‘WRECKING-BALL’ GELHARDT CAN MAKE BIG IMPACT FOR LEEDS
IT IS too early for a Clive Tyldesley ‘remember the name’ declaration, but it is easy to see why Joe Gelhardt is being likened to a young Wayne Rooney. His stocky build. His strength. His low centre of gravity. He is even from Merseyside. Scouts from those parts are used to being told about the ‘next Rooney’ whenever a talented kid on their patch is making noise. Most do not live up to the hype. Leeds are hoping Gelhardt does. For an initial £700,000, paid to Wigan Athletic in 2020, the club could afford to take a chance on the 19-year-old. It is already looking less like a gamble and more like a sound investment. Gelhardt’s first Premier League start was promising, even if it did end in defeat. He has been scoring for fun for Leeds’ Under 23s but those games do not take place with a 60,000 crowd watching your every move. That is still new to the teenager and, to his credit, he did not shy away. He came close twice in the second half, unleashing two rasping left-footed efforts which needed saving by Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris. He ran himself into the ground until his number went up. He looked disappointed with himself when substituted after 86 minutes but the sight of his shirt drenched in sweat would have satisfied his boss, at least. It meant he had ticked off one of the Leeds non-negotiables: hard work. Gelhardt had to wait for this moment, with his new club keen on fixing his fitness after he arrived in a condition which didn’t meet the manager’s high standards. Not that it was entirely his fault. Gelhardt was not taught a great deal about nutrition and the like at Wigan, where it is said he would run 9km per game, maximum. Now that he is enrolled in the Marcelo Bielsa school of athleticism, an elite programme which includes lessons in ‘murderball’, he is covering closer to 11km. He is as fit as he has ever been, which helped yesterday. He was not a stationary striker, standing up top with a directive to distract Tottenham’s centre backs. He was fluid, forever searching for the ball and showing he can hold on to it when others try to bump him off it. That tallied with Jamie Redknapp’s description of him as a ‘human wrecking ball’, meant in the nicest possible way. ‘I like him,’ said the Sky Sports pundit and Sportsmail columnist. ‘He’s really exciting. He’s fast. He’s aggressive. Once he gets into the box, he loves it.’ Gelhardt’s substitute appearance against Wolves last month, in which he toyed with opposition defenders and won a decisive late penalty at Elland Road, told supporters they had not seen the last of him. This was another good glimpse of an English youngster who is only going to get better. The first Premier League goal will come and, once it does, Leeds hope a Rooney-esque flurry will follow.