Largie Ramazani came on for the last 25 minutes and looked lively as Leeds United chased a goal against Preston North End at Deepdale on Saturday. An own goal in stoppage time helped Leeds to leave Preston with a point following a 1-1 draw but Ramazani showed why he deserves to start more games.
The Belgian has not started a league game since October and his last five appearances came from the bench. An ankle injury in October meant that he lost his place in the team and since then he has been struggling to get into the eleven.
However, it is clear from Leeds’ performance at Preston they need some spark from somewhere in their attack on the road to prize open teams who are happy to sit back and let the Whites dominate the ball.
Leeds had 65 percent possession but were left to shoot from outside the box at Deepdale and Preston were happy to let them have those low-percentage shots at their goal.
The Whites need some inspiration in attack away from home to get more wins as it is clear that their form on the road needs to improve drastically to boost their chances of automatic promotion to the Premier League this season.
Ramazani is the kind of mercurial talent who can add some spark and offer a different dimension to their attack, especially away from home where Leeds have looked predictable and easy to defend against.
Why is it time for Daniel Farke to start Largie Ramazani again?
Leeds are the top scorers in the Championship with 37 goals but 25 of those came at home and they have scored the other 12 on the road.
Scoring once on the road on average looks good on paper but out of those 12 goals, four of them came in one game at Swansea City and they have often struggled to get back into games away from home after conceding first.
A couple of weeks back they looked listless on the road at Blackburn in a 1-0 defeat and Leeds needed an own goal in stoppage time to rescue a point at Preston on Saturday.
For some reason or the other, the Leeds attack are struggling on the road, especially when it comes to trying to get back into games, and they need something different.
There are accusations that Farke’s tactics are too predictable away from home, so why not introduce someone unpredictable like Ramazani?
The Belgian’s unpredictability will be Leeds United’s asset on the road
Largie Ramazani scored three times and had an assist in his first eight league appearances for Leeds earlier in the season before sustaining an ankle injury in October.
The winger has not played enough to get that rhythm back and has been exclusively used from the substitutes’ bench since his return from injury.
If we look at the brief appearance he made against Preston on Saturday, there were signs that the winger could add something different to the Leeds attack.
Of course, not everything he tried came off and he only successfully completed one of the three dribbles he attempted in those 25 minutes at Deepdale. However, he was trying to get at the Preston defenders and his mercurial ability did put some pressure on their defence.
Ramazani looked electric in the first few months of the season and his ability in the wide areas made the Leeds attack look more dangerous. The ankle injury disrupted his season and he has not been the same since then.
However, it is hard to forget that this is his first season in the Championship and there is time for him to find that rhythm back in the latter half of the campaign.
But he is not going to get that back if he is just making fleeting appearances from the bench and needs a proper run in the team again in the coming months.
Leeds have a home game lined up against Oxford United next Saturday but they have another tough trip to Stoke City on Boxing Day.
It would be clever of Farke to introduce Ramazani into the starting eleven again at the cauldron of the bet365 Stadium after Christmas.
