Leeds United: Hernandez is vital to next six games

Saiz’s transition from Spain to England has been so accomplished that the larger part of that load has been carried by him: most assists, most dribbles with the ball at his feet, more goals than anyone expect Kemar Roofe and a better pass completion rate than Hernandez. The midfielder is Leeds’ established number 10 but his forthcoming suspension reiterates the thinking behind retaining Hernandez and creating competition in that position.

Hernandez’s 12-month contract extension last summer was an appearance-related reward but Leeds were minded to keep him regardless. He and the club have held “small talks” about a further deal at the end of this season and in light of the untimely loss of Saiz, the oldest outfield player in Thomas Christiansen’s squad is now pivotal to the success of it.

A six-match ban for spitting at Robbie Willmott in Sunday’s FA Cup defeat to Newport County means Saiz will not play again until February 20 at the earliest. If Leeds’ game at Hull City on January 27 – due to be rescheduled after Hull progressed to round four of the FA Cup – is rescheduled after that date, Christiansen will not be able to call on Saiz until Brentford visit Elland Road on February 24. Leeds, as a squad, have contributed more evenly up front than they did last season, when goals came from Chris Wood and virtually no-one else, but losing Saiz for so much of the winter is an undeniable worry. Four of the fixtures he stands to miss are against clubs inside the Championship’s top six.

The consolation for Christiansen, in the context of the number 10 position, is the form found by Hernandez in the run-up to Christmas. The 32-year-old has been part of United’s starting line-up all season, predominantly as a left winger with the licence to roam, but his most effective spell came during the club’s resurgence from the middle of November onwards.

At home to Middlesbrough, the game on which Leeds’ season turned for the better, he scored one goal and laid another on a plate. His corner led to Pontus Jansson’s header in a 1-1 draw with Aston Villa on December 1 and his deft chip stole an ill-deserved win over Hull City three weeks later. A precise free-kick away at Burton Albion on Boxing Day turned a fixture which Leeds were in danger of losing with half an hour to play.

Saiz missed both matches either side of Christmas Day with a calf strain but Leeds banked six points regardless.

The club wanted to create that durability when they and their director of football, Victor Orta, began sizing up the transfer window last summer and much as Leeds have failed to find a striker with anything resembling Wood’s attributes, despite raising £15m from his sale to Burnley in August, they have moved away from the scenario where their centre-forward scored or the game was lost. Roofe has seven league goals and Saiz, Gjanni Alioski and Kalvin Phillips have five. Hernandez stands on four and the glaring absence of a player on double figures is countered by the fact that Leeds are scoring at the same rate as most top-six clubs. Only Wolves, with 50 goals and counting, are tearing away.

There is much in Hernandez’s game which replicates Saiz’s – the assists, the vision and the searching passes around the box – but certain differences too. What Christiansen is losing until the end of next month is Saiz’s mobility and his ability to break with the ball from deep positions. The impression that Saiz spends his time looking for possession is borne out by statistics showing that no other player has carried the ball more this season or even come close. It was telling that Robbie Willmott, the player who Saiz spat at during Sunday’s FA Cup defeat to Newport, had some conciliatory words after the Football Association imposed a six-match ban on Saiz. “He’s actually one of my favourite players in the Championship,” Willmott said. “I think it was a heat of the moment thing.”

Hernandez rarely causes any trouble with his temperament. His yellow-card count in 18 months with Leeds stands at eight and he has never been sent off in his professional career. His veteran status in comparison to so many of the players around him has given him a permanent sense of responsibility at Elland Road.

“I’m one of the oldest players in the squad and I’m an example,” Hernandez said in November. “I try to give the best of me in the training ground, in the dressing room and in the games. I need to give all of me.” Christiansen will want all of that nous as Leeds, minus Saiz, try to keep their feet in the play-off positions before the Championship run-in starts.