Ilia Gruev admits ‘high level’ Leeds United signings have blown him away in training

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Leeds United midfielder Ilia Gruev has admitted that the standard set by two of the club’s new signings has left him impressed.

Daniel Farke has a decision to make over the make-up of his midfield as the Whites look to equal a record set by Don Revie when they travel to Molineux.

Leeds are looking to claim a second win of the Premier League season when they take on Wolves, who currently sit in 20th place with no points from their opening four games of the season.

Ao Tanaka sat out the defeat at Fulham as Farke backed a three-man midfield wrecking crew of Ethan Ampadu, Sean Longstaff and Anton Stach in midfield, which competed well physically but struggled for creativity as Leeds drew another blank.

Tanaka and Ilia Gruev could also come into the midfield to add a different dimension to the Leeds attack if Farke elects to make a change. Ahead of the game, Gruev has explained why the arrival of new competition in Leeds’ midfield can only be a good thing as the season progresses.

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Ilia Gruev praises new Leeds United signing for impact in midfield

Speaking to BBC West Yorkshire Sport ahead of the game against Wolves, Gruev praised the impact of Leeds’ new signings in raising the standard of their midfield.

According to Gruev, having five high-quality options in midfield is helping to drive up the standards within the Leeds squad and can only prove beneficial in the long run for the Whites.

Gruev said: “The challenge, I have to say, this year, especially in midfield, is that we have so many good players. So, at the moment we have five central midfielders, with Ethan, with Anton, with Sean, with me, and the competition is really high.

“Which is really good because you can see in training also how high the level is, and I can feel as a player this develops me, this makes me better because every day, you have great teammates with a lot of quality, and you have to always be aware.

“It’s normal because it’s the Premier League, it’s the best league in the world, nobody expected us to use just two midfielders, and you play every game 90 minutes, this is absolutely normal. I try to give my best to train good, to play good, to perform good, and the other things I can’t influence what the coach decides.”

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Daniel Farke is still searching for the right balance in midfield

Although Leeds’ forward line has come under scrutiny for their lack of goals this season, with Ally McCoist singling out Dominic Calvert-Lewin after the Fulham game, some of Farke’s creative issues stem from midfield.

The game against Fulham provided a perfect example of Leeds’ problems, having failed to bring in a specialist number 10, as Stach, Longstaff and Ampadu disrupted Fulham’s play nicely but failed to feed Calvert-Lewin and Noah Okafor consistently.

The data from Statsmuse highlights where Leeds are falling short. Stach has the most passes in the final third for Leeds with 56 in total, but he still ranks outside the top 25 in the Premier League so far this season, with Bruno Fernandes leading the way with 103.

Leeds’ next highest total from a central midfielder is Ampadu’s 22, ahead of Tanaka, who has 18, but has seen his playing time restricted by injury. Longstaff and Gruev complete the quintet with 15 each.

Farke’s forwards have rightly come under scrutiny for their lack of impact, but Leeds’ midfield needs to provide them with better service to help end their record-breaking Premier League goal drought.