It’s fair to say Willy Gnonto has given his Leeds United head coach Jesse Marsch some food for thought. Gnonto only made his Whites debut last week against Liverpool, but in the space of just seven days he has pushed himself into contention for a starting spot.
Unfortunately, Leeds only have one more Premier League game before the competition comes to a halt for the World Cup, but fans shouldn’t be surprised to see Gnonto making his first league start under Jesse Marsch at Tottenham Hotspur. Such a notion comes on the back of his performance against Bournemouth on Saturday as Marsch’s side won 4-3 at Elland Road to move up to 12th in the table.
It’s no exaggeration to say the Italy international’s introduction in the game helped to change the complexion of the fixture after replacing the out-of-sorts Jack Harrison at half-time. Straight away his direct running game gave Adam Smith something to think about and despite Leeds conceding early in the second half, he helped the Whites find some sort of a foothold in the game.
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This was Gnonto’s first senior appearance at Elland Road and it didn’t take him long to show he belonged, attacking with intent, pushing Leeds forward and making things happen in attacking areas from his position on the right flank. Without a doubt, though, his outstanding moment of the match came in the 84th minute.
Picking the ball up on the edge of his own defensive third, Gnonto turned and powered down the centre of the pitch, skipping over a challenge or two along the way. With Crysencio Summerville in support, he reached the edge of the Cherries' box before delivering the deftest of passes through the line for the Dutchman to finish with finesse.
Ultimately, for the second week running, Summerville will be the man to pick up the headlines as the match winner, but it was Gnonto who made the goal and his contribution should be commended, on the night of his 19th birthday. Elland Road erupted as the net bulged and in the midst of the celebrations, the Italian’s teammates made sure to congratulate him on his effort.
Gnonto has had to be patient since arriving in West Yorkshire on transfer deadline day. After being an unused substitute on a handful of occasions, he was forced to make do with run-outs for Michael Skubala’s Under-21s during the first two months of his Leeds career.
He well and truly has his foot in the first-team door now, though, and it was no surprise to hear Marsch singing his praises after the game.
“What you can see is how intelligent he is,” Marsh said about the former FC Zurich man. “Wherever you play him on the pitch his savviness, his clarity as to what kinds of things he should try, how to play against the ball, he's a very intelligent young man.
“He knows multiple languages, understands tactics, and then obviously has quality so yeah, I think he's earning more and more time and he's making a big case from himself.”
Asked if he could be pushing Jack Harrison for a starting spot, Marsch added. “Yeah, I mean, Jack is a guy that we count on and is very reliable, but certainly Willy, I think Joffy as well, he hasn't always played as much but in training, he's been putting a lot into it and been really effective and performing well.
“Obviously now we see Crysencio at a really high level. A lot of these young guys are pushing. And again, I always try to mention Mateo (Joseph) and Sonny (Perkins) as well, because we really like those guys.”
Marsch had held Gnonto back prior to last week’s game at Anfield, but the Italian has finally been let off the leash and moving forward, he may well have a key role to play.
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