BBC commentator Noel Whelan has suggested that Barry Douglas’ time with Leeds United may end this season, due to the “embarrassing” state of the defender’s current situation at Elland Road.
Douglas began the campaign as Marcelo Bielsa’s first-choice left-back, but has not started a Championship fixture since the third matchday of the season and has been an unused substitute on five occasions.
He has not featured in the league since playing six minutes as we beat Birmingham City last month, either, bringing his minutes for the term so far to 332 in the second-tier and 90 in the EFL Cup – having played in the second-round defeat to Stoke City.
If Douglas continues to spend his time in the dugout or watching the action from home for much longer, Whelan feels it will only be inevitable that the one-time Scotland international is not here next season.
“Third choice left-back is a bit embarrassing for Barry Douglas,” Whelan told Football Insider. “I would say he is the best left-back at the club, but he is just not doing it.
“We’ve not seen the best of him at Leeds. Fans had such high hopes for him on the basis of his performances for Wolves, but it has been stop-start for him at Leeds.
“He’s been in and out of the side – he’s had some injuries and just hasn’t played well enough when he has played. I can’t see him being at Leeds next year if this continues.”
Who is our best left-back?
Ezgjan Alioski
Stuart Dallas
Barry Douglas
The club had lured Douglas to West Yorkshire from Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2018 following the Molineux natives’ promotion into the Premier League, when the board agreed to pay £3million for a then-28-year-old who featured in 42 second-tier games that term.
Injuries meant he struggled to make an ever-lasting impact at Elland Road after making the switch, and Douglas now finds himself behind Ezgjan Alioski and Stuart Dallas in Bielsa’s pecking order.
Dallas has only started at left-back once in the league so far this season coming against Blackburn Rovers last time out, with most of his appearances coming at right-back or in midfield.
Alioski, meanwhile, has started nine league games on the left-hand side of our defence, from where he has averaged more successful tackles per ninety minutes (1.9) than Douglas (1.0), as well as more interceptions (1.2 to 0.3), clearances (1.4 to 0.7) and key passes (1.5 to 1.4) but trails in terms of long key balls (0.1 to 0.7), per WhoScored data.