The Leeds United promotion charge has wobbled in recent weeks, with Daniel Farke’s men beginning March by drawing 1-1 with West Bromwich Albion, before slipping up away to Portsmouth on Sunday afternoon.
That latest 1-0 defeat has ensured that the Whites are now level on points with title rivals Sheffield United at the summit, with clean sheet kings, Burnley, chomping at the bit just two points behind.
While life in the Championship never does run smooth, defeats like the one away at Fratton Park will represent a real setback for the Yorkshire giants, with Farke left to rue the goalscoring woes of his leading man, Joel Piroe, on the day.
Indeed, just minutes after the break, the former Swansea City man had a gilt-edged chance to fire the visitors ahead following a clever pull-back from Manor Solomon, albeit with the Dutchman proceeding to balloon the ball over the bar with the goal at his mercy.
That glaring miss came amid what has largely been a fruitful season for Piroe, however. If anyone is to fire Farke’s men to promotion – as Patrick Bamford did in 2019/20 – it is likely to be the 25-year-old.
How Piroe compares to Bamford in 2019/20
The pressure is on for the former Norwich City boss to emulate the success of Marcelo Bielsa by leading Leeds back into the promised land of the Premier League, with the Elland Road outfit having come so close in 2023/24.
Let’s not forget, that it was second time lucky as far as Bielsa was concerned, with the Argentine maverick securing a return to the top flight in his second season at the helm, having endured play-off semi-final heartbreak in 2018/19.
The now Uruguay boss subsequently oversaw automatic promotion in the following campaign, with the current crop still on course to replicate that feat, even amid the sticky start to this month.
What is a major benefit for Farke is having the goalscoring prowess of a player like Piroe on hand, with the one-time PSV star having scored 15 goals and provided six assists in 36 league outings so far.
That ensures that he is well on course to better the return of his current teammate, Bamford, from that glorious 2019/20 season, with the Englishman having scored 16 times and contributed just four assists in 45 Championship outings.
The expectation would be for Piroe to comfortably surpass that 16-goal haul across the remainder of this season, while he may even have one eye on reaching the level of the likes of Chris Wood and Ross McCormack of the recent past, with the pair registering 27 and 28 goals, in the second tier, in 2016/17 and 2013/14, respectively.
Speaking of former Leeds strikers then, the club actually let go of one forgotten star during the Bielsa era who is now proving even more prolific than Piroe.
The forgotten Leeds star who's now outperforming Piroe
For all the positives surrounding Piroe at present, even amid his Pompey blunder, there is perhaps a frustration at the lack of a suitable rival to the former Netherlands youth international.
Where Are They Now
Indeed, promising youngster, Mateo Joseph has been unable to kick on this season after scoring just three goals in all competitions, while one-time hero, Bamford, has been a bystander to proceedings, after making just ten league appearances all season.
With that in mind, there may be a sense of intrigue at seeing a former Leeds asset shining elsewhere, with 6 foot 3 powerhouse, Sam Dalby, currently ripping it up for Dundee United in the Scottish Premiership.
Currently on loan in Scotland from League One side, Wrexham, the Englishman has enjoyed an interesting journey in recent years, after leaving Leeds for an undisclosed fee to join Watford in 2019.
The 25-year-old – who moved to Elland Road from Leyton Orient in 2018 – never actually played a first-team game for Bielsa’s side, while going on to make just a solitary senior outing for the Hornets.
Stat (*per game)
Record
Games (starts)
26
Goals
13
Assists
0
Big chances missed
8
Scoring frequency
158mins
Big chances created
1
Key passes*
0.7
Total duels won*
46%
Aerial duels won*
50%
Having ultimately found his way to Dundee via a string of loans and a permanent spell at Southend United, Dalby appears to have finally got into his groove, scoring 13 times in just 28 games for his current side.
That represents a return of a goal every 2.15 games, ensuring he is firing at a more prolific rate than Piroe, who has netted a goal every 2.53 games, in relation to his 38 appearances in all competitions.
Described as a “lot more than” just a target man by manager Jim Goodwin, Dalby currently leads the way in the Scottish Premiership for league goals, ahead of Celtic’s Daizen Maeda in second (12).
Whether Leeds would regret letting him go, considering his prior struggles in the EFL, is another matter, although it would be no surprise to see Dalby go on to get a big move in the near future, having “got a lot of attention” due to his fine form, as per Goodwin.
Back at Elland Road, however, the aim will be for Piroe and co to emulate Bamford and Bielsa’s famed side of 2019/20 by surging back to the top tier.
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