‘To Be Expected’ – Leeds United Star Not Being Sharp Doesn’t Surprise Ex-Striker
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Former Leeds United striker Jermaine Beckford has admitted that he liked how Daniel James forced the Brentford defenders into making quick decisions and feels his rustiness was understandable.
James played a key role in helping Leeds earn promotion to the Premier League last season but in the ongoing campaign has been a bit part player for the Whites.
Last season Leeds legend Jon Newsome pointed out that James has matured as a player, while Daniel Farke made it clear that he prefers a direct and creative winger in his forward department to balance the team and the Welshman does fulfil those requirements.
James made his last start in the Premier League in November against Manchester City and on Saturday he came on during the 83rd minute and impressed Beckford with his attacking flair.
Leeds though failed to find a breakthrough in the game with the match ending with a 0-0 scoreline and Beckford pointed out that James showed directness in his short display on Saturday.
The ex-Whites star pointed out that he enjoyed it when James was taking on defenders head on while forcing them to make quick decisions, but admitted that his final pass and shots were not on point as he has been featuring as a substitute this season.
Beckford admitted that he was hoping to see James brought on with enough time to make an impact.
“I really, really enjoyed DJ when he came on today because every time he picked the ball up, he was being so direct”, Beckford said on LUTV (7:09).
“He was picking the ball up and driving towards the defender and making a defender make a decision.
“His decision-making on the final pass or the final cross or the final shot was not quite there yet, but that is to be expected because he is coming off the bench.
“They [Brentford] defended so well, they doubled up on the full-back positions, they dropped really, really deep, and they made the middle of the pitch really dense.
“So it made it difficult for us to break it down, but at the same time, I wanted to see DJ come on with 30 or 35 minutes to go just so that we could see him catch his second breath as well.”
Leeds have failed to find the back of the net in their last four Premier League games and it remains to be seen whether Farke will find a way for his forwards to start scoring during the business part of the season.
Farke has been keen to see Leeds remain defensively solid and introducing James from the start of games could well upset the balance of the German’s set-up.
James will though be keen to clock as much game time as possible in advance of what he hopes will be Wales going to the World Cup.
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