Daniel Farke must axe Mateo Joseph from Leeds United starting XI after what he did v Burnley
Leeds United have managed to get off to a fairly decent start to the 2024/25 Championship season and have only just lost their first domestic game of the campaign against Burnley.
The Whites dominated the ball throughout but couldn’t make their chances count against the recently relegated Clarets at Elland Road.
After their 1-0 loss to Scott Parker’s men, the West Yorkshire outfit now find themselves residing in ninth place, in a disappointing start.
With results needed, Farke might be better off benching Mateo Joseph after his below-par performance against Burnley on 14 September.
Mateo Joseph needs to be axed from the Leeds United starting XI
Joseph has seemed to come into his own this season with a fair few solid outings for Leeds helping boost his confidence.
It could be a little too much for Farke to ask the youngster to play to a top standard week in and week out as he’s still only 20 years old.
So, for the next game against Cardiff, it might be a good idea for the German to sideline the Spaniard.
While his performance against Burnley wasn’t diabolical in any way, compared to the rest of the attack, he was fairly lacklustre.
As per Sofascore, despite playing the full 90 minutes, Joseph only managed an xG of 0.38 and only generated an xA of 0.19.
While a number nine isn’t required to create chances, it feels like they should be able to put some balls into the back of the net at the very least.
Of the four shots the Spaniard had during the clash, 50 per cent were off target, with his one-on-one effort in the opening minutes embarrassing.
Those sorts of statistics aren’t what you want to see from your number nine, especially when the likes of Joel Piroe and even new arrival Largie Ramazani are sat on the bench waiting to make an impact.
Throughout the game, Joseph attempted two dribbles and 0 per cent of them were completed successfully.
Joseph also only had 44 touches of the ball and just 22 of the 27 passes he attempted made it to where they were supposed to go.
With the vast amount of depth that Farke has within his ranks, it seems somewhat backwards to keep putting Leeds’ faith into the 20-year-old when it’s evident he’s not ready to be a regular starter just yet.
In other Leeds news, Scott Parker has reacted to a Leeds United controversy that happened during the game against Burnley.
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