With Leeds United creating 21 chances against Swansea City last weekend, yet still losing the game 1-0 as we struggled to adequately test their goalkeeper with those chances, former player and now pundit Noel Whelan believes that manager Marcelo Bielsa will shake up the starting line up for when we face Barnsley after the current international break.
The changes Whelan suggests certainly won’t surprise fans and he’ll certainly gain some support from fans who are waiting patiently to see more of Eddie Nketiah and Helder Costa, but rightly, despite Swansea disappointment, as he spoke to Football Insider this week, Whelan approached as a freshening up and giving the aforementioned duo and Barry Douglas their shot at the side, rather than axing players for poor performances.
Certainly when it came to Patrick Bamford with four goals in seven.
“The first change I would expect to see is Eddie Nketiah starting. It’s time for him to be given a go. It’s the same with Helder Costa, who has also looked good coming on from the bench. Patrick Bamford should drop down for a game, as well as Jack Harrison. Bamford has not done a great deal wrong but Leeds need to freshen up a little bit and Barnsley will be a stubborn, physical, well-drilled side. Leeds need some guile and cleverness, and Nketiah and Costa would provide that. I would also expect Douglas to come in for Alioski at left-back as he started the season before injury.”
Douglas could make a massive difference as well given his ability for assists, so it would again give us a slightly different option as we look to bounce back to winning ways at the first time of asking.
Whether we get those three changes remains to be seen, but we will see more of Nketiah and Costa as the games tick by.
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