Leeds United are set to welcome back some old faces when they take on Blackburn Rovers next. The likes of Kemar Roofe, Gaetano Berardi, Pablo Hernandez and Conor Shaughnessy are all set to be back from injury after the international break. However, this piece of news might delight the fans, but someone like Tyler Roberts might be disheartened as he is likely to make way for Roofe in the team.
The Welsh international was recently even praised by Spain’s manager Luis Enrique. He said,”We have analysed Wales with Bale in the team, and he has great speed, but it does not change anything for us. They have good, young players, like Tyler Roberts, and we know it will not be easy.”
The recent outings in the first team has shown how far the youngster has come and the Whites fan would be glad that their third choice striker has decent potential and they can rely on him when called upon later in the season.
With Patrick Bamford still some time away from recovering, Roberts should get some minutes here and there. Bielsa should rotate between him and Roofe so that the team doesn’t overburden Roofe as he is, after all, coming back from an injury setback.
In six games in the Championship, Roberts scored three and set up one goal, and it never looked like he was making his debut in the English second division. Yes, sometimes he was guilty of missing some chances, but the good thing was that the youngster wasn’t getting isolated upfront and was always on the move to get into good positions.
Former Chelsea striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink also had some kind word for Roberts. He said,”He knows how to play in combinations and leads the line really well. But you need to give him time. He will have games where you won’t see and him and he will have games where he will be exceptional. But that’s a young player and you need to give him time to grow. He’s definitely somebody who’s doing a lot better than people thought that he would.”
One shouldn’t only judge a striker by the number of goals he scored but one should also notice how involved he is in the game. In a Bielsa system, a striker has to work extremely hard as the manager expects his side to press from the front.
Apart from that, the forwards are given the freedom to stretch play and fall back when required and not just act as a traditional target man. Roberts’ work rate and intensity was good and with this first team experience, he is definitely going to get better. Yes, his game time is going to reduce significantly now with Roofe coming back, but the 19-year-old still has a significant role to play as the season wears on.
