Leeds United’s season has hardly gone to plan so far in 2021/22 as they find themselves just three points above the drop zone.
With the last international break of the year drawing to a close, Whites boss Marcelo Bielsa will need to consider some adjustments ahead of their return to action against Tottenham Hotspur this weekend.
The Yorkshire side are amongst the lowest scorers (11 goals from 11 games) in the division, despite averaging the sixth-highest number of shots per game.
Of course, injuries have played their part, with Patrick Bamford missing their last six league games, but truth be told, Bielsa’s wide options have been far from outstanding.
Raphinha aside, both Jack Harrison and Dan James have struggled for form – in fact, as per WhoScored, they are the two lowest-rated players in the squad with six or more starts, with the former Manchester City dynamo being graded at 6.33 and the Welshman slightly better at 6.36.
Therefore, it could be wise to turn to rarely-seen 2020 summer signing Crysencio Summerville, who has played just 69 minutes from the bench in this Premier League campaign.
The 20-year-old, who signed in a £1.3m deal from Feyenoord, made a goalscoring U21 debut for the Netherlands this week and left a lasting impression on the manager.
“You can see that a number of players are developing well and we are also getting stronger across the board. This time we had Wouter Burger, Crysensio Summerville and Micky van de Ven: three new guys. They left a good impression on me,” Erwin van de Looi told Voetbal International.
“This means that the players who were there at the start [of the qualifying cycle] are also put on edge.”
Bielsa should look to ride this crest of form from Summerville and unleash him in the league when his team returns to action on Sunday. Given the ailing form of the aforementioned wide duo, it can hardly be that much of a risk.
The young Dutch winger can play on either flank and has excelled for Leeds’ U23 squad, for whom he has provided nine goals and eight assists in 22 appearances, via Transfermarkt.
LeedsLive reporter Joe Donnohue waxed lyrical about his form on social media, tweeting: “Summerville a wriggler, impossible to handle”, whilst Chris Powell once dubbed him a “bag of tricks” having coached him at ADO Den Haag in 2019/20.
The £1.35m-rated wing sensation must be unleashed sooner rather than later.
AND in other news, Leeds can find Bielsa’s dream Ayling successor in 24 y/o who “no opponent can handle”…
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