‘Not going to see him’ – BBC pundit claims Bielsa will not use forgotten Leeds player in run-in
Goals have been a problem for Leeds United all season and Patrick Bamford blanked again on Sunday in Wales.
He’s scored 13 goals in the Championship this season while Aleksandar Mitrovic and Ollie Watkins have scored 23 and 22 respectively for Fulham and Brentford.
Leeds signed Jean-Kevin Augustin in January but he hasn’t started a game and is out injured again. He might not be seen again this season.
Marcelo Bielsa has often plunged into the Under-23s for talent and fans have been calling for Ryan Edmondson to get a chance for a while now.
However, he wasn’t named in the 20-man squad for Sunday’s game against Cardiff and BBC Radio Leeds pundit Noel Whelan doesn’t think he’s going to throw the young striker a first-team lifeline, despite his side’s issues in front of goal.
Talking to BBC Radio Leeds (Saturday, midday) Whelan said, “You’ve got an opportunity to put nine players on your bench, use five of them.
“If he’s not on there now, you ain’t going to see him. Simple as that. He’s just not in Marcelo Bielsa’s plans.”
Edmondson is a really curious case. He’s the top scorer for the Under-23s this season with eight goals, despite an injury that kept him out for a couple of months, and he was a huge part of the 18/19 season when he scored 20 goals.
That helped the Leeds Under-23s to the PDL-National title.
However, in an 11 v 11 training match before the restart, Edmondson was nowhere to be seen.
Edmondson has made two appearances for Leeds and one under Bielsa in the 2-1 defeat to Birmingham in September 2018.
He played for 19 minutes that day but only made the bench twice again that season. He hasn’t been seen at all this season.
What’s even more strange is that he wasn’t sent out on loan in January. If Bielsa has no intention of using him – and Sunday’s game was the obvious opportunity – why not send him out to develop somewhere else?
It’s odd and it’s something that a lot of Leeds fan have picked up on.
One summed it up very well after this weekend’s game.
https://twitter.com/cam26m/status/1274690934463176710
We simply don’t have an answer.
In other Leeds United news, Phil Hay says key Leeds star spotted ‘holding his groin’, injury would be catastrophic