Leeds have plenty in reserve to cope with Premier League despite injury issues
ON paper, Leeds United have the second- smallest senior squad in the Premier League but their versatility and faith in youth makes them greater than the sum of those parts.
With Kalvin Phillips injured and Liam Cooper doubtful, their actual depth could be tested at in- form Aston Villa tomorrow.
Only Wolverhampton Wanderers have fewer senior players in the official squad lists submitted to the Premier League and Leeds’s 19 includes Gaetano Berardi, still in the early stages of recovering from a serious knee injury. But the list is deceptive, supplemented as it is by a bigger group of Under- 21 players including first- team regulars Illan Meslier, Tyler Roberts, Ian Poveda and Pascal Struijk.
Struijk came into the side at centre- back on Monday after Cooper felt the abductor injury picked up on international duty during the warm- up, and will be pressed into midfield with Phillips ruled out by a shoulder injury – albeit coach Marcelo Bielsa said it was wrong of the club to put a six- week timeframe on his recovery. With Diego Llorente out, the Whites’ versatility will be further tested if Cooper is unavailable.
But Bielsa has no concerns he has been left short by the squad he is working with.
“The squad is not small as we have two players in every position and there’s not big differences ( in quality) between the two players who occupy each position,” he argued.
“For example we have
( Patrick) Bamford, and Tyler Roberts up front, Rodrigo and Pablo ( Hernandez) in attacking midfield. On the right we have ( Helder) Costa and Poveda, on the left we have Raphinha and ( Jack) Harrison.
“We currently have injuries in all of the same positions. If we have six players for three positions ( the two centre- backs and holding midfield) and four are out, it doesn’t mean we have a small squad.
“When you’re missing the players we are there are going to be some issues.
“We also count on players from the academy who also deserve their place in the squad. As a result we feel we can manage the demands on the team.”
Leeds’s players are arguably as flexible as any in the top
flight when it comes to playing different positions and formations. Right- back Luke Ayling was one of three centrebacks against Wolves on Monday, and having shown before he is comfortable in a two is an option if captain Cooper proves not to be. Stuart Dallas, who can more or less play in any outfield position, would be the obvious right- back and left- winger Ezgjan Alioski has played at left- back if Leeds revert to the back four which is often Bielsa’s preference against sides like Villa with only one out- and- out centre- forward.
“We have many players who can play in a number of positions, I would say almost all of them barring ( Patrick) Bamford and Cooper,” said Bielsa.
“It always helps the manager. It’s not that I force them to play in other positions, it’s just that when you play in a certain position it forces you to do the things you would in other positions. The wingers play on both sides, the full- backs do this a lot, the defensive midfielders can act as centre- backs.”
Bielsa was surprised when told the club put a six- week timeframe on holding midfielder Phillips’s recovery.
“I don’t have a definitive amount of time that Phillips is going to be out for,” he said of the player who ended Monday’s game at centre- back after Struijk went off. “I understand the information ( of six weeks) is incorrect.
“It’s not defined how long he will be out for. It could be more or it could be less.”
Phillips’s injury is not just a blow for Leeds, but for himself after Premier League and international debuts last month.
“It comes at an inopportune time, a moment that’s very special for Kalvin,” said Bielsa.