Leeds United picked up another impressive point away from home against Tottenham on Monday night.
Despite being mathematically safe in the top flight, Daniel Farke’s men proved we were far from “on the beach”. We delivered a gritty defensive display as they held on during a barrage of corners in stoppage time.
United were far from at our best. Key players such as Noah Okafor, Gabriel Gudmundsson and Jayden Bogle were huge misses during the 1-1 draw.
Dan James struggled as a makeshift right-wing back as Leeds United drew with Spurs
It was the absence of Bogle, though, that will surely cause the alarm bells to be ringing for the 49ers ahead of the summer transfer window.
Since Farke shifted to a five-at-the-back formation, the wing-backs have been a key to our success, both offensively and defensively.
But with Gudmundsson and Bogle both out, Farke was forced to experiment. Dan James ended up filling in at right-wing-back whilst James Justin played on the opposite flank.
In this unfamiliar role, the Welshman looked lost and was caught out of position multiple times. He often didn’t know whether to press high, or sit in next to Joe Rodon.
Gametime has been hard to come by for James this season, meaning it would be hard for him to perform in his natural position as a winger, never mind as a wing-back.
Leeds’ trip to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was a clear signal to the 49ers that they must reinforce this area of Farke’s squad in the summer. James has proven he is simply not capable of playing at wing-back.
Data suggests Leeds United’s Dan James was poor against Spurs
As well as failing to pass the eye test, the data suggests that James had a game to forget in the capital. The 28-year-old ended up being hooked off in the 63rd minute.
James was poor defensively against Spurs, winning just one of the seven duels he was involved in
The only dribble he attempted in the game was unsuccessful, and he lost possession six times
Only one of the three crosses he delivered was accurate (Sofascore)
If we want to establish ourselves in the Premier League for years to come, we need to have a squad deep enough that Farke is not forced to put square pegs in round holes.
And whilst this may limit James’ gametime even further, there’s no way we should go into next season with it even being a possibility that he has to lineup for us at wing-back, barring an unforeseen injury crisis, or as a last-minute substitute when we are chasing the game, h.