Instead of Piroe, Farke need to bring in Leeds’ “blistering” £34k-per-week magician

Leeds United’s matchup with Chelsea in the FA Cup fifth round at Stamford Bridge throughout the week diverted attention away from their performances in the Championship.

Mateo Joseph’s early goal gave the Whites the lead, but goals from Nicolas Jackson and Mykhaylo Mudryk in the first half gave the hosts the advantage at halftime.
After thereafter, Joseph scored his second goal of the game with a header at the back post to tie the score2-2, but Conor Gallagher scored a late goal to give the Blues the advantage and advance to the quarterfinals.

Now, Daniel Farke’s team will focus on the Championship as they travel this afternoon to play Huddersfield Town across Yorkshire.

The starting lineup versus Chelsea may see some adjustments under the direction of the German head coach. Georginio Rutter is one player in particular who has to be given more freedom; following Joel Piroe’s dismal performance, which should see him brutally benched, Rutter must take his spot in the starting lineup.

Joel Piroe’s numbers in opposition to Chelsea

The former Swansea player was chosen to partner Joseph in the attack at Stamford Bridge, but the U21 powerhouse outclassed him in every way.

Due to his lacklustre performances both in and out of possession throughout the game, FFC selected him as being even worse than Junior Firpo, who stepped out and missed the ball and player for Gallagher’s winning goal.

Due to his struggles both on and off the ball, Piroe only played 79 minutes that evening and had little effect on the outcome of the match.

The fact that the 24-year-old prodigy lost six of his nine duels that night—five of them were on the ground and one was in the air—demonstrates that Chelsea’s players found it far too simple to defeat him in physical altercations.

Sadly, the Dutch finisher’s lacklustre play when out of possession was not compensated for by his skill with the ball. In his 79 minutes on the pitch, he failed to muster a shot on goal or a “big chance” created for his teammates.

Robert Sanchez made one crucial pass for the side, but the opposition blocked both of his attempts to go to Robert Sanchez’s goal.

These numbers highlight Piroe’s lack of danger in the final third as he was unable to match Premier League calibre in an attacking display, which could raise questions in advance of a potential promotion to the top division the following season.

Leeds paid around £10 million to acquire the striker from Swansea, a Championship competitor, in the summer of 2022. During the 2022–2023 season, the Welsh team scored 19 goals in 43 games in the second division.

This season’s championship stats for Joel Piroe

The left-footed marksman has had a respectable, if unspectacular, season with the Whites thus far this season, despite his performances at the top of the pitch not always being totally convincing.

Given his scoring prowess at Swansea the previous season, Piroe was brought in to score goals, and only Crysencio Summerville (15) has scored more goals for Leeds in the Championship than the Dutch gem (11) has so far this season.

You could say that he has been successful in that regard because the 24-year-old forward has scored a respectable number of goals for the side.

Nevertheless, his 11 goals have come from 11.69 Expected Goals, and he has let seven “big chances” pass. This demonstrates that the Leeds forward has occasionally finished sloppily in front of goal, underperforming marginally.

From a creative standpoint, too, Piroe has left much to be desired. In 33 league games this season in the Championship, the Dutchman has produced two “big chances,” made 0.8 crucial passes per game, and recorded two assists.

The 6 foot 1 beauty has been a lightweight on the pitch for his squad, as seen by the fact that opponents have defeated him in 62% of their duels. His lack of physicality has also occasionally caused him problems.
The numbers that support Rutter’s replacement of Piroe

After the manager announced that the French star is back in training after missing out against Chelsea due to injury, Farke must now unleash Rutter from the beginning in the offensive midfield position.

After scoring a brace in the FA Cup on Wednesday night, the 21-year-old magician—who was once praised by talent scout Jacek Kulig for his “blistering” speed—has been in incredible form in the Championship this year and has the potential to generate the opportunities Joseph needs to score his first league goals.

The 20-year-old forward for Leeds showed off his finishing prowess by putting a cool headshot past Sanchez for his first goal and a perfectly placed header at the back post for his second.

Rutter’s ability to constantly breach opposition defences has made him a creative threat for the Yorkshire-based team, as the table above illustrates.

The former star of Hoffenheim has only finished second in Championship assists behind Leif Davis and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (12), and he has only generated 24 “big chances” more than Abdul Fatawu.

According to these figures, Rutter is one of the division’s best creators and would be a great fit to fill Joseph’s spot at number 10.

The French star’s finishing does require improvement, though. Similar to Piroe, he has been wasteful in front of goal, scoring six goals from an xG of 10.24 in the Championship.

Rutter has, however, directly contributed to 17 goals overall in the league, as opposed to the Dutch striker’s 13 goals, indicating that he has so far had a bigger influence on Leeds’ season.

The £34k-per-week wizard is also in good form going into today’s game; in his previous five games across all competitions, he has two goals and three assists, whereas Piroe is coming off a lacklustre performance against Chelsea.

Considering all of these figures, Farke needs to unleash Rutter right away as the attacking midfielder behind Joseph, brutally discarding the Dutch striker, given his enormous creative potential to destroy the Terriers this afternoon in Yorkshire.

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