Leeds United’s draw with Coventry City on Saturday brought another fruitless Joel Piroe performance.
Having looked as though he was really getting to grips with Daniel Farke’s system in matches against Swansea City and Middlesbrough earlier this month, the last three have been a struggle for him.
Even in the win at Blackburn Rovers, Piroe was fairly ineffective, but perhaps even more so against Sunderland and Coventry. He has failed to score in all three of them.
The only change Farke has made to his starting XI in the last five matches was an enforced one, with Djed Spence forced to play out of position in place of the injured Sam Byram.
Farke needs to start utilising his squad more and that begins with this weekend’s huge clash with Ipswich Town, where nothing less than a win will do.
Farke should start Gnonto for Piroe
In matches where Leeds aren’t necessarily going to be overly dominant, Piroe has proved himself to be largely ineffective. Saturday is a game where they simply can’t afford any passengers.
With that in mind, Farke should consider taking him out of the team for Wilfried Gnonto – who deserves a chance after a series of promising cameos off the bench, even in a limited number of minutes.
Clearly Crysencio Summerville and Dan James are Farke’s first choice wing pairing, but the ‘special’ Gnonto has played centrally several times for Italy and working just off Georginio Rutter could be a fruitful combination.
This would then also allow the 20-year-old to work closely in tandem alongside Summerville, with the pair of them having a good relationship both on and off the pitch.
Piroe will have his part to play over Christmas with so many matches coming up, but certain players need to learn that poor performances can lead to being dropped. Gnonto should be the man to come in.
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