A recent EFL announcement will have left one Leeds United star ‘disappointed’, according to Jobi McAnuff.
Leeds United moved within just one more win of claiming the Championship title with 100 points on Monday as they destroyed Bristol City 4-0.
It was another scintillating display from Daniel Farke’s side, as Ao Tanaka scored a lovely volley to get the ball rolling before Willy Gnonto latched onto Joel Piroe’s sublime pass to score.
Just as it seemed Leeds wouldn’t twist the knife, substitute Largie Ramazani scored a brace off the bench.
It was a performance typical of Leeds’ excellent season as they pressed high, created loads of chances and were unpenetrable at the back.
Leeds have been so good this season that fans have been annoyed that only three players were included in the EFL’s Championship Team of the Season.
Supporters have been particularly frustrated about the league’s top scorer, Piroe, missing the cut but Jobi McAnuff believes Junior Firpo should be ‘disappointed’ as well.
Junior Firpo unlucky not to be in Championship Team of the Season
Speaking on Sky Sports ahead of Monday’s win, McAnff analysed the performances of Jayden Bogle and Firpo in the recent 6-0 thrashing of Stoke City.
He said: “Look how high he’s [Bogle] pressing there, that’s a full-back getting as high as he can.
“That’s why they’ve been so hard to deal with, you see him here getting into the middle of the goal.
“Firpo’s done exactly the same on the other side, I think he will be disappointed not to make the team this season as well, given his contributions, but they provide the width that’s really enabled that front three to be nice and narrow.
“Every time that ball comes into the box, there’s someone getting on the end of it.
“Whether it’s Piroe, Solomon, Aaronson – again for me should have scored a few more goals than he has done but does a lot of work off the ball as well – just being so hard to deal with from a defensive point of view.”
Junior Firpo stats compared to Harrison Burrows
Though Bogle, Tanaka and Dan James all made the Team of the Season, Firpo missed out to Sheffield United’s Harrison Burrows – something he clearly wasn’t happy about, given his post on X, formerly Twitter.
Burrows has enjoyed a good season for Chris Wilder’s Blades, scoring five goals and setting up another three while only being booked twice in 42 league games.
However, his stats pale in comparison to Firpo’s, who, despite playing 10 fewer games, scored four goals himself and picked up a fantastic 10 assists.
No defender has set up more goals than the Dominican this season, with only five more players in any position beating him in the charts. He should be in the Team of the Season.
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