Leeds are fortunate to be blessed with one of the most promising academy sides in the Championship.
They have a number of budding youngsters coming through, no less than in Alfie McCalmont and Robbie Gotts who have been in and around the first team this term.
However, another of them is Pascal Struijk.
The Dutch defender, who was signed from Ajax, has recently earned his first-team debut after putting pen to paper on a new deal in September.
However, he’s shown in his minimal time on the pitch why he still has a lot of work to do.
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On the chalkboard
Marcelo Bielsa raised eye-brows with his substitutions on Saturday afternoon as he withdrew Patrick Bamford and Gaetano Berardi.
Bringing on Eddie Nketiah at 3-1 up seemed understandable but the decision to take off the Swiss centre-back was strange.
Speaking after the game, Bielsa had the following to say about his change:
“About Pascal and Berardi, one centre forward with a physical presence was important for Pascal. Maybe it was better to have one centre-back with the same size or bigger than the striker. I thought aerial play of the team is going to be better with one player at 1.9m.”
It’s rather ironic, therefore, that his lack of athleticism was what cost Leeds their victory.
Struijk allowed Robert Glatzel to get in behind him to score Cardiff’s third as the tall Dutchman appeared stuck in the mud. His tall frame caught him out as he let his manager down with poor positioning and anticipation.
Allowing Glatzel to get the better of him showed why improvement is needed and why Berardi is still such an important player when someone like Liam Cooper is missing.
Virtually impossible: Can you name the year all of these Leeds flops arrived at Elland Road?
His reliability may be questionable, earning seven red cards during his time in west Yorkshire, but his experience and know-how is key.
Struijk has undoubted promise but his small cameo last Saturday cost Leeds. At the age of just 20, it’s clear he has a lot of maturing to do to make it at first-team level. Bielsa will need to think very carefully about using him again in a similar situation.
Meanwhile, Struijk wasn’t the only person who cost Leeds last weekend…
