Leeds United’s squad was stretched to its limit as a result of the international break in last night’s 2-2 draw at Watford.
The Whites were playing for the first time in 12 days but produced a performance that made it pretty obvious they had several players in action for their countries just a couple of days earlier.
Willy Gnonto, Ilia Gruev and Connor Roberts were all also absent from the squad after picking up injuries on international duty, while Junior Firpo was unable to start having only arrived back on Thursday.
As a result, Daniel Farke made a number of changes to his side and the breaking up of partnerships such as Ethan Ampadu and Joe Rodon meant Leeds really struggled to find their rhythm.
Thankfully Leeds were able to salvage a point but the squad is likely to look equally as stretched when they face Hull City on Monday, with Gruev the only one who has a chance of returning.
Farke says Leeds youngster who’s yet to play a single minute has been so impressive in training lately
Leeds still had some decent names to bring off the bench last night and it was a substitute in Mateo Joseph who actually found the equaliser, with Jaidon Anthony also going close to winning it.
However, without Gnonto, Gruev and Roberts it is fair to say Farke’s options were far more limited than they have been in recent weeks.
That said, it did allow the Leeds manager to name a promising 17-year-old youngster in the squad for the first time ever, which will have undoubtedly been a memorable night for him.
Charlie Crew is one of the names who were training alongside a depleted first team during the international break, and speaking in his post-match press conference, Farke says he showed enough ‘quality’ at Thorp Arch to justify his inclusion.
He said: “Necessity and faith. We did not have any other outfield players available. If Charlie had not impressed me in training, he was one of those we promoted during the break to train with us. Showed us quality. If he had not shown this we would have brought a third goalkeeper.
“A sign he has done very well. Very difficult for someone so young to come into a moment like this. Big experience for him. Would not have been nervous playing him. A horrible outcome from this break to lose so many players, but Charlie deserved this.”
Crew could be the next off Leeds’ production line
Crew is someone people at Leeds have been speaking about for a while as someone who could make his breakthrough, and last night was his first significant step towards doing so.
Ethan Ampadu has spoken in the past about his potential, having already been invited to train with Wales’ senior squad all the way back in September.
The 17-year-old is now the same age fellow youngster Archie Gray was when he made his debut at the beginning of the season, though it will be far more difficult for Farke to chuck him in now at this stage.
That said, the more he keeps impressing in training, the more chance he has of getting on the pitch. Just like Gray, perhaps pre-season could be when he really gets his opportunity to show what he can do.
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