Daniel Farke must axe Joel Piroe after what he did for Leeds United v Millwall
Daniel Farke must axe Joel Piroe from his starting XI and replace him with Patrick Bamford in their next Championship clash against QPR.
The Whites lost their second Championship game of the season against Millwall on 6 November after they were beaten by a Japhet Tanganga strike at The Den.
Bamford may have only just returned from injury but after the impact he had on Leeds’ form in the second half of last season, it feels silly for Farke to continue swapping between Piroe and Mateo Joseph to lead his attacking line while he’s ready and waiting.
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The Englishman’s injury history certainly leaves a lot to be desired but there’s no denying that within the former Middlesbrough man, there’s still a more than solid player.
Piroe has had his odd moments of class throughout the campaign but his latest outing against the Lions has shown how little he offers when he’s not at his best.
As per Sofascore, in the 90 minutes the Dutchman played, he had 30 touches of the ball and only amassed an xG of 0.11, which is far from ideal.
His xA (expected assists) wasn’t much better either with the attacker only managing an average of 0.04.
He had two shots throughout the clash and while one was on target, the other was blocked.
His passing was arguably the best part of his game and if he was being used as number 10, it’s exactly what Leeds would want as he maintained a pass accuracy of 90 per cent and even made two key passes.
Defensively, things didn’t fare much better for the attacker. He completed zero per cent of the ground duels he attempted and he also only won 50 per cent of aerial duels. Piroe also lost possession of the ball five times and made two clearances.
While bringing in Bamford might not solve all of Leeds’ attacking problems due to the absence of players such as Largie Ramazani, it feels like change is needed within Farke’s squad if they want to break into the top two spots in the league.
In other Leeds news, Jon Newsome was left frustrated after what the Whites did against Millwall on Wednesday.
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