da luck： This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…
da dobrowin： Leeds United were once again rescued by Eddie Nketiah on Tuesday evening as the striker scored the Whites’ only goal of the game to earn them a point against Preston at Deepdale.
His goal means that he’s now Leeds’ top scorer in all competitions, netting five goals despite playing only 388 minutes for the Yorkshire outfit.
That means that he finds the net every 77.6 minutes for the club, and understandably there have been calls for him to start.
Watch Leeds United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below
However, there is an argument to be made that Bielsa is actually using him perfectly.
Nketiah’s strengths lie in his finishing – he’s taken 11 shots in the league and has scored three times.
However, the Arsenal loanee doesn’t have the same abilities as Patrick Bamford when it comes to pressing the backline and linking play between the rest of the team, and if you’ve watched any of Marcelo Bielsa’s teams you know just how important that is to the Argentine.
Nketiah may actually be best utilised when he’s coming off the bench as there is usually more space for his fresher legs to operate in against fatigued defenders.
It’s very reminiscent of the way Borussia Dortmund used Paco Alcacer last season.
The Spaniard was one of the top scorers in the Bundesliga, netting 18 goals throughout the campaign, but he only played 1205 minutes for his team.
Why being the away goalkeeper at Leeds is the toughest job in football in the video below…
Most of his appearances were off the bench, and that was when he was at his most effective as 13 of his 18 goals came during those cameo appearances, while in 11 starts he only netted five times.
Alcacer never worked as well as a starting striker due to the fact he couldn’t manipulate the space as effectively as he could when he was coming off the bench.
Nketiah may very well be the same, his work rate isn’t at the same level as Bamford, and Bielsa’s current system of subbing the Arsenal loanee on late is clearly working as the England U21 star is Leeds’ top scorer in all competitions.
He’s single-handedly won Leeds seven extra points already this term as he netted the winner against Brentford, broke the deadlock late on against Barnsley as well as winning the penalty for the second goal,
This week he even bagged a late equaliser against Preston.
He’s a top striker, but with the way the Argentine wants his Leeds team to operate, the best way to use the 20-year-old may be to continue bringing him off the bench.