Georginio Rutter was back to his confident best in Leeds United’s 4-0 victory over Norwich City.
The 22-year-old had been in his worst run of form of the season heading into the play-off semi-final second leg, having not registered a single goal or assist in nine matches.
Daniel Farke admitted that Rutter’s confidence had taken a knock after his surgery over the international break, while Patrick Bamford made it his pre-match mission against Norwich to ensure he was feeling positive.
And at the best possible time, Rutter turned up. Not only did he score just his second ever goal at Elland Road, but his most prized attribute was also right on it – his dribbling.
Having completed just one successful dribble at Carrow Road, he made six in the return fixture and those are the sort of numbers he was producing earlier in the season.
Rutter reveals he know where his game needs to ‘mature’
Only former Leeds Jack Clarke completed more successful dribblers per 90 in the regular season than Rutter, so it would be fair to describe him as an off the cuff type player.
When it works, there aren’t many defenders at this level who can live with him. However, when it doesn’t, Rutter can be guilty of losing possession in dangerous areas. On average, only six players lost the ball on more occasions per game than the Frenchman across the whole of the Championship.
That isn’t necessarily much of a problem when he is trying stuff in the opposition’s end of the field, but when it is near his own box, it can be.
One example that springs to mind recently came in the first leg at Norwich, where he tried to dribble the ball away from his own corner flag rather than clear it, which caused him to concede a dangerous free-kick.
And speaking in an interview with BBC Radio Leeds, Rutter has acknowledged that he needs to ‘mature’ when it comes to deciding when and where to try these things.
He said: “Sometimes it is instinctive, but sometimes I need to be more mature because if I lose the ball it can be dangerous for the team. It is true that sometimes I do something good, but sometimes as well not good.
“I need to try find the middle. But when it works it’s good, because I can hear the fans going ‘woahh’. For me it is the confidence as well, when I am dribbling I am very happy.”
Rutter can’t afford to be wasteful against Southampton
In Sunday’s play-off final, Leeds will be coming up against a Southampton side who averaged more possession than anyone else in the Championship during the regular season.
With that in mind, it is likely to be a game in which Leeds will need to soak up pressure, and potentially hit them on the counter-attack.
Rutter’s pace and dribbling will be key to that, but at the same time, there will also be periods during the match where Leeds need him to keep hold of it.
If Rutter is frequently found losing the ball in the centre of the pitch, that is just going to invite all sorts of pressure from Southampton on Leeds’ defence, which could mean big trouble.