Pundit shares what he’s always seeing Ilia Gruev do behind the scenes at Leeds United by himself

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Ilia Gruev is the man of the moment. The Bulgarian was man of the match at Plymouth in The FA Cup, starring after being made to wait for a run of games in the side. He was excellent on Tuesday.

Gruev, 23, only started two games for Leeds during the first half of the season. But he has since started seven in a row for Leeds, three of which have come in The FA Cup. He’s been absolutely sensational.

His form has allowed Ethan Ampadu to cover in the middle of the defence with Pascal Struijk injured. The left footer has combined well with whoever he’s played with – Glen Kamara, Archie Gray, Ampadu.

Arguably, he’s made himself undroppable with his performances of late. Speaking to LS11 about Gruev, former Leeds defender Ben Parker says he has seen the £4m man in the gym by himself all the time.

“He’s fantastic. Amount of times I’ve seen him doing extras in the gym, on his own, this is a time when he wasn’t playing or getting any minutes. It just goes to show the hard work does pay off. It is frustrating as a player, especially coming into a new club, country. If you put the hard work in behind the scenes, doing it off his own back, it is really impressive. He’s getting the benefits now,” Parker said, about Gruev.

“He does the basics so well, and that is so underrated in modern football. Everyone sees a player dribble past players, or score goals and that’s great – but you need players like Gruev, just breaking up play – loves a tackle. Makes it look simple. He does everything really well, at high quality. Knows when to slow or speed up the tempo, he’s come on leaps and bounds. He’s added a new dynamic into that midfield.”

Ben Parker shares what Ilia Gruev is doing behind the scenes

Gruev can be, as Parker says, the “underrated” weapon in this Leeds side during the second half of the season. Leeds have been excellent in the first half of the campaign. But we need more to keep it going.

Gruev has largely been kept in bubble wrap since arriving in the post at Elland Road. But now, Farke has opened that parcel and finally put him to use – almost as if, he is a new signing in the January window.

Similarly, Willy Gnonto and Patrick Bamford have come to the fore after struggling for game time – like Gruev – in the first half of the season. It is as if Leeds have added numerous new signings in January.