Daniel Farke needs to make some important selections for Leeds United’s match against Southampton on the last day of the season, and maybe even for the play-offs.
Though there are now many significant doubts following the Whites’ crushing 4-0 loss to Queens Park Rangers on Friday night, Leeds can still win.
Not a single one from that starting XI covered themselves in glory, probably with the exception of Junior Firpo, who tried his hardest to get Leeds back into the game with two outstanding crosses.
The back four were disorganized, Illan Meslier struggled in goal, and Ilia Gruev gave QPR too much room to shoot for their first two goals twice.
Even though Leeds’ front four had been playing at their best against Middlesbrough, they were all far behind the pace. Crysencio Summerville, in the opinion of Jon Newsome in particular, was the worst he had seen in a long time.
Farke needs to just quit. Southampton versus Joel Piroe
Leeds had a run of success between the start of the New Year and the international break in March, and Farke seemed to have found a wonderfully comfortable starting lineup.
The 18-year-old Archie Gray was at right-back, but his long-term role will most likely be in central midfield with Glen Kamara in the center and Patrick Bamford up front.
Though Kamara can frustrate with his complete refusal to ever take a shot, he brings control to the midfield with his neat passing game. Bamford, meanwhile, brings out the best of those around him, according to Willy Gnonto.
For whatever reason, Kamara has played just a handful of minutes over the last three matches but Bamford was absent on Friday as a result of injury.
Joel Piroe was the man brought into replace him, and it would be fair to say he had a shocker. The 24-year-old has never been a lone striker, and proved it again with a distinct lack of quality in either hold-up play or duels.
Bamford may well not be fit enough to return on Saturday but Farke simply cannot repeat the same mistake by starting Piroe. It was the same against Blackburn Rovers, a game Leeds also lost without scoring.
Depending on what happens tonight, Saturday’s matchup with Southampton still has a lot of promise, and Leeds will not win if Piroe plays forward.
Mateo Joseph ought to start in place of £7 million player Bamford in the event that he is unable to return. He is Leeds’ most comparable substitute. It makes sense.
Has the signing of Piroe worked?
This season, Piroe has undoubtedly scored some significant goals, including victories over Middlesbrough, Preston North End, and Bristol City.
A return of 12 in 30 Championship starts is also not a bad record, although it would be hard to call him a success given the initial £10.5 million price tag.
Piroe had a deeper role in the first part of the season, playing right behind Georginio Rutter. It worked a few times, but he was absolutely harmless in endless away games as well.
Due to this, he was removed from the starting lineup on New Year’s Day, and he has only made five starts since then as he has battled to regain his spot. Out of those, four were the outcome.
As previously said, Piroe has been a complete failure as a lone striker, and considering that he barely made an impression while playing a little deeper role, he must be considered a poor acquisition. He simply seems to not fit into Farke’s scheme at all.
