Leeds United youngsters need to get senior football, won 6-1 yesterday
The Leeds United senior team may have been unable to take victory yesterday but that wasn’t a problem for the younger folk at Thorp Arch.
While Jesse Marsch’s side were drawing 1-1 with Southampton, the Under-18s went about dismantling Burnley with a thumping 6-1 victory.
The shining light of the Leeds academy, 16-year-old Archie Gray, was on the scoresheet along with Ben Andreucci, Mitch Picksley and Luca Thomas but there was another star of the show.
Ronnie McGrath, 17, bagged a brace for the teenage Whites to take his tally from the last six games to three along with the same number of assists as he finds his feet.
There are many talented young players around the club right now but what happens next is going to be crucial to find out if any of them are going to make the jump into the first team.
We still need to make sure we have a competitive couple of youth teams but some of these starring right now might need senior football very soon and that may not be possible at Elland Road.
The very special players, like Gray, may well be given the odd chance here and there and with so much time on his hands, he can afford another year of academy football but there are some who need the step up.
It’s an incredibly difficult thing to balance with results for the youth teams just as important as getting experience elsewhere but the big decisions have to be made.
Those performing best in the academy might need to head out on loan to allow the other teenagers around the place to try their hand at replacing them.
Now relegation seems to be out of the question, maybe Marsch could even give a couple of them a chance on the big Premier League stage.
In other Leeds United news, Jack Grealish has mocked Kalvin Phillips on Instagram after images emerged this week.