Following 16 years out of the top flight, Leeds fans were likely filled with a mixture of dread and excitement over how their team would stack up against the big guns of the Premier League.
38 games on and the answer was conclusive, Leeds proved that they belonged among the elite of the Premier League. Marcelo Bielsa’s wonderful, attacking style of play captured the imagination of the nation and left the entire Premier League entertained not just the Elland Road faithful.
Within that intense system, a number of players truly shone as is always the case no matter the season and no matter the success achieved. But with Leeds securing a once unlikely ninth place finish, it means a number of candidates were considered for this list making it even tougher to settle on but ultimately the five selected stood out more than most during the 2020/21 campaign.
Patrick Bamford
Comfortably the name that springs to mind first, Patrick Bamford silenced his critics this season. After unsuccessful Premier League spells at Crystal Palace and Burnley, Bamford finally made himself known at the top level. With 17 goals in 38 appearances Bamford finished the season just six goals behind Golden Boot winner Harry Kane. That tally also him outscore fellow English strikers Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Ollie Watkins leaving him as the second most prolific English forward.
He matched Son Heung-Min for goals and outscored the likes of Sadio Mane, Raheem Sterling and Jamie Vardy as he finished as the league’s joint fourth highest goal scorer. After years of doubts and a number of people citing his inability to consistently score, this statistic alone is enough to see him make the top five.
But there are plenty of other stats which demonstrate his holistic contribution to Leeds’ success including his record of over 18 pressures per game as he established himself as one of the best pressers in the league reinforced by his 21 tackles, 36 fouls and 10 interceptions.
That also proves he’s a forward thinking player as he looks to win the ball high up the field and such a notion is reinforced by what he does with the ball at his feet too as he averages six progressive passes per 90 to bring other exciting attackers like Jack Harrison into play speaking of which…
Jack Harrison
An ever-present in the Leeds engine room this season, the industrious Harrison can be extremely happy with his season. I say engine room because unlike most wingers in the league, there’s a huge demand on the Leeds wide men to carry the ball forward into dangerous areas from deep whilst providing high pressure on opponents to win the ball in attacking areas.
With nearly 20 pressures per 90 on average, Jack Harrison is one of the most active pressers in the league and he’s effective too winning the ball back over 10% of the time.
Other than his superb work rate, his eight goals backed up his outstanding performances which peaked with the 4-0 win at Burnley where he ran the show with a goal and two assists. That tally of eight goals also saw him end the year as the highest scoring English midfielder which came courtesy of a 42% shot accuracy which was higher than Bamford’s and Harry Kane’s.
With 167 crosses and eight assists, he was a creative hub for the Whites as well. In fact, he created 10 big chances for teammates last year.
Illan Meslier
A calm and resolute figure was definitely needed in goal for Leeds especially when you consider a long term replacement for the nerve-inducing figure of Kiko Casilla was needed. When Meslier made his loan deal permanent it was most would not have predicted that he would go onto be such an accomplished young keeper in his inaugural Premier League campaign.
Although Leeds’ defence famously began the season shakily, by the end of the campaign Meslier calm in goal was reflected in a more confident defence as the clean sheets began to rack up. In his 35 appearances, he managed 11 clean sheets thanks to his whopping 140 saves and 11 sweeper clearances as he proved to be a top notch modern keeper.
Only directly at fault for two goals, he only conceded a further 50 thanks to his superb athleticism in goal allowing his nibble figure to leap around the goal to deny some of the league’s finest strikers.
He was key in attack as well completing 1080 passes including 167 accurate long balls helping Leeds transition from defence to attack at breath taking speed.
Liam Cooper
The Leeds skipper was not in the team every week, a sometimes injury irritated season saw to that, but his leadership qualities were there for everyone to see when he did appear. It’s somewhat hard to quantify his importance to Leeds through stats but, arguably the backbone to this Leeds side in terms of spirit, Cooper provides Marcelo Bielsa with a crucial element in a defence that by the end of the season was developing into one of the league’s meanest.
Well versed in Bielsa’s expectations, he cut a safe figure when lingering on the halfway line utilising positioning and timing to nullify the danger when teams crept in behind Leeds’ high line. With an ever changing partner, his knowledge and subsequent solidity was key.
He made by far the most recoveries out of all Leeds’ centre backs with 156 to his name whilst his 198 duals won is a mouth-wateringly high tally. He only lost 108 throughout the season as he proved solid against some top attackers completing 66% of his tackles and winning 96 out of 157 aerial battles.
Kalvin Phillips
For a couple of years, Kalvin Phillips has proven that he could be a star performer in the Premier League and, when given the chance to, he lived up to expectations with a campaign which proved he has the potential to go straight to the top of the league.
From a not too over-optimistic perspective, Phillips’ performances have mirrored the role that N’golo Kante performs in his Chelsea side as he established himself as the lynchpin of a brilliant Leeds team who finished in the top half of the table.
When injured, Leeds struggled with their midfield becoming something of a turnstile. Meanwhile, when he figured he enabled those ahead of him to press high by sniffing out any dangerous pass through the midfield and quickly turning it into a Leeds attack.
With 1404 passes completed and an average of 48 per game, he was clearly at the heart of the Leeds attack getting Leeds deep with 136 accurate long balls.
His 46 fouls and 10 yellow cards may seem like negative stats but they demonstrate his proficiency in the dark arts shutting down attacks with tactical fouls all of which compliment his brilliant defensive capabilities best represented in his 74 tackles and 45 interceptions.
