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Joe Rodon: The rock at the back that makes Leeds United tick – stats

Leeds United are the top scorers in the Championship and are the entertainers of the division. However, due to Burnley’s marvellous defensive record, it is easy to ignore that the Whites have been brilliant defensively as well. They have the second-best defensive record and Illan Meslier’s 17 clean sheets is only bettered by James Trafford’s 19. The Leeds defensive unit has worked brilliantly and at the heart of it has been Joe Rodon. He has been one of the best centre-backs in the Championship and has started the last 66 league games for the Yorkshire giants. In the absence of Pascal Struijk, he has become even more important and Daniel Farke will depend on him to keep his brilliant form going for the rest of the season.

Joe Rodon joined Leeds on loan initially from Tottenham in 2023 before the move was made permanent last summer despite the Whites failing to get promoted to the Premier League.

The 27-year-old defender has been one of the best players for Leeds in the last 18 months and his consistency at the back has been one of the features of the team under Farke.

Rodon is a leader in the Leeds squad and his experience will prove to be key if the Whites are to get promoted to the Premier League at the end of the ongoing season.

The Welshman formed a brilliant centre-back pairing with Struijk but the Dutchman’s absence due to injury has made him the senior partner in the pairing with Ethan Ampadu.

Despite missing his centre-back partner, Rodon has continued to be brilliant and has not dropped his level, which has kept the Leeds team ticking over the last few weeks.

Joe Rodon is the leader of the Leeds defensive unit

Rodon has been an absolute rock at the back. He formed a telepathic partnership with Struijk before adapting to ensure that the defence look good when Ampadu dropped in as well.

The Welshman is a modern centre-back who is comfortable on the ball, which is necessary if a defender wants to play in a Daniel Farke team, and is tasked with building attacks from the back.

The way Leeds play, it is no surprise that he is regularly amongst the players who touch the ball the most during the game, which is evident by the average of more than 93 touches per game.

He completes 92 percent of his passes but more importantly, he is very accurate when it comes to distributing the ball in the opposition’s half and is an effective carrier of the ball.

He is a Rolls Royce of a defender and rather than waiting to make last-ditch challenges, Rodon’s gamer-reading skills allow him to intervene to stop a dangerous situation from developing.

The Welshman effectively recovers the ball and looking at the numbers, his major errors are few and far between, which makes him a safe defender for a team that rely on playing out from the back.

The all-action centre-back

Leeds, on average, enjoy more than 60 percent of the possession in most games and their style of play is dependent on a high-line defence and the midfield controlling the game.

The centre-backs in the Leeds team are tasked with building from the back and need to be effective ball carriers. Rodon has all the skills, which has made him such an excellent player for Leeds.

He plays on the right of centre-back pairing and as his heat map shows, the defender is mostly parked around the centre circle due to the way Leeds play.

Rodon’s passing range and his ability to play in a high line, allow Leeds to squeeze their opponents and establish territorial dominance in most games.

The Welshman is everywhere on the right-hand side of the pitch and his ability to cover the gaps also allows Jayden Bogle to bomb forward as part of Farke’s plan.

He is one of the most important cogs in that Leeds machine designed by Farke and him remaining fit for the rest of the season will be crucial for their promotion hopes.

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