Daniel Farke could enrage Leeds United fans if Luke Ayling starts v Leicester City, must be forced out for good
Daniel Farke may well be tempted to start experienced Leeds United man Luke Ayling for against Leicester but it is a decision which could enrage the Whites faithful.
The Foxes have been in inspired form throughout the opening months of the season, only dropping points once in the opening 14 matches of the Championship campaign, while scoring 29 goals and only conceding eight times themselves.
Leeds travel to the King Power Stadium to face Enzo Maresca’s high-flyers, and there is a strong chance that Farke may opt to pack his side with experience and restore Ayling to the starting XI for the first time in a month.
His last start came against QPR on 4 October. Since then he has been restricted to short cameos from the bench after what was a lacklustre showing, losing possession 21 times, failing in 100% of his crosses, successfully completing just 67% of his passes, winning just four duels, dribbled past once and failing with 100% of his dribbles [SofaScore].
He followed that up in his last cameo against Huddersfield after replacing Sam Byram in the 60th minute.
Despite touching the ball 48 times in 30 minutes, Ayling was sloppier in possession as he registered an 83 per cent pass accuracy, lost possession on seven occasions and failed to find a teammate with his only cross.
The defender struggled to get up to the pace of the game and never really looked comfortable as the Whites weren’t quite as impressive after he came on.
Against a Leicester City team who are the best in the division at passing teams to death, Leeds United will have to be at their perfect best if they’re to nullify and counter the Foxes’ threat, and Ayling has proven quite disappointing in that regard.
In fact, the Foxes possess a terrorising threat down the left flank in Stephy Mavididi who has been phenomenal since making the switch from Montpellier this summer, scoring three times and assisting on a further three occasions and offers a huge threat for which Farke will be desperate for some exuberant defending, which could likely come in the form of Archie Gray or Jamie Shackleton.
The fact that Farke opts for those two players who aren’t even right-backs certainly provides a telling indication as to what he thinks of Ayling’s declining abilities.
There is no doubt that Ayling is highly regarded at Elland Road as that would be the case for any player that has been at the club for seven years.
Since making the move from Bristol City in 2016, he has made 266 appearances in a Whites shirt, registering 11 goals and 21 assists.
The defender has experienced the biggest highs as well as the lowest lows in recent years, but his commitment to the cause has never wavered.
His influence and standing within the team has, however, started to diminish under Farke this season and he now appears to be nothing more than a bit-part player, especially with Tottenham loanee Djed Spence returning to fitness.
There has been talk of Ayling receiving a new contract at Elland Road (TEAMtalk, 16 October) but it’s a decision which doesn’t make sense given he won’t be starting games should Leeds United return to the Premier League.
He may well be forced out when the time comes.
Right now, Ayling remains the fourth choice at right back which certainly points to an uncertain future in West Yorkshire. Farke’s temptation to go with experience is totally understandable given the magnitude of the encounter against Leicester City, but that experience must not involve Ayling.
It could certainly unsettle the Leeds fans but more crucially, derail all his tactical plans for such a pivotal clash.
Why fix what’s not broken?
In other Leeds United news, German media have slammed Brenden Aaronson for his start to life at Union Berlin