Jermaine Beckford thrilled with Leeds United ace Adam Forshaw
Jermaine Beckford is delighted to see Adam Forshaw back in the Leeds United squad after almost two years of injury hell.
Forshaw, 30, earned his second start of the season as Leeds lost away to Arsenal in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night.
Marcelo Bielsa substituted the midfielder off at half-time and Leeds were noticeably worse without the former Middlesbrough man.
Beckford is thrilled to see Forshaw back in Bielsa’s squad due to the way he was playing before his injury issues and also because he can offer something different to the Whites’ midfield.
“Oh my word. I’ll be honest with you, he’s had an absolute torrid 18 months or two years,” said Beckford on Sky Sports Main Event ahead of the Carabao Cup last-16 clash on Tuesday night.
“I feel so sorry for him because he was playing really, really well and was really confident.
“He collects the ball really positively in tight and difficult situations and manages to get himself out of those situations. His passing and distribution is very, very good and that’s something that has been missing from Leeds United in the last couple of years.
“Fortunately, Kalvin Phillips has stepped up into that position and made it his own. We all know how well he’s done for England and for Leeds United but to see Forshaw back in the fold is really good.
“I’m happy for him and fingers crossed he’ll be able to continue the form he showed before he got injured.”
Composed display
Forshaw only got 45 minutes under his belt at the Emirates on Tuesday night but it was a good half of football for the 29-year-old, who’s still being edged slowly back into first-team duties.
Before he was substituted off and replaced by Mateusz Klich, Forshaw completed 81 per cent of his passes [WhoScored] and really helped the Whites look comfortable both in and out of possession.
Arsenal didn’t do much to threaten us in the first half and Leeds were by far the better team and created the most chances.
Once Klich came on, we lost a lot of foothold in the midfield battle and it was Arsenal’s game to win from there.
Of course, it took mistakes by Illan Meslier and Liam Cooper for the Gunners to get their two goals but we didn’t really threaten their goal and deserved to be losers.
Forshaw will get more chances but we cannot become reliant upon him if we have more midfield injury issues.
In other Leeds United news, one player scored 4/10 in the player ratings for Leeds’ loss to Arsenal.