After Leeds United moved five points clear of the top of the Championship following Wednesday’s 2-0 win at Coventry City, Daniel Farke highlighted the importance of keeping his squad fresh.
Fortunately for a coach looking to exercise the ghosts of last season’s play-off heartbreak, Leeds United possess a squad most managers in the second-tier could only dream of.
Willy Gnonto and Largie Ramazani started on the bench at Coventry, with Dan James and Manor Solomon in the XI. This, as they say, is the sort of greed they talked about in the Bible.
Joe Rothwell was rested in favour of Ilia Gruev in the West Midlands.
Former France, Atletico Madrid and Wolfsburg enforcer Joshua Guilavogui stepped in for the closing stages – Frank Lampard put rivalries aside to proclaim Leeds ‘the best team in the league’ – while the returning Pascal Struijk may face a fight getting his place back after Joe Rodon and Ethan Ampadu kept another clean sheet.
Albeit that owed much to their goalkeeper; Illan Meslier pulled off a ‘world-class’ save to stop Ellis Simms halving the deficit early in the second-half.
And while Sam Byram is in the midst of a stunning, record-challenging run of 22 games without defeat – the title favourites have not lost with him on the pitch since Burnley in September – Leeds’ lucky charm made way for Junior Firpo as his fellow full-back returned following six weeks on the sidelines.
Michael Bridges hails ‘brilliant’ Junior Firpo with Leeds United left-back in top form
While Farke is long enough in the tooth to know that this is a squad game – Leeds need not just 11 players but 18-plus to get through a gruelling campaign – Byram may find his opportunities limited from now until May.
Provided Firpo can avoid a return to the treatment table, that is.
The former Barcelona ace made a big impression against Norwich City when stepping off the bench in last month’s 2-0 win. His first appearance seven games out.
On his return to the starting XI, meanwhile, Junior Firpo provided a hat-trick of assists as Leeds ran riot against Cardiff City to record their biggest Elland Road triumph in 53 years.
The £13 million man was not quite so influential four days later in Coventry. But, speaking following a result which moves Leeds ever closer to the promised land, former Whites hitman Michael Bridges feels that the benefits of including a left-footer in Firpo – rather than the naturally right-sided Byram – is a major a major reason why their last two outings have ended with an aggregate scoreline of 9-0.
“That’s the joy, thats the attacking style we play; The front three being made into a front five with the full-backs,” Bridges beams following another dominant, free-flowing Leeds performance.
“Junior Firpo gives us as much better balance on that left-hand side.”
Firpo now joint-top of Leeds’ assist charts with Dan James and Manor Solomon
Firpo pushed up high and wide once again against a resurgent Coventry. His positioning, and that of the similarly impactful Jayden Bogle on the opposite flank, is key to opening up spaces for Dan James and Manor Solomon to drift between the lines and dart in behind.
“We all love Sammy Byram for the job that he does. [Byram is Leeds’] ‘Mr Reliable’. But, going forward in this kind of manner, Firpo and Bogle are just absolutely brilliant full-backs to get up and support,” Bridges adds.
“Teams are absolutely scared stiff of us at this moment in time.”
Firpo now has six assists in the Championship this season. Five more than Byram has managed in a similar tally of starts. In fact, only James and Solomon have created more goals for their Leeds teammates.
Bogle, meanwhile, hit his fourth goal of the league season following a swashbuckling run from near the halfway line in midweek. This is already the most prolific campaign of the former Sheffield United man’s career, with three months still to go.
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