The different role that Leeds United 'man on a mission' could play next season amid pair doubt
Leeds United look to have a man on a mission - who could play a much more prominent role next season.
Dan James looks like a man on a mission, and one who could take on a different role in Leeds United finally trying to accomplish theirs next term.
There were fears that James’ season could be over when Leeds revealed that the Wales international winger had suffered a costal cartilage injury and an oblique abdominal muscle tear during April’s 4-3 win at Middlesbrough.
That did not sound particularly promising regarding the rest of the campaign yet the 26-year-old returned just 20 days later for the Championship play-off semi-final first leg at Norwich City as an 87th-minute substitute.
Boss Daniel Farke again called for James from the bench in the second half of the semi-final second leg against Norwich but the contest already appeared over as the flying winger was introduced in the 69th minute with the rampant Whites already 3-0 up and the Canaries chasing their tails.
Yet Leeds were the ones chasing their tails when James was finally called for in the game that mattered most - the play-off final - the winger brought on in the 66th minute for Willy Gnonto as the Saints led through an Adam Armstrong strike which proved the only goal of the game.
Southampton’s goal was rarely threatened yet James changed that, smashing the crossbar with a rasping effort in the closing stages as part of an all-action display from the left wing.
Had he been brought on sooner, Leeds might have gone up. In the never know category. But there appears no doubt that James has got the bit between his teeth at present, the winger continually impressing and very likely looking at a much more prominent role next season as Leeds chase promotion at the second attempt.
It was hard to know quite what to expect from James last summer as he returned from Fulham where he had been on a season-long loan as Leeds went down. The winger has always been lightning fast and his workrate never in doubt but end product has always been the big question mark.
Yet his return to Championship football with Leeds yielded 13 goals and seven assists, a decent return for a player who was never really a regular and definite first choice at any point during the season.
James did make 28 league starts but essentially fell behind star man Crysencio Summerville and the re-emerging Willy Gnonto during the second half of the campaign.
Yet James very much appeared the Leeds player most likely to make something happen at Wembley with Gnonto and even Summerville quiet in the play-off final and the good impression that James is making has continued since.
It looked like his afternoon would be over in the play-off final as the winger clashed heads with Kyle Walker-Peters which left both players flat out and needing treatment for several minutes.
But a resilient James was soon back up and running and it’s been the same in two games for Wales since, albeit the battle scars from Wembley have been plain to see.
Sporting thick red bandaging around his head, James was brought on as a 60th-minute substitute in Thursday night’s friendly against Gibraltar and quickly looked a threat for a young Dragons side who were ultimately held to a goalless draw by a side ranked 203 out of 210 in the FIFA World Rankings.
Three days later, James was brought back into the XI as part of seven changes made by boss Rob Page for Sunday evening’s friendly against Euros-bound Slovakia who eventually powered their way to a 4-0 victory.
The Dragons were undeniably disappointing, especially in the second half, but Page’s side did have Slovakia under the cosh at times in the opening exchanges and the pace of James often caused a threat, the winger again sporting his red bandages.
Ultimately, there was no breakthrough but there might have been had striker Kieffer Moore been able to do more with a decent James cross. The winger also saw a couple of powerful shots from the edge of the area blocked.
In the end, the Whites attacker appeared to tire in the second half and the pacy winger was eventually substituted for Liam Cullen in the 71st minute as part of a miserable night for the Dragons.
But Slovakia are a team on the up, like Leeds will hope to be next season and James might well prove key to next season’s promotion bid as the club heads for a summer in which Summerville and Gnonto are sure to be in high demand.
As Leeds wrestle with Profit and Sustainability Rules, chairman Paraag Marathe has already admitted that players would need to be sold, certain trade offs as he put it, even allowing for Red Bull’s investment.
But it’s hard not to imagine James being back for a second consecutive season at Elland Road, one in which the man on a mission could prove key to accomplishing it.