"Difficult circumstances" - Leeds United issue highlighted after new Ampadu and Gruev developments | OneFootball

FLW's Leeds United fan pundit has provided his view on the solution to Daniel Farke's midfield problem.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Leeds United face a potential midfield crisis after injuries to both Ethan Ampadu and Ilia Gruev in the space of three days.

Leeds signed Ampadu last summer for a fee rising to £10 million with add-ons, but he has been nothing short of outstanding and Leeds got themselves a bargain when they paid an initial fee of just £7 million which could rise to the upper limit with performance-related add-ons.

He is already arguably the club's best player after becoming such a consistent and durable figure in their engine room. You wouldn't know that he'd played almost every game last season given the quality, consistency, and relentlessness of his displays.

However, his remarkable run in the side has now ended, as the Leeds skipper is set to be out for around 10 weeks, according to Daniel Farke. That's after damaging his lateral knee ligaments in the win over Coventry City.

The Welsh international was forced off just before half-time against Coventry and was replaced by Ao Tanaka. Farke has now confirmed in his pre-Norwich press conference that the knee injury that Ethan Ampadu sustained against the Sky Blues has ruled him out until close to January.

Leeds' captain played in 63 games last season for Farke's side and his country, Wales, proving to be a consistent figure for both sides. It's a huge blow for the remainder of the games in 2024 potentially. Not only is he captain and one of the first names on the teamsheet, but a case could be made that he is Leeds' most influential player.

On top of that, he is a starting midfielder but the primary cover at centre-back, meaning Leeds must find other solutions. Because he is both a first-team midfielder and defender, losing Ampadu is one of the most problematic issues for Farke to overcome.

It leaves Leeds only one further injury away from a crisis. Gruev could have been their solution, but he hobbled out of the win over Norwich with a knee issue of his own. It has left the club in a situation that not many would have expected going into the campaign.

Like Ampadu, Gruev had tried to continue in the game, but he was forced off after just 20 minutes. Joe Rothwell took his place alongside Tanaka at the base of midfield for the remainder of the game, with Leeds fighting back from a goal down to take a point in a 1-1 draw.

The verdict on Leeds United's midfield problem

FLW’s Leeds United fan pundit Kris Smith has reacted to the latest regarding the situation in midfield. He said: "I think that, by Farke's own admission recently, Ampadu is Leeds' best and most important player at the moment.

"I can see that having the same sort of impact as losing Pascal Struijk last season for so long.

"Obviously, at the start of 2024, we started incredibly well without Struijk. We went on a really long unbeaten run and we won so many games.

"But there was an underlying issue in how we built up from the back and it did come back to bite us after Easter after the rest of our side started to drop off.

"It became a real weakness of us not having someone so good in build-up. I do think that Ampadu being out highlights that sort of issue.

"His brilliance in and out of possession is something that we simply can't replicate with a back-up in the Championship, because he himself is already too good for this league, so having someone who is as good as him as cover is just impossible in this division.

"I can see us struggling in a lot of games without him leaving us. The silver-lining with this injury, prior to Gruev also going off against Norwich, is that we might get to see him and Tanaka as a double-pivot.

"That is still a superb pairing to have in this league. But now, with Gruev also out, it's a big concern.

"Before that issue, the main concern was at the back, knowing Max Wöber is out as well for six weeks after surgery on his knee.

"It means that we don't have any senior centre-back cover behind Struijk and Joe Rodon, and we only had three senior midfielders, which could now be two if Gruev's issue is serious."

Smith then explained what his solution would be for the upcoming game with Sunderland, and possibly beyond. He added: "Looking at the Norwich game last night and going forward without Ampadu into Friday with Sunderland, replacing him with the same sort of quality is virtually impossible at the moment.

"He is just a cut above most players in the Championship, let alone back up options that Leeds have, or that any team would have in this league.

"Having said that, it was very obvious what Farke had to do with his line-up in the options that he had behind Ampadu, and I was excited to see how they would get on before Gruev was forced off.

"On paper, that looked like a good Championship pair for a double-pivot; it's one of the better double-pivots in the league, even without Ampadu.

"It's Tanaka coming into start and maintaining his place in the side. It seemed like an obvious one for Farke, and he would have come in as a natural No.8 for us. Now? He'll have to play as the deeper player, which would have been Gruev's role.

"He can offer everything we need in build-up, is good out of possession as well, and that would have taken a lot of the pressure off Gruev.

"He can drop deeper into a No.6 role, and that should have given us a lot of really good balance both in and out of possession, and plenty of energy on the ball in the middle of the park.

"But the circumstances are now even more horrid, meaning he will sit and Joe Rothwell will take up the No.8 position. Seeing Tanaka in the starting line-up is what we all wanted but we're now an injury away from Charlie Crew making senior minutes he has never made before.

"It had been over a month and Tanaka had shown he warranted starts, but now it will be with Rothwell in difficult circumstances. One solution is to look at the free agent market for more depth, depending on the severity of Gruev's issue, but the other is that you could argue that Farke could change the set up almost.

"He trialled a 3-4-2-1 in pre-season against Harrogate and it did look good. We had good balance then, especially with the lack of options in midfield at that time, so it could be the way forward now we have that problem in central areas.

"That could also be good for us if we don't dip into the market."

Poorly timed injury issues emerge for Leeds United

Leeds face a massive trip to Sunderland on Friday, with the Black Cats top of the table and a clear promotion rival based on early season form.

They would have wanted one of their two specialist defensive midfielders involved, but will instead have to face them with a threadbare set of options at centre back and in central midfield, where they may not provide the cover needed on the break in transition.