Leeds United moved back into the Championship’s top six with a 2-0 win over Cardiff City and Tony Dorigo believes a youngster has played a key role in a fairly positive start to the season.
Leeds lost arguably the best three young talents in the division over the course of the summer, as Crysencio Summerville, Archie Gray and Georginio Rutter all left.
Dorigo believes Rutter has the ability to play for Real Madrid if he was better at finishing. That shows what a missed opportunity it was for Leeds not to get promoted last season.
However, Leeds have had to move on quickly from that Wembley and summer heartbreak. With three wins from their opening six, Leeds are on track for another promotion push.
There is still room for improvement, though. Dorigo says Daniel Farke was angrier than he’d ever seen before at Leeds against Cardiff and so hopefully it is a case of just growing into the season again.
- READ MORE: What Brighton fans are saying about Georginio Rutter’s start following £40m Leeds United exit
Tony Dorigo says Leeds youngster Mateo Joseph is ‘full package’
After Gray’s emergence as a key player last season, all eyes were on who would be next off the conveyor belt of talent at Thorp Arch this term.
Mateo Joseph has been that man. His goals against Chelsea in March showed the talent he has, but Farke never gave him much of an opportunity after that.
But that is not the case this time around, as Joseph has led the line from the start in all six Championship matches.
Joseph’s finishing has drawn some criticism at Leeds, but his overall game is really benefitting the team. Speaking on the latest episode of the Square Ball Podcast, Dorigo says he is the ‘full package’.
He said: “I was about to say, of course he is raw! He is just a young player starting out his career. I think he has got a lot of talent, I really do. I saw him last season, he was really unfortunate last season because a few of the pre-season games, he had some great cameos but then got injured.
“He didn’t get those opportunities and then when we finally saw him at Chelsea away where he was fantastic and obviously, we didn’t quite see him enough to get that next step up in his career.
“Now we have gone for him as our number nine this season and I can see why. He has got the full package, I’ve seen him score in pre-season.
“I know it’s different to the real thing, but he still makes those runs, he can finish and has an eye for goal. We saw that when Solomon crossed it and he got across the near post.
“He has had a few chances where he has snatched at them, and he’ll admit that. But he’s a young boy, is raw and once that calms down a bit we are going to see him score plenty of goals.”
Leeds star Joseph fourth in Championship for goal contributions
There is no doubt Joseph should be on more than just the one goal he has scored so far. He had decent chances against Portsmouth, Sheffield Wednesday and Burnley.
However, only three players in the Championship have actually contributed to more goals than him this season.
| Player | Age | Goal contributions |
| Josh Maja | 25 | Seven |
| Duncan Watmore | 30 | Five |
| Gus Hamer | 27 | Five |
| Mateo Joseph | 20 | Four |
| Seven other players | n/a | Four |
Looking at all the players around him in that list, Joseph is quite comfortably the most inexperienced. It shows just how well he is doing.
Once he scores a couple in quick succession it is hard not to see him going on a run. Hopefully it is not too far away.
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