Leeds United: Ain't nobody like Kyle Bartley to kick-start major rebuild in summer - Talking Points

AFTER seeing Leeds United fall to their 20th Championship defeat of the season at Norwich City, the YEP's Lee Sobot looks at a few key talking points from Saturday's 2-1 loss at Carrow Road.
FRUSTRATING DAY: Leeds United's Ronaldo Vieira tackled by Norwich City's Mario Vrancic. Picture by Tony Johnson.FRUSTRATING DAY: Leeds United's Ronaldo Vieira tackled by Norwich City's Mario Vrancic. Picture by Tony Johnson.
FRUSTRATING DAY: Leeds United's Ronaldo Vieira tackled by Norwich City's Mario Vrancic. Picture by Tony Johnson.

Can Paul Heckingbottom be the man to turn Leeds around?

The vibes in the run-up to Saturday’s clash at Carrow Road were that chairman and owner Andrea Radrizzani was set to keep the faith with head coach Paul Heckingbottom over the summer and into next season. There is nothing to suggest that view has changed.

It again must be stressed that Heckingbottom has not had the opportunity to bring in new players and the 40-year-old has had to deal with a raft of injuries, not to mention a squad that has clearly not been good enough to achieve the objectives set.

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But Heckingbottom knows that football is a results-based business and a return of just 13 points and three wins from his 15 games of charge, eight of which have resulted in losses, is obviously a concern.

Probably the most worrying aspect is that there have been few if any signs of improvement since Heckingbottom’s arrival and seemingly not much reaction on the pitch from the players.

Leeds are in a bad way - they have picked up the same number of points over the last 21 games as Sunderland - and huge changes are obviously needed over the summer.

There is a strong argument that Heckingbottom should be given the full summer, pre-season and transfer window before being judged but after such a barren recent run there are clearly strong arguments on the flip side of the coin.

Ain’t nobody, like Kyle Bartley

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A ray of light was cast upon another hugely disappointing day when news broke on Saturday evening that Leeds are in talks with Swansea City over bringing back centre-back Kyle Bartley in the summer but this time on a permanent deal.

The former Arsenal trainee is a close friend of United right-back Luke Ayling and Bartley is understood to be open to a return to Leeds having featured just four times in the Premier League since moving back to Wales.

Any deal would be dependent on Swansea maintaining their Premier League status and that hardly looks certain at present while United could also face competition for the centre-back, particularly from those sides coming down from the Premier.

But if Leeds were able to sign the 26-year-old defender that would be an enormous and potentially season-defining boost.

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Aside from in a decent spell at the start of the season, United’s defence has been continually troubled since Bartley went back to Swansea after a stellar season alongside Pontus Jansson last term.

Matthew Pennington has not been the answer and definitely not at right back.

It has long been said that United need another Kyle Bartley and if they can land the man himself then even better.

Pierre-Michel Lasogga over Ryan Edmondson

There was a degree of expectation that 16-year-old striker Edmondson would get a first appearance on the bench at Carrow Road after news emerged that he and fit again Luke Ayling had travelled with the team to Norfolk.

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But Heckingbottom instead opted to name three other strikers among the substitutes instead of Edmondson in Caleb Ekuban, Jay-Roy Grot and Pierre-Michel Lasogga as Kemar Roofe played in the lone striker role.

Roofe did okay but just okay and crucially he missed a good chance that would have put Leeds 2-0 up.

Heckingbottom revealed afterwards that Edmondson was initially not going to be part of the travelling squad at all but that he opted to bring the teenager along as a way of softening the blow over a suspension which ruled the striker out United’s Under-18s’ Professional Development League semi-final against Charlton Athletic at Thorp Arch.

But there were naturally plenty of questions as to why Ekuban, Grot and in particular Lasogga were all preferred on the bench to a player who quite clearly could develop into a big player for United in the future with such big doubts over Ekuban, Grot and Lasogga who all look short of what Leeds require.

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Lasogga in particular will surely be heading back to parent club Hamburg in the summer and not coming back.

Heckingbottom is to be applauded for giving the likes of Bailey Peacock-Farrell, Tom Pearce and Paudie O’Connor their chances in the first team and it seemed harsh and unnecessary to drop O’Connor for Liam Cooper at centre-back and Heckingbottom’s criticism of Pearce’s display at left back seemed harsh.

And given that Peacock-Farrell, Pearce and O’Connor have all impressed, surely it would be worth exploring United’s younger options upfront too and it is to be hoped that Edmondson, Jack Clarke or Sam Dalby get a chance in next Sunday’s season finale against QPR.

What is there to lose?

Build the midfield around Adam Forshaw

Kalvin Phillips is to be applauded for his fine strike which put Leeds 1-0 up but Leeds again struggled in midfield on Saturday and Ronaldo Viiera will have been particularly frustrated with his display with his dallying on the ball leading to the Norwich equaliser, though in any case Leeds were the masters of their own downfall in cocking-up a corner.

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Vieira is a hugely popular character whose potential is obvious at just 19 years of age but he quickly needs to rediscover what made him tick so effectively last term.

And even in just 16 minutes, Forshaw made a big difference to United’s centre midfield when brought on in the second half for his second game back after his calf injury.

There remain huge calls for Forshaw to be named captain next year and either way he will hopefully make a big difference to United’s midfield though there are too many players performing well short of their best at present including Vieira and definitely Samu Saiz who had another frustrating game at no 10.

There will quite clearly be a major clear-out at Leeds in the summer with the squad evidently nowhere near good enough to challenge for the play-offs but those players that remain must hit the ground running next term and a thriving Saiz will be key to United’s cause, as will the signing of a genuine 20 or 30-goal a season striker upfront and the addition of some much needed steel in midfield.

And Kyle Bartley.