Leeds United were handed a warning from the Championship at the weekend about their squad situation and surgery needed in the next 18 days
Warning shots landed at Leeds United from the Championship on Saturday. For a club with aspirations of returning to the Premier League at the first time of asking, Daniel Farke’s squad at St Andrew’s looked painfully inadequate.
On behalf of the second tier, Birmingham City were only too willing to dole out the alert, even if it did take a last-minute penalty. The match was hardly a one-way lesson in second-tier football, but the overarching point stood: a 19-man squad with three goalkeepers and an average age of 23 years old does not win titles.
Injuries and transfers took their toll in an especially cruel alignment of the stars on Saturday. It’s unlikely, Farke will hope, the squad is in as poor a shape as that again this season, but action is swiftly needed with 18 days of the transfer window to go.
Based on when the window closes and the prognosis Farke has given for most of the current injuries, it seems as if we are not going to see the fully operational might of this squad until after the international break. That means the next four games could remain a little choppy on the personnel front.
Georginio Rutter is back, Sam Greenwood and Sonny Perkins should be in contention for Friday night, but other than that, there’s a clear need for fresh meat. And that’s not just around the edges.
Joe Rodon has taken the edge off the crisis in central defence, but Liam Cooper has not strung more than 15 consecutive league starts together for three years. Another centre-back seems wise given Charlie Cresswell’s age and Pascal Struijk’s struggles of the past two seasons.
Junior Firpo and Sam Byram are two other defenders in this squad with challenging injury records. Relying on at least one of them to be fit at any one time or the 19-year-old Leo Hjelde as a makeshift left-back also seems risky.
A reliable, proven, natural left-back seems a wise addition. It would also release Byram to support at his preferred right-back when needed.
Tyler Adams staying beyond September 1 remains a tantalising prospect, but if you prepare for the worst-case scenario, two central midfielders are essential. Ethan Ampadu and 17-year-old Archie Gray cannot be expected to play all 46 league games this season.
Even if Luis Sinisterra and Wilfried Gnonto do leave before the end of the window, Leeds remain well stocked in wide areas with Crysencio Summerville, Perkins, Daniel James and Ian Poveda, as well as Rutter if they get the centre forward they need.
A natural, advanced playmaker to feature behind the striker in Farke’s system is also important because, as it stands, they have nobody in that creative mould. A couple of these needs before Friday night would go a long way to easing some concerns on the terraces too.
