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da fezbet： This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
15 goals, 14 assists. That’s the tally Helder Costa managed in two seasons in the Championship for Wolves.
£15m is the fee Leeds will reportedly have to pay to make his temporary move permanent next summer too.
Therefore, why is he repeatedly being left on the bench in the league? There are a variety of factors at play, even if the decision from Marcelo Bielsa is baffling.
The Argentine prefers continuity, making just four changes to his starting XI in the Championship this term. He has meanwhile only used 17 squad members.
As Leeds sit at the top of the table there isn’t a great deal wrong but they could and perhaps should be doing better.
After all, they’ve won just one of their five home matches in 2019/20, a record they seemingly can’t fight off.
Against Derby, they had over 60% of the possession, made 131 passes in the final third in the first half alone and missed a penalty, via WhoScored.
Whether those dropped points come back to haunt them remains to be seen but to avoid it in the future, perhaps things need to change.
Bielsa has proven to be stubborn in his ways so far this season but with performances having worsened since the opening weeks, it’s time Costa comes into the team.
The Portuguese has shown his potential by scoring and claiming two assists in the Carabao Cup but the 25-year-old is yet to start a league outing.
Considering the form of Jack Harrison, it’s questionable.
The Manchester City loanee has scored only once and according to WhoScored, he has registered just one accurate cross, compared to 30 inaccurate. It’s a dismal record and cries from supporters for Costa to start are understandable.
But Bielsa has a degree of favouritism. Angus Kinnear noted on the Talking Shutt Podcast last week that Harrison was someone he wanted to bring back over the summer and the fact he’s started every league match this season shows he rates him highly.
With that in mind, it would perhaps be quite surprising if he was suddenly dropped from the side.
Perhaps leaving the 22-year-old out would be beneficial but there is another change that would ensure Costa gets game time.
That move would be to bring Pablo Hernandez inside.
The Spaniard was devastating last term and was involved in 24 goals in the Championship.
It was a wonderful return but at times he has struggled to replicate that blistering form in 2019/20. He has still scored twice and laid on the same volume of assists but against Derby he was eventually withdrawn after failing to make too much of a difference to the scoreline.
At the age of 34, it may for the good of his career and Leeds’ promotion hopes that he moves central. After all, he has the vision and creativity to do so.
Hernandez laid on 12 goals for other players last term and has already featured behind the striker this season. That came in 3-0 win over Stoke which was arguably his best performance of the campaign.
The veteran claimed an assist and registered three shots and five key passes, per WhoScored. Leeds are clearly struggling at home so perhaps this added impetus from the middle would be beneficial.
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It’s something that’s lacking from Adam Forshaw who hasn’t scored in the league since 2015/16 and from Jamie Shackleton who didn’t have a single shot last weekend.
It would be up to one of them to drop out if this change came about. The latter has played instead of Forshaw due to injury over the last fortnight but with Costa edging ever closer to a start and Harrison still being relied upon, one must become the sacrificial lamb in midfield.
Costa is a player who has what it takes to light up the division. He’s shown that for Wolves in the past and the fact Leeds are willing to pay such a large sum dictates he has immense quality.
If they want to ensure they aren’t having to keep dragging themselves over the line in games they should be out of sight, bringing in Costa and moving Hernandez inside has potential to remedy that. It would also enable the manager to keep one of his favourite players in the team too.
The Whites still sit top of the league but if their clash against Derby proved anything, it’s that something has to give in terms of Bielsa’s team selection.
How he brings Costa into the side remains to be seen but this is certainly one way of doing so.