‘Not good’: Sky Sports pundit says 21-year-old Leeds player didn’t get the ball enough vs Stoke

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Leeds United suffered a 1-0 loss to Stoke City on Wednesday and Lee Hendrie criticised Daniel Farke’s men for failing to supply Georginio Rutter with the right ammunition, while commentating on Sky Sports.

Rutter, 21, has been sensational for Leeds this season. Some fans will say Ethan Ampadu has been our best player, and there have been a couple of other shouts. Crysencio Summerville, Sam Byram maybe.

But most people will say Rutter. He has gone from zero to hero, and had a hand in six goals – connecting the midfield to the attack despite playing as a no.9. The Frenchman is the beating heart of our attack.

However, Leeds struggled in the first half on Wednesday at Stoke and Rutter was a bystander. Unlike the second half at Norwich where he was heavily involved, Rutter could not get involved. Sky posted a stat.

On 38 minutes, with half-time approaching and Leeds looking as disjointed as they have done all term, Sky said Rutter had touched the ball just nine times. Hendrie criticised Leeds for not feeding Rutter.

“It’s not good enough. He’s not been getting good enough supply. He’s a main threat for Leeds going forward but he hasn’t had enough of the ball. He’s had to drop into spaces where you don’t want him.

“Quite clearly, those touches aren’t enough at the 38-minute mark. You need your key players on the ball and he needs to be supplied,” Hendrie continued, during his role as co-commentator on Sky Sports.

Lee Hendrie criticises Leeds for not supplying Georginio Rutter

It is a very good point. Rutter has been exceptional this season and if Leeds are going to win games, they need Rutter on the ball, doing what he does his best. Creating, transitioning the play, scoring goals.

For the entire first half, Leeds struggled. Ilia Gruev looked as though the Championship had caught him by surprise and Jaidon Anthony’s first touch left a lot to be desired. Neither were good enough for us.

It was a surprise that it took until almost 70 minutes for Farke to make changes. Rutter improved as the game went on and gaps started to show, but Leeds needed to get him more involved than he was.