This week on the Inside Elland Road Podcast, Graham Smyth and Chris O’Connor dig into the big questions facing Leeds United as the international break arrives. Top of the agenda is the ongoing Dominic Calvert-Lewin conundrum — what is and what’s not clicking? The lads also debate the one key change they’d make as judgement time looms.
00:00I do feel a bit for Goodmanson because he's kind of had two moments and they've been quite costly.
00:06Outside of that, he's been excellent.
00:09Yeah, Daniel Farquhar thought he was a bit over keen to win the first ball when what he should have been thinking was,
00:14even if I don't win the first ball, I've defended the channel really well against a really, really difficult player.
00:22So I'll back yourself, you know, but he overcommits a little bit and then slips.
00:27And that's just desperately unfortunate.
00:30But from that moment when he slips, again, I don't feel like Pascal Stroik gets close enough and does enough to rescue the situation.
00:38Perhaps I'm being a little bit harsh, but again, it's the Premier League.
00:42And I think about the two goals and I think about the moment where he didn't get off the ground.
00:47And I can't remember who it was, got up above him and headed against the crossbar.
00:51First half.
00:53Tell, it was Tell, I think.
00:54Yeah.
00:55He was just left a little bit flat-footed, which you can't do.
01:00Um, and I, I don't know.
01:05I know you want to talk about Goodmanson there, but for me, Goodmanson isn't kind of the, it's not the real villain of the piece because his, his big mistake is slipping really in that moment.
01:14And it's another deflected strike.
01:17Darlow, again, not really to blame.
01:19And I look at the goals and I look at a couple of moments over the last couple of games and I wonder, does it all combine and accumulate to enough evidence to say now would be the time for Jacob Beal to come in?
01:33I mean, I guess Daniel Farker will see them in training.
01:36He will, he will decide if Beal has done enough to be right on Stroik's shoulder, but this is what you kind of, this is the reason why you signed him.
01:44The reason why you signed Bornau as well was to have really fierce competition in that position.
01:49And I wouldn't like to think that he would leave it as long as he did with Mellier before reminding players that, you know, you have to be at your absolute best.
02:00Otherwise you'll get dropped.
02:02Like that's, that's how competitive squads are supposed to work.
02:07That if you're not at your best, then someone else can come in and take your place.
02:10And I think, I just wonder if now might be the time for Beal to get his chance.
02:17Yeah, I think it's, I think you've made a really fair, and I think I would agree.
02:22And no one's saying Stroik's been bad this season.
02:25If anything, I think he's looked like a Premier League defender, particularly on the ball.
02:29I think he's looked excellent and he adds a lot to Leeds.
02:33But there have been a couple of moments where he hasn't excelled.
02:37And I think you're right.
02:38I think you've got to make sure the squad know that this is a tough season and we need everyone playing sevens and eights as much as possible.
02:45And look, Rodon's done that next year.
02:47I think Rodon's been excellent.
02:49So I would possibly, yeah, I would like to see Beal get a start after the international break.
02:56And I'd be quite excited by that.
02:57Beal and Rodon was kind of how I was really anticipating that partnership this season.
03:03So, yeah, I think that's a fair point to make.
03:05I'd agree with it.
03:06And that's not to throw Stroik under the bus at all.
03:08It's just to say, yeah, we've got a competitive squad and maybe we need to rotate it a bit on form.
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