Daniel Farke has been quoted by Leeds Live as saying that he was impressed with Ilia Gruev last night as Leeds United suffered a 1-0 loss to Stoke City, in his first start since joining Leeds from Werder Bremen.
Gruev, 23, was handed a bit of a surprise start as Farke made three changes to his starting XI – bringing in Jaidon Anthony and Willy Gnonto as well as Gruev. The lefty had only made three late sub outings.
Indeed, he has played more for Bulgaria this season then he has at Leeds. The competition from Ethan Ampadu, Archie Gray and Glen Kamara has proved too much for Gruev – at least, until Wednesday night.
Gruev was not the only player to struggle for Leeds last night, but struggle he did. The ball looked as though it was covered in grease whenever it came near him. Maybe, surprised by the pace of the game.
But, Farke saw it different from his £4m summer signing. He felt that Gruev was pretty “solid’ in the middle of the park before he was eventually replaced after 85 minutes – Ian Poveda given a late run out.
“It is always difficult when you start in a difficult away game. For this he did really well, we wanted today a player who was capable to cover a lot of ground, because Ilia is always when he is involved, with 12k.
“This is what we want to play. He’s a disciplined player, tall, we needed him for the long balls and second balls, also calm in possession. For his first game it was quite a solid performance,” Farke said on Gruev.
Daniel Farke was impressed with Ilia Gruev’s Leeds United debut
Gruev will surely be out of the starting line-up on Saturday. It will have come as a shock to the system and perhaps, handing Gruev a debut away at Stoke – for a player that is not in England, was a mistake.
There were some moments where you could see why he had been bought, and his height does make him an asset – as does his left foot. But he himself will be disappointed with his performance last night.
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