‘Looks hurried’: Journalist slams 5/10 Leeds player v Monaco

Add as preferred source on Google

Leeds United played host to European giants Monaco today as they continued their preparation for the upcoming Championship season.

After being relegated from the Premier League last term, Leeds have now turned to Daniel Farke to lead them back to the top flight at the first attempt.

Farke, who enjoyed great success with Norwich, is hoping to get the Leeds fans onboard early on in his tenure.

However, the performance against Monaco today was very much of a side trying to knit new ideas together.

And one man to particularly struggle, according to Yorkshire Live’s Beren Cross, was young defender Leo Hjelde.

Giving his player ratings for the clash, Cross lamented Hjelde’s inability to impress this pre-season, giving him a poor 5/10 rating.

“Just not quite catching the eye at left-back in either of the public friendlies up to this point. Looks hurried in possession and left a few team-mates in the lurch with poor passes” Cross wrote on Hjelde in giving him a 5/10 rating.

New signing Ethan Ampadu was among the players to deliver a better performance, with Cross giving him a seven.

Hjelde, of course, will hope to do better before the season starts. But as Cross says, he’ll need better than this display if he’s to get into the team for opening day.

Leeds might look elsewhere

While friendlies aren’t the be-all and end-all of everything, for a young player like Hjelde they are a chance to really make an impression.

So far, it doesn’t seem like he is doing that. And with that, Leeds might well look at other options or new signings if he’s not going to impress enough.

Ultimately, at a huge club like Leeds, you need to be on it all the time and impressing. And if Hjelde can’t quickly turn things around, then he might find himself out of the team quickly.