Leeds United came back to winning ways on Friday when they beat West Ham 2-1 at Elland Road. The result stopped the rot after back-to-back defeats and boosted confidence within the ranks. However, a horrendous display from one player must continue to worry Daniel Farke.
Brenden Aaronson produced a Man of the Match performance in the victory over West Ham. The American was tireless and produced a few moments of real quality in attack, including getting on the score sheet for the first time this season.
Ao Tanaka also returned to the starting eleven and showed in the first half what he brings to the table with his pressing and incisive passing against the Hammers at Elland Road.
However, the Leeds manager still has a few issues to sort out, and Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s lack of goals up front will continue to haunt Farke, as he did gamble on the former Everton forward in the summer transfer window.
Calvert-Lewin was poor for Leeds United against West Ham
Leeds signed Calvert-Lewin on a free transfer, and some of his early-season performances have been solid, including a goal in a 3-1 win over Wolves.
However, the striker has missed several chances, which have cost Leeds points this season, and he didn’t come close to scoring against a poor West Ham side.
He worked hard up front, kept the defenders busy, and was a presence on Friday. However, there was not enough quality that is expected from a Leeds number 9.
West Ham are one of the worst teams in the Premier League, who have an extremely dodgy defence. But Calver-Lewin didn’t seem like getting on the score sheet.
Lukas Nmecha replaced him towards the end as Farke hooked him off to get fresh legs on the pitch towards the end of the game.
The Leeds boss is dependent on Calvert-Lewin as he has not shown enough faith in Nmecha or Joel Piroe this season to start them as the team’s number 9 this season.
The numbers from the West Ham game are horrendous for the Leeds striker
Calvert-Lewin would have attracted some serious criticism for his performance if Leeds hadn’t beaten West Ham on Friday, as his individual performance was nothing more than poor.
The Leeds striker has escaped scrutiny because of the win. However, a deeper dive into his individual performance will worry Farke and supporters.
He attempted just one shot in the entire game, and that was off target. He attempted just 14 passes during the game and only eight of them found their man.
Calvert-Lewin worked hard for the team, providing an outlet upfront with his physicality, but there was a serious lack of quality in his play.
A Leeds number 9 needs to do more than just be a physical outlet for the team and a squad lacking goal scorers; the onus is on him to hit the back of the net regularly.
However, Farke is unlikely to drop him when Leeds travel to Brighton next weekend, given the lack of quality strikers in the squad at the moment.
But Calvert-Lewin needs to pull up his socks and start scoring again to ensure the Leeds boss does not even consider benching him.
