This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…
Hold your horses.
That seems to be the message Danny Mills is trying to get across when discussing the Eddie Nketiah v Patrick Bamford debate.
Having come off the bench once again to spare Marcelo Bielsa’s blushes, discussions have ramped up regarding whether or not the 20-year-old should be starting on a more regular basis for the Whites.
However former Leeds defender Danny Mills believes that his performances off the bench don’t necessarily mean he should be given the job of leading the line from the outset just yet.
What’s he said?
Speaking to Football Insider, Mills said that Nketiah hasn’t done enough to warrant a start and that he’d still go with Bamford when picking the team going forward:
This came after the Arsenal loanee replaced the 26-year-old and scored against Preston.
He perhaps rather surprisingly gave the following verdict:
“There’s been a lot of pressure, Nketiah’s been in good form and there’s no doubt Nketiah’s been knocking on the door. You say: ‘Right, okay, it’s a little bit of a stalemate, we’ll change it up. You’ve been banging on my door for your chance, go and take it.’ He did okay Nketiah, I don’t think he was exciting. You don’t look at it and go: ‘Wow, that was exceptional, this kid has to start the next game.’ Bamford is still in the driving seat.”
Has he proven himself?
Whilst pressure might be building on Nketiah to get a start, the fact of the matter is that Nketiah hasn’t proven that he can lead the line from the start of the game on a regular basis.
He may have got two goals in the Carabao Cup when he started those games, but they weren’t against the best quality of opposition. Salford City have just been promoted out of the National League and Stoke City were winless in the Championship when they met.
There’s nothing wrong with being a ‘super-sub’ – Ole Gunnar Solskjær made an entire career out of it.
But as things stand Nketiah has only proven himself at Championship level to pick off teams when they are tired, and whilst things could be better for Leeds, it’s not as if things are disastrous.
Bamford had to do something similar last year, coming off the bench before becoming a regular. So if it’s good enough for him to wait, why shouldn’t Nketiah get the same treatment?
Better to keep things as they are and make a change when you have to rather than bowing to the pressure from the supporters.