Leeds United: BT Sports pundit suggests Adam Forshaw can help improve Weston McKennie attacking output
Tony Dorigo believes Leeds United midfielder Adam Forshaw could be the missing ingredient that could help free up Weston McKennie in the final third.
Forshaw, 32, returned to the Leeds fold after a lengthy injury layoff with a 13-cameo during the dismal 6-1 defeat against Liverpool on Monday night (17 April).
Writing in his column for the Yorkshire Evening Post (19 April), the BT Sport pundit admitted that the Englishman’s entrance to make a three-man midfield in the closing stages added more security to Javi Gracia’s side.
The former Whites legend then suggested that Gracia should bring Forshaw into the fold for the club’s upcoming Premier League clash against Fulham on Saturday (22 April) – a move which could then allow on-loan midfielder McKennie to play more of a box-to-box role.
He wrote: “You look at the wide men, they can swap in and out and that leaves the structure of the team the same but looking at the end of the Liverpool game he brought Adam Forshaw in to make a three in the middle because we were over-run in there.
“With a little more help it might give us a more secure look and free Weston McKennie to play more of his natural game, going box to box and getting forward.
“All these attacking players we’ve got, when we’re playing well and we have the ball, are a real problem for the opposition but sometimes out of possession we need to be stronger when we lose the ball high up the pitch.
“That’s where we came unstuck too often against Liverpool. Maybe an extra body in midfield will be an option he’ll look at.”
Necessary option
Leeds were completely overrun in the middle of the park against Liverpool, and altering into a three-man midfield is almost a necessity going forward.
With Liverpool fielding Trent Alexander-Arnold as an inverted full-back to join their already three-man midfield, Marc Roca and McKennie were simply outnumbered all game long.
It wasn’t as though the midfield duo could do much to stop the rampant Reds from asserting their dominance, as they simply had too many players to mark and not enough help from Leeds’ attacking quartet.
Bringing Forshaw into midfield won’t just add an extra body to compete in the middle of the park, but it could also have the twin effect of releasing McKennie from his shackles and allowing the Juventus loanee to get into the final third more often.
During the most recent international break, McKennie showed glimmers of his attacking output, netting a brace against Grenada and getting the crucial assist in the 1-0 win over El Salvador, but this creativity has been in short supply when wearing a Leeds shirt.
Dorigo highlights a good point here and it is surely a tactical switch that Gracia will be tempted to initiate.
In other Leeds United news, Andrea Radrizzani could agree a cheap sale of the club to the 49ers as a new option emerges.