Necessity is the mother of invention, as they say, and the removal of Luke Ayling from Leeds United’s options has opened up a world of routes for Jesse Marsch, or in this case, me, to take. The paucity of right-back solutions allows for all kinds of shapes and systems.
Time on the sidelines seems to have caught up with Jamie Shackleton. This writer has long banged the drum for a hard-working, homegrown character like Shackleton, but his stock has fallen through his repeated spells in the treatment room and memories of that brutal Jack Grealish experience in December remain fresh.
Playing Raphinha in the defensive third of the field brings the sound of bullets powering into your feet, while the centre-back options do not have the agility or turn of speed needed to bring width to a narrow attack. Daniel James does not have stellar defensive credentials, but he would bring speed, tenacity and work rate to a wing-back role at the very least.
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Leeds are not short of centre-backs and a back three seems to suit the collection of players available. If Liam Cooper is indeed ready on Wednesday night then he returns while Pascal Struijk starts on the left after a decent turn in the 10-man side of Sunday.
Robin Koch and Struijk can at least split a little to cover the channels. Jack Harrison brings the same attributes as James, but to the left flank as a wing-back.
Kalvin Phillips, so impressive as a single pivot under Marcelo Bielsa, gets to patrol the area on his own in front of the back three in my new system too. The England international would be able to drop in alongside Cooper if the outer centre-backs have to cover gaps behind the wing-backs.
Mateusz Klich starts because of a lack of alternatives, while Lewis Bate is my x-factor. The former Chelsea youth was impressive in very difficult circumstances on Sunday and while there will be some worries about his stature and experience in such a bearpit, he deserves a chance for me.
Sunday’s cameo, including his ability to break lines with his dribbling, and the opposition narrative tips the scales in his favour. In stark contrast to a right-back berth, Raphinha plays in a two-man strikeforce alongside Joe Gelhardt, for me.
Visions of their link-up for the winner against Norwich City are hard to shake. It’s time for the Brazilian to be the talisman and the match-winner in this team, while Gelhardt deserves another go after his sacrifice at the weekend.
Beren’s XI: Meslier; Koch, Cooper, Struijk; Phillips; James, Bate, Klich, Harrison; Raphinha, Gelhardt.
