Patrick Bamford, Pascal Struijk and Illan Meslier are the only players still standing from Marcelo Bielsa’s promotion winning team at Leeds United.
Four years on from Leeds ending their 16-year wait for Premier League football, the vast majority of that squad have all now departed for pastures new.
The trajectory in which the vast majority of those players’ careers have gone since leaving Leeds is a testament to just how impressive Bielsa‘s time at Elland Road was.
Kalvin Phillips is the only permanent member of the squad who can arguably say he took a step forward after his Leeds exit, though given how little he played at Manchester City, many would suggest otherwise.
Of course, Ben White has gone onto enjoy the career everyone at Leeds expected him to after his loan spell, while Jack Harrison is also still in the Premier League, but is seriously struggling for form at Everton.
Tyler Roberts’ fall from grace after Leeds exit
Liam Cooper, Luke Ayling, Pablo Hernandez, Gaetano Berardi, Mateusz Klich and Barry Douglas all left Elland Road towards the end of their careers and so it is no surprise they all joined clubs viewed as a step down from Leeds.
However, one player who the same cannot be said for is Tyler Roberts. Roberts is still only 25 and played his last game for Leeds back in March 2022 at 23.
Roberts struggled with injuries during his time at Leeds but whenever he was fit, Bielsa would always show faith in him and even suggested he could become a ‘leading’ player for Leeds in the future.
Via the Independent, he said: “He still hasn’t been able to link his qualities with his performances. I, in particular, have a lot of confidence in his resources.
“I feel that he is a player who can unbalance and I hope he can evolve and take a leading role in our team. He has taken a step forward.”
Unfortunately, injuries have caught up with him. After missing almost half of a season-long-loan at QPR due to fitness issues in 2022/23, Roberts joined Birmingham City.
It was the same story for Roberts at St. Andrews and after their relegation to League One, was shipped out on loan to Northampton Town.
Roberts has failed to score or assist in any of his eight appearances for Northampton so far, but saw his fall from grace really highlighted on Tuesday night.
With Roberts’ side drawing 1-1 at Michael Skubala’s Lincoln City, Roberts was shown a second half red card which ultimately cost them the game, as they went onto lose 2-1.
Roberts season-by-season stats since leaving Leeds
Roberts was never rated particularly highly by many Leeds supporters during his time at the club, but he always looked as though he would forge a good career for himself in the Championship.
However, based on his time at each of the three clubs he has been at since leaving Leeds, the only way he is going is down at the moment, which is a real shame.
| Club | Apps | Goals | Assists | Red cards | Matches missed |
| QPR | 20 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 27 |
| Birmingham | 21 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 24 |
| Northampton | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
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