Sports
Leeds star who “bodied Thiago” may be on borrowed time in Farke’s new system
Leeds United needed a late goal from Dominic Calvert-Lewin to salvage a point against Brentford away from home in the Premier League on Sunday.
That result extends the Whites’ unbeaten run to three matches after the 3-1 win over Chelsea and the 3-3 draw with Liverpool, both at Elland Road, in the previous two games.
Daniel Farke‘s side have excelled in the new 3-5-2 system, which was used from the start for the first time against Chelsea, and the manager will be learning more about how his players suit it with each passing game.
For example, Wilfried Gnonto’s cameo against Brentford suggests that it may be worth trying him in a new position as a right-sided wing-back.
Why Wilfried Gnonto should play as a wing-back
The Italy U21 international was introduced as a substitute in the 73rd minute to change the formation back to a 4-3-3, with Jayden Bogle moving to right-back and Gnonto playing on the right wing.
However, it could be worth utilising the Italian’s talents in a right-wing-back role in future matches, perhaps ones against teams that Leeds should be expected to have more of the ball in than against the likes of Chelsea and Liverpool, because of the quality that he can provide.
In 73 minutes as a wing-back, Bogle failed to create a single ‘big chance’ for the team, per Sofascore, before Gnonto created a ‘big chance’ to assist Calvert-Lewin with a brilliant ball into the box.
Now, imagine the former Inter starlet being in positions to put crosses like that into the box on a regular basis as a wing-back. It could be a position that gets a lot out of him, whilst also giving him extra responsibility defensively to help develop the out-of-possession side to his game.
With this potential tweak in mind, central defender Jaka Bijol may already be on thin ice in this new formation after his disappointing performance against Brentford.
Why Jaka Bijol may be on thin ice
The £15m summer signing from Udinese has been one of the biggest winners from the change in formation because it created an extra centre-back position for him to slot in between Joe Rodon and Pascal Struijk.
Bijol had a nightmare for Brentford’s opening goal, though, because he firstly played Rico Henry onside by failing to step up, then failed to clear the ball away from danger, and, crucially, left his boot in to divert Jordan Henderson’s shot past Lucas Perri.
It was far from a completely dismal performance, despite those errors for the goal, because he did do well against in-form centre-forward Igor Thiago for most of the match. Journalist Beren Cross even noted that he “bodied Thiago” in the first half.
Bijol won six of his ten duels, per Sofascore, whilst Thiago, who has scored 11 Premier League goals this season, lost 15 of his 21 duels in the match, which shows that he coped well with Brentford’s star man.
However, his errors for the goal and the potential of Gnonto playing as a wing-back could see him on thin ice and potentially dropped from the starting line-up, as it would allow Joe Rodon to play centrally, with Jayden Bogle slotting in as the right-sided centre-back.
Bogle could play as a right-back in possession, supporting Gnonto, and as a right-sided centre-back out of possession, making the new Leeds system a bit more fluid than it has been in recent games.
|
25/26 Premier League |
Rodon |
Bijol |
|---|---|---|
|
Appearances |
16 |
7 |
|
Goals |
2 |
1 |
|
Tackles + interceptions per game |
1.9 |
2.6 |
|
Dribbled past per game |
0.3x |
0.4x |
|
Clearances per game |
6.3 |
5.0 |
|
Blocks per game |
0.6 |
0.1 |
|
Ground duel success rate |
69% |
62% |
|
Aerial duel success rate |
55% |
54% |
As you can see in the table above, Rodon has outperformed Bijol in most defensive metrics this season, which suggests that he may be more suited to playing as the central centre-back, tasked with the majority of the defending in the back three.
Moving Rodon into the middle, with Pascal Struijk on the left and Bogle on the right, could make Leeds more solid, due to the Welshman’s strong box defending, and fluid, due to Bogle’s flexibility, which could improve the team overall.
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Therefore, Bijol’s error combined with Gnonto’s impressive cameo could leave Farke with a big decision to make over the Slovenian’s place in the starting line-up.
