Garry Monk’s magic has worked wonders at Elland Road. The English young manager was appointed by Leeds United owner Massimo Cellino this summer and the former Swansea boss took his time to settle at the new club. Leeds did struggle for some time this season but are on a brilliant run now.
The Whites have managed to pick up 22 out of the available 30 points in their last 10 Championship games and are now sixth in the table after 16 games. On top of that, they have made it to the quarter-finals of the League Cup and will face Liverpool.
Cellino promised the fans this summer that he will refund the fans their money for the season tickets if the Yorkshire side cannot gain promotion this season, something the fans are waiting from a long time. If Leeds can keep up their form, they do have a realistic chance of achieving promotion, to be fair.
Let us take a look at the stars and the duds from Leeds so far this season.
Stars
Chris Wood
The Kiwi international has been in exceptional form this season. He was largely criticised by the fans and pundits for his inconsistent performances last season and looks to have largely improved this campaign. 11 goals from 19 games in all competitions- Wood’s mesmerising form is one of the reasons behind Leeds doing well of late.
Kalvin Phillips
The 20-year-old is having his best run for the first team of Leeds this season. Monk has kept his belief in the youngster and the dynamic midfielder has not let his boss down. The youngster’s work rate has been amazing this season and he provides plenty of protection for the back four too. Leeds look to have found the ideal replacement of Lewis Cook from their own academy.
Kyle Bartley
A strong defensive foundation is the biggest reason behind Leeds’ good display of late and Bartley is at the heart of it. The Swansea City loanee has been a beast at the back for the Whites this campaign alongside Pontus Jansson. With 2 goals, 1 assists, 80.4% passing success, 3.7 aerial duels won and 7.7 clearances made every game, Bartley has been one of the stellar performers at Elland Road this season
Duds
Marcus Antonsson
The Swedish international was brought in at Elland Road this summer to provide competition to Chris Wood. Wood has benefitted from that but Antonsson is struggling to find his scoring boots in the Championship. He has played 526 minutes in the Championship so far and has scored just once.
Charlie Taylor
Taylor was a much-talked about player this summer with a host of Premier League clubs interested in him but the left-back has been pretty anonymous this season. The 22-year-old has created just one assist so far this season and needs to improve really soon if he wants to play at a higher level.
Liam Cooper
With Leeds parting ways with Sol Bamba, Cooper became the most experienced defender at Elland Road but he has lost his spot to Pontus Jansson and deservedly so. The 25-year-old has started just three games this season for Leeds and could not impress Garry Monk who himself used to be a central defender during his playing career.
