Leeds United: Junior Firpo shines despite Leeds’ problems
Leeds United: Junior Firpo shines despite Leeds’ problems
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00:00 Leeds have certainly had, as you mentioned earlier, a dip in form of late.
00:05 They had the worst possible time of the season, I must add, as well.
00:09 Although one player who you've mentioned has actually done quite well,
00:12 despite the whole performances of the team not being so good, is Junior Firpo.
00:18 So why is it that he stood out, despite the team not performing?
00:22 He's just done fairly well. The stats speak for themselves, really, with Junior Firpo at the moment.
00:27 He's had seven assists now for the season for a left-back, which is pretty good.
00:31 Obviously, this is for a player who basically missed a large part of the first half of the season.
00:36 So it's seven assists in his last 20 games from a left-back, which is not bad, really, from his position.
00:41 As I say, it probably should have been eight in the game at the weekend at QPR with that cross he put through the box.
00:46 I was begging for a finish. I think he deserves a lot of credit.
00:50 There's been huge question marks over Firpo since he came in.
00:53 €15 million is a lot of money to bring in, obviously, when Leeds were a Premier League side.
00:57 He definitely had his struggles in the Premier League, obviously, ex-Vasalona and whatever.
01:02 But he definitely had his struggles there.
01:04 I think people have always thought he'd probably be reasonably good going forward
01:07 and that the question marks would be more at the back.
01:09 Ultimately, the thing is with Firpo, I suppose, is that he's probably had a bit of time to settle in.
01:14 He has been unfortunate with injuries as well, but also he is playing at a lower level now.
01:18 The gap between the Premier League and the Championship is absolutely huge.
01:21 So there's various reasons why.
01:23 But also, I think he just deserves a lot of credit for himself, because he's got his head down.
01:26 He's got stuck in. He's taken his chance since coming back into the team.
01:30 There's always times when it's like, who's going to be at left-back for Leeds?
01:33 But I mean, he's first choice left-back now.
01:35 And as I say, he's a big threat moving forward, obviously, with those assists.
01:39 And I should say as well that he said post-match after Borough that there was a bit of virus and illness going around the camp
01:45 and that he played on despite that.
01:46 I think he said he almost never went sick in the second half.
01:48 So, yeah, again, that's another sort of thing to commend him for.
01:51 And I mean, look, in terms of rating the players and stuff at QPR, I mean, no one's going to get a high rating in that.
01:58 Absolutely not. But he was certainly one of the better players, if you like.
02:01 And he has been one of the better players of late, despite this sort of like up and down run.
02:06 So, yeah, there'll definitely be... I mean, it's a big if.
02:09 But if Leeds do get promoted, because obviously, let's be honest about this and try and be positive and realistic.
02:15 If they are consigned to the playoffs, they will still be favourites for the playoffs.
02:19 They'll finish in third place and they'll have the best squad in the playoffs.
02:23 I mean, Northampton obviously could argue that might not be the case, but they've got players injured as well.
02:28 So, there's every chance Leeds might well still go up, obviously, from the playoffs.
02:31 And Daniel Farke's calling for positivity and another bullet to fire.
02:34 And if they do go up, there'll be question marks to answer for someone like Firpo back at the Premier League,
02:38 because obviously going back up to that level.
02:40 But it's not just him. There'll be question marks about a lot of people, to be honest.
02:44 And first and foremost, let's just try and get there because it's a massive if at the moment.
02:47 But fair play to him. He's done very well of late and definitely showing his worth.