Leeds United: Will Djed Spence have to play his way back into the side?
Leeds United: Will Djed Spence have to play his way back into the side?
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00:00 A couple of players we can take a look at now, if we start with Jed Spencer, he's just come back from injury.
00:05 But of course, we've just mentioned their lead on a winning streak of seven games.
00:10 It's a team that you perhaps don't want to disturb.
00:14 Often people say, "Don't change a winning formula."
00:16 So in that case, can he fight his way back into the team or should he just be put back in straight away?
00:22 Well, I don't think he can be put back in straight away.
00:24 I think the thing is, when he was on his way back from injury, that was always the assumption, I think.
00:29 Because we all know how good a player he is.
00:31 Even in nine minutes when he came on against Sheffield Wednesday, he looked seriously impressive.
00:35 He just stood out a mile, the way he was bombing up and down from right back.
00:40 But Archie Gray has been superb.
00:42 Archie Gray is obviously a natural midfielder, we all know that.
00:45 And it was a little bit of a surprise when he started popping up at right back,
00:48 even though he has played there in England at a youth international level.
00:52 But bit by bit, he's getting better and better and better there.
00:55 So, all right, it was possibly at fault a little bit for the first Middlesbrough goal.
00:59 But other than that, it was a really, really good performance from him.
01:02 And I think it was a lot of people's idea of man of the match.
01:04 And obviously at 17, he's only going to get better and better as well.
01:07 And that's the obvious thing.
01:08 If Jed Svenson is going to come back into the team, then basically Archie Gray has to come out of it,
01:12 unless Archie Gray goes into midfield.
01:14 But if Archie Gray is going to go into midfield, then one out of Ethan Ampadu or Glenn Kamara has got to come out.
01:19 And you certainly can't see it with Ampadu and the way Kamara is going,
01:23 it's the same with him as well.
01:24 So, yeah, I think at the moment it stays as it is.
01:26 It's a massive challenge for Jed Spence.
01:28 As I say, he's obviously a superbly talented player, but so is Archie Gray.
01:31 That's the thing. And Archie isn't going to want to come out of the team.
01:35 I think it's also quite telling that in the last couple of games,
01:38 even though Jed Spence has been back, he hasn't even come on, you know,
01:41 not even for like a minute or two.
01:42 And obviously when someone's close to a comeback, you know, in terms of starting,
01:46 they obviously have a few outings from the bench first.
01:48 So I think he's probably some way off starting, I would suggest,
01:51 purely because A, he's not come off the bench and B, because of the form of Archie Gray.
01:55 So it's a real puzzle in terms of what's going to happen.
01:58 I suppose you could sort of start looking at it and say, well, you know,
02:01 could one of them even go at left back? But I mean, why would you want to move Sam Byram out?
02:04 He's been fantastic as well. So, you know, there's strength in depth.
02:08 There's options all over, but that's what you need. You need strength all over.
02:10 You need options on the bench, which is what Daniel Farker's got.
02:13 And hopefully that's the promotion winning squad.
02:15 But yeah, at the moment, I think it's very, very,
02:17 almost impossible to take Archie out the side.
02:19 I know he's young and, you know, you want to sort of bring players along gradually
02:23 and whatnot and not, you know, sort of like, you know, give him too much pressure.
02:26 But he's that good that I think realistically at the moment, he has to be in the side.