View: Leeds United must scrap Dan James idea after Brighton November experiment
Leeds United suffered from several problems during Saturday’s 0-0 draw against Brighton and Hove Albion, but one of the major ones was Dan James being deployed as a striker.
Patrick Bamford has been out injured since mid-September and in his absence it has mostly been Rodrigo who has started upfront.
James played alongside the Spaniard at Wolves and also led the line against Leicester City, while Joe Gelhardt was the number nine against Tottenham Hotspur as Rodrigo was injured.
James’s best performance in a Leeds shirt arguably came in that Spurs game, as he scored his first goal for the club playing on the wing.
Therefore it seemed particularly strange that Bielsa decided to move the Welshman upfront against Brighton, considering Gelhardt’s impressive performance in North London and the fact that Rodrigo was back available.
James was virtually anonymous in the first hour at the Amex Stadium, struggling to impact the game as he was isolated in a role that clearly doesn’t suit him.
He was unable to drive at the Seagulls defence and terrorise them, only managing one successful dribble and one shot [via WhoScored].
When Tyler Roberts replaced Jack Harrison just after the hour mark, James dropped back and Leeds looked more fluid going forward.
In a more natural wide role in the final 27 minutes of the match, James was able to double his shot tally to two and treble his dribble tally to three [via WhoScored].
Speaking after the game [via LeedsLive], Bielsa explained the thinking behind the way he set up, but admitted that in hindsight it was perhaps the wrong decision.
“James in the game against Leicester he played as a centre forward and he contributed a lot of things,” he said.
“In the game against Tottenham he didn’t start in that position, he played in his natural position and today with the return of Raphinha and Rodrigo I thought to go back to the way we played against Leicester was a good decision.
“Today you can say the way the attack was formed with James as a nine didn’t bear as much fruit as it did when we formed it with Tyler.
“Perhaps that gives you reason to think that James should have played out wide.”
It is hopefully a problem that Leeds will not have to contend with for much longer as Bamford nears a return, but until then – starting with Tuesday’s game against Crystal Palace – Bielsa has to go with another option up front.
Rodrigo is the most logical choice, but Gelhardt certainly deserves another chance too after his Tottenham display.
In other Leeds United news, the future of one Whites youngster is up in the air, with discussions to take place soon.