Rasmus Kristensen can’t start for Javi Gracia, Leeds United defeat v Chelsea inevitable if £10m man plays
Rasmus Kristensen hasn’t had the best of starts to life as a Leeds United player.
Since completing his £10million move from Red Bull Salzburg in the summer, the 25-year-old right-back has suffered from poor form, being dropped by Jesse Marsch and then seeing the manager who signed him axing him.
Kristensen was supposed to replace Luke Ayling at right-back but instead, the Denmark international has found himself dropping down the pecking order behind the Englishman.
But it’s totally justified.
Kristensen’s not been good enough this season. It’s as simple as that.
And while 31-year-old Ayling is hardly Cafu, he’s at least shown he can do better in the right-back slot than Kristensen since replacing the Dane in the starting line-up around turn of the year.
Why’s it going wrong for Kristensen though?
Is it just a case of him needing time to settle in? Was he just not very good in the first place? Or is it just that Leeds’ full-backs always seem to attract criticism?
It’s likely a mix of the three.
Ayling, for example, has been made a scapegoat before and while we do agree that his performances haven’t been amazing by any means this season, he’s at least better than Kristensen, who’s consistently struggled.
With Ayling, we know that he can provide some attacking nous down the right flank when needed.
As per stats by WhoScored, Ayling has contributed more shots and dribbles per game than Kristensen while also being fouled a lot more often – courtesy of the patented ‘Ayling Flop’.
Defensively, Kristensen has done better.
He’s won more tackles and interceptions per Premier League game than Ayling and blocked more shots.
But stats aren’t the be-all and end-all, are they?
Leeds fans watched Kristensen every week losing his marker, being poorly positioned and failing to block crosses into the penalty area.
Ayling is guilty of similar but he’s spraying good balls out from the back and, as mentioned, offering a route forward down the right wing due to his marauding runs.
It speaks volumes about Kristensen that Marsch dropped him at the back-end of his reign as Leeds manager.
It showed that even the man who signed Kristensen had lost faith in him.
New manager Javi Gracia handed the Dane a chance to impress on Tuesday night (28 February) in the FA Cup defeat at Fulham but he failed to show what he can do, unfortunately.
Chelsea are up next for Leeds, who travel to Stamford Bridge on Saturday (4 March).
Graham Potter’s side are in dreadful form but it would be typical Leeds to turn up in West London and hand the Blues their first set of three points since 15 January.
As bad as Chelsea have been, they have players who’ll relish playing against Kristensen in the form of Raheem Sterling, Ben Chilwell and Mykhailo Mudryk.
They’ll be hoping to bounce back to form against an out-of-form player who’s shown so far that he’s not cut out for life in the Premier League.
Defeat against Chelsea is inevitable if Gracia starts Kristensen over Ayling at right-back.
In other Leeds United news, a behind-the-scenes review is planned for a multi-million deal.
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