Pascal Struijk says Leeds United teammate Mateo Joseph needs to be more clinical in front of goal

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On another day, Leeds United could have beaten Burnley by two or three such was the performance of Daniel Farke’s men and the chance Mateo Joseph had to score inside the first 60 seconds.

Joseph robbed French defender Maxime Esteve on the halfway line and raced towards James Trafford’s goal, one on one. Not such a normal sight these days, with games often played in front of the defence.

Joseph did everything right, good speed with the ball, great closing down, inch-perfect tackle on Esteve. But perhaps, the Spain U21 star had too much time to think about it, maybe the chance came too early.

Opening up his body, Joseph skewed a shot wide. Almost as if contact was made with Joseph stretching to get to the ball, and shooting wth his studs. A bad miss, having initially done everything so well.

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Struijk tells Joseph and Leeds they must be more clinical

Had Joseph scored, it urges Burnley to come out of their shell and opens the gaps in behind for Leeds. With the home support and the midfield domination Leeds had, it would have been a win for Farke.

But instead, Leeds were caught on the break and Luca Koleosho scored the only goal of the game after a slip from Manor Solomon. Struijk told LUTV after: “As a striker, you rarely get these chances one v one.

“It’s not as easy as it looks. Unfortunately it didn’t go in but we should be clinical enough to capitalise on these moments and the game is 1-0 after two minutes, we have a better chance of winning,” Struijk said.

Joseph still lacking that sharpness in front of goal for Leeds

He’s done everything to perfection so far. Joseph has put on a few pounds in muscle and is willing to mix it with the central defenders of the Championship, ready to put his body on the line and bring others in.

Then, he has shown his creativity. Two assists and the man of the match award at Sheffield Wednesday, the second a gorgeous pass to Dan James. Against Hull, the pre-assist for Joel Piroe’s gorgeous goal.

Of course, he has scored against Hull and then Scotland’s U21 side. But if Joseph could improve in one area, it would be remaining calm under pressure and taking his chances like Burnley on Saturday.