Leeds United crashed out of the EFL Cup on Wednesday night when Chelsea hammered them 6-3 at Stamford Bridge and exposed a few big frailties in their squad.
When Brenden Aaronson scored Leeds’s second goal early in the second half, the Whites supporters were dreaming of a first win at Stamford Bridge in 27 years.
However, the night quickly turned into a nightmare as Chelsea ran riot after the break, scoring six times to dismantle Leeds and send them crashing out of the cup.
Daniel Farke would be disappointed by his team’s defending in West London. However, the Chelsea result exposed the club’s transfer strategy towards the end of the summer transfer window.
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49ers went cheap at the end, and Leeds paid the price
Leeds signed Michael Zetterer on a permanent deal worth £4.3m from Eintracht Frankfurt towards the end of the summer transfer window as their new number 2 goalkeeper.
However, his performance against Chelsea suggests that the 31-year-old goalkeeper is nowhere near good enough to be the backup goalkeeper at a Premier League club.
Half of Chelsea’s six goals could have been prevented if Leeds had a better goalkeeper between the sticks at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night.
Leeds had more options on the table, but they opted for the cheap deal towards the end of the window and signed a goalkeeper who is clearly not ready for English football’s intensity.
They also signed Melvin Bard on loan as the backup full-back, and even he looked average and below par against Chelsea. There is little to suggest that he will push Gabriel Gudmundsson for a place in the team.
Leeds fans are still waiting to see Jean-Mateo Bahoya in action since his arrival, which inevitably raises the question: if he is not considered ready to feature in an EFL Cup tie, when will he be ready to make the step up and play in the Premier League?
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There are holes in the Leeds squad
Zetterer’s performance was alarming as Leeds are now heavily dependent on James Trafford, and any injury to their record signing could set the alarm bells ringing.
It is hard to see how Farke could trust the German goalkeeper to play in the Premier League if something happens to Trafford.
Leeds fans are holding out hope that Bahoya turns out to be a smart signing, but Bard’s performance on Wednesday night showed Gudmundsson’s fitness is going to be even more important this season.
The Whites still do not have another centre-forward with goalscoring pedigree like Dominic Calvert-Lewin in their squad. Keeping him fit will make or break their season.
Cheap bastards 49ers
When will you learn
Its the back ups done on the cheap, no nos 10 or Cf was obviously lacking, we were over run in mf!
Cant just blame Gk, Aaronsen, Longstaff, and Nmecha looked way out of there depth too, also Farke for not changing when Chelsea did, was biggest mistake, and cant keep saying its only the cup, it provides extra cash for better back up players! 🙈