Ian Maatsen arrived at Burnley on loan last summer as a 20-year-old and played 39 of their 46 games en route to the Championship title. Luton Town could depend on Amari’i Bell for 44 games in defence.
In 2021/22, Fulham could rely on Antonee Robinson for 36 appearances en route to the second-tier crown. Jordan Zemura would appear 33 times as Bournemouth followed the Cottagers up from the Championship.
They are all left-backs. It’s not a trend which emerges in that corner of the pitch alone. Promotion-winning sides are built upon the backs of reliable performers who know their roles and turn in seven-out-of-10s every week for nine months.
Leeds United saw it with Ben White, Stuart Dallas, Mateusz Klich, Jack Harrison, Patrick Bamford and Kalvin Phillips among many others in 2019/20. Twelve players would go beyond 2,200 minutes that season.
READ MORE: Leeds United-linked Stuart Webber to leave Norwich City as he addresses 'exciting' future
Ezgjan Alioski was 12th in that list at 2,262 minutes. The next best would be Gaetano Berardi on less than half the North Macedonian’s total playing time. It was a core group Marcelo Bielsa guided to the summit of the EFL.
Dallas and Alioski would prove to be Bielsa’s solutions at left-back, but neither would have considered themselves as naturals in that role going into the campaign. Left-back seems to have been a problem at Elland Road for years now.
Since Charlie Taylor departed for Burnley in 2017, it has felt like the most difficult position for Leeds to find a settled solution in. In 2017/18, Berardi, Vurnon Anita and Laurens De Bock would share it around to no great effect.
Then in 2018/19, after what looked like the coup of the summer in snaring Barry Douglas from Wolverhampton Wanderers’ title winners, the Scot would struggle and fail to recapture that form. Injuries took their toll and Bielsa turned to Alioski, a winger.
Dallas and Alioski would go on to be the designated pairing through a mesmerising first season back in the top flight, but everyone knew it was a problem which needed solving by Victor Orta. Junior Firpo was his last attempt at finding a natural option and he has never really inspired confidence.
Neither Pascal Struijk nor Max Wober are left-backs, while Firpo is sure to leave after relegation this summer. It is critical the Whites find at least one, senior, natural, reliable left-back this summer.
With Rodrigo expected to leave and Patrick Bamford misfiring, strikers also need to be looked at this summer, but there are at least an array of options for the next head coach to evaluate. There is barely even that at left-back.
Central midfield could quickly become a problem for the Whites too. Marc Roca, Tyler Adams, Weston McKennie and Adam Forshaw are all either gone or sat with big question marks over their heads going into next season.
Archie Gray, Darko Gyabi and Sam Greenwood at least provide some up-and-coming talent which would back itself to make a mark in the second tier, however, experience and bite at that level is essential in the engine room.
Which position do you think needs the most attention in the transfer window at Leeds United? Let us know in our big end-of-season Whites survey below.
READ NEXT:
