Has Sam Byram fixed Leeds’ full-back issues?
A fix to the small problem?
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00:00 We've spoken a few times about Leite's full-back issues that they had. It looks like Sam Byron could have been the solution to that.
00:08 What are your thoughts on him? Obviously, three full-back options are still to return into this side. How impressed with that have you been? Is that the situation solved?
00:18 Amazing. Well, at the moment, I think it is. Obviously, the only question… Well, I suppose the two question marks with Byron was in terms of how his performances would actually be.
00:25 But obviously, the main one was because of his injury record, how would he stand up to the rigours of the Championship and basically his fitness and injuries.
00:32 But I mean, three games in a week, he's not just come through three games in a week. He's come through three games in a week. He's started every one.
00:38 He's played every single minute of every one and he's played really well in all three, especially the last two. Obviously, nobody really excelled at Southampton in the defeat.
00:44 So, the way he's playing, basically, as things stand, it is kind of like the situation solved. I mean, he has to start there. There's no doubt about that.
00:52 Obviously, there's big players to come back. Junior Firpo, you know, Leeds spent decent money on him in the Premier League and did sign him to be the first choice left-back.
00:59 Quite what happens when he comes back from injury, which I don't think will be that long, remains to be seen. So, obviously, he'll be wanting to get in there.
01:06 Obviously, Jed Spence is still to come back. I mean, he's obviously a right-back, but he's still another full-back option.
01:11 To some degree, they all sort of dovetail to each other because some players can play both those positions.
01:16 And you've got to remember, Luke Ayling was on the bench as well for the last game. So, you know, once everybody gets back, they are going to have an awful lot of full-back options.
01:24 Jamie Shackleton as well, we should remember, of course, he's still out. So, he's to come back as well.
01:27 But, yeah, on the way Byron's playing at the moment, and, you know, there's no signs of anything in terms of that he can't get through these games.
01:33 As I say, he's got through three in a week. I think he has to start at left-back and, you know, just he offers a bit of everything, really.
01:40 Defensively, he gets bombs forward, sends in lots of good crosses, fantastic clearance off the line in the closing stages against Bristol City.
01:47 He's been a very, very important player for Leeds. I mean, you could go through, you know, six, seven, eight, well, the whole team of players who've impressed so far this season.
01:54 But he's definitely right up there. And, you know, for someone who basically joined the club on, you know, on a trial basis, really, I mean, it could be argued that, you know, it could be one of the signings of the summer, really.