himself in English football at such a young age.
“It seemed like a very good step to develop myself as a player. It was a difficult choice, because I was a little worried about living alone abroad,” he said.
“But now that I have done it all, I think it has been a very good step. Not only for football, but also in terms of personal development.”
Struijk was rather unfortunate in his first couple of first-team appearances for Leeds.
He did nothing wrong against Hull but was only on the pitch for a matter of minutes and his second appearance against Cardiff was downright disastrous.
However it is important for Struijk to know that the collapse against the Bluebirds was more down to how poorly the team played in the second half, rather than just his mistake.
In other Leeds United news, fans are thrilled with this midfielder’s latest display for the Under-23s.