EFL pundit Sam Parkin has delivered his verdict on where it has gone wrong for Leeds United as of late.
The Whites will now be putting the final preparations in place for the commencement of their play-off campaign on Sunday, with a two-legged tie against Daniel Farke’s former club Norwich City to come.
The play-offs is effectively providing Leeds with a second opportunity to return to the Premier League at the first attempt, having blown automatic promotion in April.
Leeds picked up just eight points from their final eight matches which meant both Leicester City and Ipswich Town pipped them to the top two.
As a result of such a poor run, Leeds supporters are not overly confident of their side’s chances of winning the play-offs and so it is Farke’s job to get the players ready to go again.
Sam Parkin says Archie Gray has received some ‘harsh’ criticism
As is often the case when a side goes through a poor run of form, individual players will always be looked at regarding what they could and should have done better.
After conceding just three goals in 13 matches between the turn of the New Year and March international break, Leeds’ defence has been considerably weaker lately, shipping nine in their last three.
Aside from the win at Middlesbrough, Leeds’ attack has not been firing like it once was either. Georginio Rutter is low on confidence, while Joel Piroe also produced a couple of dismal displays against Blackburn Rovers and QPR.
However, speaking on the latest episode of the ‘What the EFL Podcast‘, pundit Parkin actually believes it is Archie Gray who has been on the end of some ‘harsh’ criticism lately.
After spending the majority of the season at right-back, Gray’s last three starts have all come in midfield, which has coincided with the middle of the pitch looking incredibly open.
As is understandable given he is only 18, Farke has acknowledged Gray has some areas for improvement in that position, but Parkin does not think Leeds’ openness can all be pinned on him.
He said: “There seems to be this narrative about the midfield being too open and it was against QPR, but it is quite harsh to pin it on young Archie Gray who is obviously played both full-back and midfield this year, latterly midfield. There is some suggestion the midfield they’re a bit open in that area of the pitch but I wouldn’t be surprised if that is changed for these games.”
What is Leeds’ best midfield pairing heading into the play-offs?
At this stage of the season, there is little to no chance of Farke diverting from the 4-2-3-1 he has used all season. This means it will be a midfield two.
It would be brilliant if Farke had the capacity to move Ethan Ampadu back into midfield but with Pascal Struijk still out, he seemingly doesn’t trust Liam Cooper or Charlie Cresswell enough to do so.
Effectively, Farke is choosing between Ilia Gruev, Glen Kamara and Gray for two positions. Despite a poor recent display at QPR, Gruev is a certainty due to being more defensive minded.
Kamara was chosen ahead of Gray on the final day against Southampton and due to the extra control he brings, that does look like the best partnership right now.