
MOT View: Masterclass from U23s ace proves Leeds & Bielsa made huge error v Crawley
Leeds United under-23s did their part in helping us forget about the FA Cup disaster on Monday afternoon.
The Whites youngsters cruised to victory against Burnley in Leyland, winning 4-1 to keep their spot at the top of the Premier League 2.
This comes one day after the senior side crashed out of the FA Cup third round by being thrashed by League Two outfit Crawley 3-0.
Marcelo Bielsa took a handful of under-23s options to the People’s Pension Stadium, including Sam Greenwood, Olly Casey and Jack Jenkins.
All three got on the pitch but were nothing more than shocking, proving a massive error in judgement from the Whites.
Charlie Cresswell made the mistake even bigger on Monday.
Having captained the under-23s all season, the defender was excellent against Burnley and showed everyone why he should have been at Crawley on Sunday.
Casey was the one who got that opportunity, and he did nothing to prove to us that he is the next defender to make the jump into the first-team.
The 20-year-old lost the ball six times in his 49 minutes of action and failed to make a single recovery in his own half according to WyScout.
Cresswell started against Hull earlier in the season and also made the bench in the Premier League clash at Spurs last week.
That promotion to the first-team squad did lead us to believe that he would play some part against Crawley, and he certainly should have done.
Ashley Nadesan tormented Casey far too easily with his physicality and speed far too much for the defender – something that Cresswell has tonnes of.
Bielsa and the Whites will know they made a huge error, and Cresswell’s display on Monday proved that even further.
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