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Leeds United: Sam Greenwood is Roberto Firmino-esque striker Jesse Marsch needs
Leeds United may have become one of the Premier League’s most inform teams over the past month but they still have their striker issues.
Patrick Bamford has been out injured for some time and Jesse Marsch has had to experiment with who he has been able to select to lead the line for the Whites.
Last weekend’s 3-0 victory away at Watford might have given him the answer though with Sam Greenwood shining at Vicarage Road with an assist.
The 20-year-old didn’t take on the traditional number nine role though but rather mimicked the play style of Liverpool forward Roberto Firmino in his work off the ball.
You would have been forgiven for thinking Greenwood was a hard-tackling, workman-like midfielder given the shift he put in against the Hornets.
This was perfectly highlighted as the passionate 20-year-old snapped into a Watford player on the halfway line in an attempt to win the ball back for his side.
He wasn’t content with simply standing by and watching the defenders and midfielders do the work so he rolled up his sleeves and got stuck in himself.
But he wasn’t done with just the one challenge as the ball broke for Watford again and he went in just as hard and eventually turned the ball over in favour of the Whites.
Much like Firmino has been doing at Liverpool, Greenwood has become almost a defensive forward whose primary role in the team is to harass the opposition defenders into mistakes and he does it fantastically.
But his talents aren’t just dependent on his pressing abilities though. Once he gets the ball, he makes very good decisions and that got him hi assist for Jack Harrison’s goal at Vicarage Road.
Again though, there are elements of what Firmino does so well in what Greenwood does as he drops right off the central defenders and into a midfield area where no one picks him up, giving him the space to showcase his technical prowess.
Marsch will have been delighted by what he saw from the 20-year-old and he will surely stand a good chance of getting an opportunity again when the Whites take on Crystal Palace on 25 April.
In other Leeds United news, Crysencio Summerville could be the Raphinha replacement next season.