Raphinha spotted fuming at Dan James during Leeds United v Southampton clash
Courtney Sweetman-Kirk spotted Raphinha being annoyed with his teammate Dan James during the Leeds United v Southampton clash.
The Whites had a good opportunity to score on the counter-attack when the Welshman ran down the middle of the pitch.
However, instead of playing the through pass to the Brazilian, he opted to go for glory himself and ended up losing possession.
Speaking on commentatory for the world feed, the Sky Sports pundit said, “If that was my teammate I would be absolutely fuming. You can see Raphinha there. James had three chances to play that pass. You need to make those decisions in the final third.”
Needless
In that moment, James showed the Elland Road crowd why he’s not suited to play as a number nine.
Had that been Patrick Bamford, he would have played the instant pass to Raphinha and then made that run into the box.
James does not have the footballing IQ or the composure in front of goal so it’s baffling by both Marcelo Bielsa and Jesse Marsch have been playing him there.
It’s clearly not working and we hope that things change in the second period.
Leeds have looked the more threatening side in the first half so Marsch will be positive in the dressing room.
However, few tweaks are needed and we won’t be surprised if James’ position is changed when the teams walk out of the tunnel in the next 15 minutes.
They do hold a slender lead at half-time but it’s never an assured one and they need to do better in the second half.
In other Leeds United news, the Whites are leading the race to complete a major signing and have already opened talks to seal a £25m deal.