da bwin： Leeds United are in trouble.
da poker： Seven points after five games isn’t the worst return in the world, but they now have to navigate the next six weeks without their star player as Kalvin Phillips picked up an injury on Monday against Wolves.
The midfielder faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines after picking up a shoulder problem, and to make matters even worse, Leeds don’t have a proper replacement in the squad.
Adam Forshaw is the only thing close to a defensive midfielder that Leeds have, but he isn’t fit, and even if he was he hasn’t played for a year.
It’s times like this where you feel that Leeds should have just splashed out on Ben White.
The centre-back is undoubtedly a great player, shown by the fact that he won Young Player of the Year for Leeds last season, but the club weren’t able to reach an agreement to bring him back on a permanent deal, and if they had, they wouldn’t be in such a worrying predicament with Phillips.
Of course, this isn’t the first time Phillips has missed matches – last season he had the odd injury or suspension keeping him out of action – but Leeds managed to resolve those situations by moving White into midfield, and it worked very well.
Leeds won three of the four games that White started in defensive midfield last term, keeping a clean sheet in each of those victories, so it’s clear that he was a competent replacement for Phillips, and that’s an option they probably wish they had right now.
There’s no doubting that White would have been a good signing, after all, he was tipped to be an England international and a future Champions League player by Noel Whelan last season.
“This kid is going places,” Whelan told Football Insider. “He is going to be an England international and is heading for a top club, a Champions League club. There’s no doubt he’s good enough.”
Unfortunately, Leeds didn’t get the deal over the line and they should be regretting that now more than ever.