Saturday afternoon saw more frustration for Mateo Joseph. Pre-season promised plenty from Joseph this season but the Spaniard’s toe-poke against West Brom’s crossbar summed up his campaign.
Goals against Schalke, Hannover and even La Liga side Valencia prior to the start of the 2024-25 season saw Daniel Farke start Joseph over Joel Piroe and Patrick Bamford as his first-choice striker for the year.
He started Leeds’ first eight Championship games but only managed one goal and it saw Piroe come into the side. Piroe has gone on to score 15 goals, sitting joint-top in the Championship’s goalscoring table.
Joseph meanwhile has managed just three goals in his 36 appearances, of which he has started 13 times. On Saturday he came off the bench and immediately had an impact, only to see his shot hit the bar.
Charlie Cresswell scores his third goal of the season on Sunday
While Joseph was starring in pre-season, Charlie Cresswell was busy sorting out a permanent move to the top tier of French football with Ligue 1 side Toulouse. The England U21 man had been discarded by Farke.
Indeed, he only played seven times last year and Farke questioned Cresswell’s attitude publicly. He moved to Toulouse and after a rocky start, has been immense for the French club who now sit eighth in the table.
On Sunday, Toulouse went to Angers after beating Le Havre 4-1 away from home the previous weekend and scored another four goals – winning 4-0. Cresswell netted the third, poking home from a free-kick.
Not only was it his side’s third of the day, but it was Cresswell’s third goal of the season for Toulouse. Not many would have predicted Cresswell and Joseph to sit on the same tally at the beginning of March.
Have Leeds made a mistake by selling Charlie Cresswell?
Clearly, there was no other solution last summer. Farke’s decision to call out Cresswell publicly, which even led to his Dad and former Leeds striker Richard Cresswell commenting, meant he had to leave Leeds.
| Date | Opposition | Venue | Competition | Type of goal | Result |
| January 15, 2025 | Laval | Stadium De Toulouse | Coupe De France | Header | 2-1 Win |
| February 9, 2025 | Auxerre | Stade Abbé-Deschamps | Ligue 1 | Header | 2-2 Draw |
| March 2, 2025 | Angers | Raymond Kopa Stadium | Ligue 1 | Right foot | 4-0 Win |
But judging by his form in the top tier of French football this season shows that Leeds made a mistake in letting him go for just £3.8m. A fee that is likely to have been tripled if not more, by his form in 2024-25.
Factor in that Max Wober and Ethan Ampadu’s injuries have left Leeds light at centre-back, The Whites have quite clearly made a mistake in letting Cresswell go – because of his potential, but also his goals.
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