Jobi McAnuff has explained why one Leeds United star might have missed out on the Championship Team of the Season.
Leeds United are basking in the glow of securing Premier League promotion and continued the celebration by smashing Bristol City 4-0 on Monday night.
Goals from Ao Tanaka, Willy Gnonto and Largie Ramazani earned the win for Daniel Farke’s side, who can now pip Burnley to the Championship title by defeating Plymouth on the final day of the season.
That would put Leeds on 100 points after a fantastic campaign in which they have scored 93 goals and could break the current record for fewest goals conceded in a campaign, though Burnley are going to set a new best themselves.
Despite the brilliance of Leeds for the vast majority of the season, only three players – Tanaka, Jayden Bogle and Dan James – have been named in the EFL’s Championship Team of the Season.
One of the most surprising names to be snubbed was Joel Piroe, though Jobi McAnuff has explained why that might be the case.
Why Joel Piroe didn’t make Championship Team of the Season
With 19 strikes, Piroe is the top scorer in the Championship and many Leeds fans have questioned why he isn’t in the Team of the Season.
However, McAnuff has pointed out that Piroe only took the lead after his four goals against Stoke. Before Easter Monday, when the voting likely took place, he was behind Josh Sargent and Borja Sainz, who are both included, in the charts.
Speaking on Sky Sports’ coverage of Monday’s game, McAnuff said: “Me, personally, you have to have a little bit of context as to when the votes went in.
“Probably a couple of weeks ago, and without those four goals, he was round about where Josh Sargent was.”
McAnuff then shared his belief that Piroe should have even more goals to his name this term after going nine games without finding the back of the net before Stoke: “I think, for me personally, he should score more goals.
“He’s playing for the best team in the league, he can score goals for fun and he should be upwards towards 30 goals for the season.
“If he was, there would be no debate whatsoever. I do think he’s been a little bit more selfless in his role this season.
“Before last year, he was dropping too deep at times; they didn’t have that same structure and that presence higher up on the pitch.
“I feel he has given a little bit more of his overall game to the team this season and maybe sacrificed a few goals.
“Listen, he’s had a great season and at this level, he’s beyond proven in terms of goals he’s scored.”
How the Championship team of the season should look
Piroe shouldn’t be the only Leeds player aggrieved to not make it into the team of the season, with at least two other stars more than deserving of a spot.
One of them is Junior Firpo, who made his annoyance over his snubbing clear in a tweet when he jokingly called himself ‘the second-best left-back in the league.’
McAnuff believes Firpo should be ‘disappointed’ to miss out over Sheffield United’s Harrison Burrows.
Joe Rodon is also very unlucky not to make the cut after a brilliant campaign in the heart of Leeds’ defence, with his rock-solid defending combining with elegance in possession.
Leeds actually have better defensive stats than Burnley this season, with the Clarets relying on James Trafford’s heroics rather than defensive stability. As a result, Rodon certainly deserves a spot over CJ Egan-Riley.
However, Burnley’s free-scoring midfielder Josh Brownhill should be included instead of Sunderland’s Jobe Bellingham.
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