Unfortunately for Manor Solomon, his biggest contribution to Leeds United’s clash with Burnley last week was the slip which allowed the visitors to launch the counter attack which led to the game’s only goal.
Once again, Manor Solomon looked to be one of Leeds’ brightest players in their first league defeat of the season. The Tottenham loanee made three key passes, according to Whoscored, with no player on either side managing more.
However, he was unable to produce a moment of quality on a par with the brilliant cross which set up Mateo Joseph in the win against Hull City. And with Solomon dealing with a back problem recently, there is an argument that Largie Ramazani should get the chance to make his full debut against Cardiff on Saturday.
But if Solomon does keep his place, there is perhaps one small change Daniel Farke should look for the 25-year-old to make as Leeds look to bounce back as quickly as possible.
The small change Daniel Farke needs Manor Solomon to make after Leeds’ defeat
Junior Firpo has been something of a different player at Championship level, with the left-back contributing nine assists in 34 games in the second tier. He opened his account for this season by finding Joel Piroe with a sumptuous pass against Hull.
Most of those assists came at a time when Firpo had Crysencio Summerville ahead of him, with the pair absolutely terrorising Championship defences. Of course, one move Leeds fans did not get bored of seeing last year was Summerville cutting inside onto his right foot and often curling the ball into the far corner.
But the problem for opponents was that if Summerville’s path was closed off, he would often have Firpo flying forward outside of him and providing an option on the overlap. As it turned out, the Dominican Republic international could produce a moment of outstanding quality if given the chance.
Slight alteration could bring the best out of Junior Firpo again
Firpo is enjoying playing alongside Solomon following Summerville’s move to West Ham in the summer transfer window. But it was notable against Burnley that Solomon did not use Firpo on the overlap once, with the 28-year-old particularly keen in the second-half to fly forward as Leeds tried to find an equaliser. It is perhaps significant that Firpo’s assist against Hull came once Solomon had been replaced.
It was alarming how quickly Leeds looked to be out of ideas last week, with their attacking players – including Solomon – largely struggling to ask many questions of James Trafford.
Solomon has already shown that he has the potential to be too good for the Championship, with Neil Redfearn suggesting that he looked ‘unplayable’ at times, but a small change where he does look for Firpo on the overlap could perhaps make a big difference, particularly in those games where opponents are looking to sit in and frustrate a Leeds side which, under Farke, has really struggled to break teams down.
Receive a digest of our best Leeds content each week direct to your mailbox
