Leeds United star Dan James ‘coming of age’ under Marcelo Bielsa – BBC pundit
Leeds United have been filling a vacant striker position with natural winger Dan James in recent games but it is starting to pay off for Marcelo Bielsa.
The Welshman scored twice in the Whites’ pulsating 3-3 draw with Aston Villa on Wednesday (9 February) while showing real strikers instinct in the penalty area.
BBC Match of the Day 2 pundit Micah Richards was in awe of the 24-year-old’s performance at Villa Park where he terrorised Villains defenders Tyrone Mings and Ezri Konsa.
Richards detailed how different the striker position is to being a winger, as James naturally is, but he also mentioned how no defender would like playing against him.
“Playing on the wing, to play as a striker,” Richards said. “It’s different because you have your back to goal.
“You are playing against Mings and Konsa, who are very strong – no defender wants to play against pace and movement – and I think in this Leeds side he is coming of age.”
Weaponise him
James has something that very few players in world football have and that is an unbelievable turn of pace.
It isn’t just his top speed once he gets there, but how quickly he can go from standing dead still to being at full tilt as he stretches defenders.
Any defender who played the game will tell you that the last thing they wanted to do was run, especially towards their own goal.
For all the good that possession football does, it doesn’t worry defenders like a fast-paced and direct attack does.
That is exactly why James is starting to find success in Bielsa’s Leeds side because he fits the mould the Argentine wants almost too perfectly.
Of course, he would still prefer Patrick Bamford to lead the line when he returns from injury but the worries are lessened when you have James there to do a job when asked.
In other Leeds United news, a senior duo are set to be axed from the starting XI against Everton after the latest Phil Hay update.