Former Leeds United and now BBC Radio Leeds pundit Noel Whelan has heaped praise on youngster Tyler Roberts for the performance he put during last weekend’s feisty encounter with Aston Villa.
The 20-year-old’s improved form for us this year has been rewarded by pretty regular first team action under manager Marcelo Bielsa, and he has of course earnt the first of what will be more Welsh international caps.
Having overcome the injury that held him back on his arrival at Elland Road, Roberts has shown his versatility filling in as we dealt with our injuries this year, and he does have 23 starts to his name, with eight substitute showings and across those games he’s chipped in with three goals and five assists as we battled for promotion to the Premier League.
Speaking to Football Insider this week as Whelan continued to pour over the controversial weekend’s action, he called his impact on the game as a halftime substitution for Jack Harrison ‘exceptional’.
“I was delighted at the way Tyler Roberts came in and made an impact. He was exceptional. He is nowhere near a Pablo Hernandez in terms of being able to pick out that pass, and he needs to be more ruthless. But he was transformed at the weekend. What he brings is a little bit more directness – he’s got great feet, a trick in his locker and can drive past people. He can cause problems because has a turn of pace about him. He is very lively as a number 10 and that’s where I would play him in the play-offs.”
There’s certainly been improvement from the lad as the season had drawn on and he’s taken the praise for that, so much so in fact, many fans felt he should’ve been our Young Player of the Year this season – but that honour went to Jack Clarke.
🏆 | Well done to our next award winner Jack Clarke who has been voted the 2019 #LUFC Young Player of the Year! pic.twitter.com/o7Yz8m9RY6
— Leeds United (@LUFC) April 28, 2019