Former Leeds United Academy graduate Noel Whelan has criticised young starlet Jack Clarke for not being ‘himself’ in last weekend’s clash against Rotherham United, but he certainly wasn’t rallying against the 18-year-old as he knew Clarke had to use it as a learning curve as our future opposition clubs are now taking note of his talents.
With ongoing transfer speculation about the lad and suggestions that Tottenham Hotspur are now the latest to put in a firm bid for his services (Leeds have reportedly knocked that back and restated he’s going nowhere) whether that in any way figured in a more below par showing from him is open to debate.
It could’ve just been a bad day for the lad and he will have them as he continues to step up and develop.
He was undoubtedly tightly marked though as oppositions wise up to what he’s capable of doing, but as Whelan says, he now needs to step up further and deal with that as everyone believes he has the potential.
Speaking to BBC Radio Leeds following the last match, he explained.
“Jack Clarke wasn’t himself today. He got a lot of attention, but he is going to get that when the spotlight’s on and people start raving about him. He is going to be tightly marked because he is one of those players who can change a game. So he is going to have get used to that kind of attention from the opposition.”
I think Whelan has got it spot on, with young attackers once they create headlines clubs pay more attention to them and then their next challenge is to cope with that and push past it.
Substituting him at halftime in the game, Clarke would undoubtedly have been disappointed and I guess manager Marcelo Bielsa would’ve been as well given he’s progressed to starting games. But they’ll each know it’s part of the process and it’s just another step the lad needs to take if he’s to reach the potential people think he has.
Given what we’ve seen from Bielsa so far with others like Kalvin Phillips, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if Clarke was back in the starting XI for Norwich.