Archie Gray’s performance as a right-back for Leeds United continues to improve.
Gray had another start in that position Friday night as Leeds defeated Swansea City 4-0 due to goals from Crysencio Summerville, Joel Piroe, and Willy Gnonto (2).
The 17-year-old did manage to register an assist, as he played a precise pass in behind the Swansea defence for Gnonto to sprint onto and tuck into the bottom corner.
Gray had previously felt like a stopgap in that position, but with each passing week, he appears to be getting more comfortable, making it tough for someone like Connor Roberts to break into the starting XI.
Roberts was Leeds’ only January acquisition, joining from Burnley in order to play more regular minutes. After the game, pundit Jon Newsome told BBC Radio Leeds that Roberts will be scratching his head as to how he got into the team.
Roberts ‘scratching his skull’
He said: “Looking at Connor Roberts now doing some extra running with Mateo Joseph, he may be scratching his head, thinking, ‘I was going to come to Leeds United to get some games under my belt, play in that promotion push.'” But he might be sitting there for a little while.”
Roberts will just have to be patient at Leeds. With Daniel Farke’s team facing an extremely tight schedule, there is no doubt he will earn some starts in the coming week.
Farke has demonstrated his willingness to give periphery players a shot in the starting lineup by bringing in Ilia Gruev, Junior Firpo, and Patrick Bamford, among others.
Roberts is clearly determined to show himself at Elland Road, so when the opportunity arises, he must be prepared to seize it. It wouldn’t be surprising if it arrived on Saturday.
But, at the same time, there is no doubt that Gray deserves to keep his spot for the time being, given how outstanding he has been, making the decision incredibly difficult for Farke.
Other Leeds News https://mysporticle.com/i-thought-he-struggled-the-bbc-pundit-has-entirely-altered-his-mind-about-the-23-year-old-leeds-player/
