Leeds United: Should Mateo Joseph be first choice striker?

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00:00We mentioned Bamford there, though, because that's interesting, because he is Leeds No. 9

00:06and has been in it for a little while now. Of course, you've got Joel Peru, who was the first

00:12choice for most of the end of last season, at least because of Bamford's injury. But there

00:17is also Mateo Joseph, the young Spaniard. Now, he never really got his chance too much, did he,

00:22towards the end of last season in terms of starts? I don't think he's made one yet,

00:26but obviously he had a couple of appearances off the bench. But I think he's edging to become the

00:33first choice going into this new season. And if Leeds don't go out and buy a striker, which it

00:37looks like they probably won't, given what we'll come on to in the transfer window latest at the

00:41end of this episode, should he be the first choice striker ahead of Peru, especially with

00:46Bamford not being back for at least probably a couple of weeks after the season starts?

00:50Yeah, definitely. I don't see why not. I think the time is now, really, for Mateo Joseph. It's

00:55still a big call, obviously, for Daniel Farker to do that, to throw him straight into it. He's

00:59still young. He's still only 20 and obviously hasn't got an enormous amount of experience.

01:03You're quite right. We mentioned this towards the end of last season. It's staggering to think that

01:07he still hasn't had one single league start yet because it's not like this is some youngster that

01:11people don't know about. He's come on, he's scored, he's impressed just about every time he's

01:14come on. 23 league outings from the bench it is so far. But last season, I think he was,

01:23I don't know about high up in terms of like a starting contender last summer, but he did have

01:27an injury last summer and Daniel Farker talked about it quite a lot at the start of last season,

01:31saying that the injury he had last season really disrupted his approach to the new season and

01:36probably held him back a little bit. But this summer, he's obviously been fully fit and he's

01:41really sort of brushed the nettle. I mean, he's looked in fantastic form. I was at the Harrogate

01:46Town Friendly and I thought he was fantastic in that in the first half. And then basically,

01:50he's carried that on into Germany as well, where he's obviously got a few goals and probably could

01:55have had a few more, but just really, really lively. And I think really, it does feel like

02:00if there is a time, then the time is now for him because he can't really have done much more than

02:05he's done in terms of how much he's impressed. But also the equation, certainly as far as the start

02:09of the season is concerned, has probably gone down from three options to two because obviously

02:13Banff is very much still about, but he hasn't played, missed the end of last season. He hasn't

02:17featured minutes-wise in pre-season this summer. So he's obviously going to be a bit behind it

02:23when he does get back. So realistically, you're talking... I mean, I know Routier can play up front

02:26as well, but he's probably going to be at 10 or out wide. So realistically, it's going to be

02:30Peru or Joseph. And you've got to say that although Peru's looked pretty good this summer as well,

02:34Joseph's the one who's impressed really. And I mean, he could be anything. That's the thing.

02:39It's one of those things when they say, oh, Joseph, I suppose like the fear, if there is a fear,

02:43might be what happens if you throw him straight into the starting lineup in the Championship and

02:47it doesn't sort of come off for him and this, that and the other, and it sort of affects his

02:50confidence and whatever. But he doesn't strike me as that sort of kid, really. I don't think

02:54that'll be the case. And I think, to be perfectly honest, I think if he's given the chance, i.e.

02:58starting games, I think he'll take it. I think he's got everything needed to be a really good

03:02number nine. He's a good finisher. He's a poacher. He's got pace. He presses. He's energetic. He

03:07just looks like a very, very good all-round player, quite simply. And at 20 years of

03:10old, if he's given the chance and thrives, he could end up being anything this season.

03:15So it'll be fascinating to see what happens with it. You're right, obviously, in terms of should

03:20they sign another striker? I think people always look for that because goals win games and stuff.

03:25And obviously, you can never have too many strikers, I suppose, but then they cost money.

03:29And are you realistically going to be able to carry Bamford, Peru, Joseph and another striker?

03:34Probably not. So especially when you've got people like Rutero who can play up front.

03:38So yeah, it's a fascinating one. It feels like that's kind of like the story of the summer

03:44developing, really, in terms of team selection. I mean, obviously, whether Somerville stays or

03:48goes is the story of the summer, I suppose, after Archie Gray. But it's going to be fascinating to

03:53see both... I mean, the Valencia-friendly should provide a sight into that. But with Joseph,

03:57he didn't start the first game in Germany, but he started the second game. And obviously,

04:02that's one game nearer to the start of the season. So is that a sort of like pointer in itself?

04:07Look, I think it feels like almost every fan wants Joseph to be first choice number nine,

04:11or at least given a chance. And that's nothing against Bamford, because when Bamford's on it

04:14and he's fit, he's a very, very useful player to have around, obviously. But I think I'm in the

04:20camp that it feels like you've got a brilliant youngster coming through the ranks here in Joseph.

04:25And Archie was given his chance last season and certainly didn't disappoint. And I suspect Joseph

04:30will be the same and won't disappoint either. Now it's just down to Daniel Farker, really.

04:34And as I say, this Valencia-friendly will be key to seeing what you think will be key to what will

04:39happen. Yeah, it was always a bit like whenever you were mentioning it towards the end of last

04:44season, when, you know, Joe Burrow wasn't exactly pulling out a lot of the goods in terms of goal

04:49scoring. And then you've got this young kid on the bench and you think, yes, he's given the chance

04:54of the bench. But given the way he was impressing, you thought a start was probably just around the

04:58corner, but it never came, did it? Which I found quite surprising, but he's certainly taken the

05:03initiative over the summer and gone into preseason sort of with a point to prove perhaps as well.

05:08And has done that so far in the friendly. So I presume from what you've been reading there as

05:13well, like a lot of fans on social media and those who you talked to, they're gunning for Joseph to

05:18be the number one. Yeah, I think so. Yeah, I think and I think also what you should probably bear in

05:24mind last season is that when Joseph was really up and running and starting to impress and people

05:29like calling for him to start, it was obviously towards the end of a very high pressured situation

05:34in the season, i.e. obviously going for an all-night promotion and just missing out. And

05:39going back to what I just said about the worry about putting a youngster in a position,

05:44because it's slightly different with Archie Gray, because obviously he played it right back in

05:47centre midfield. I mean, not that one position is less important than the other. It's a team

05:53game, isn't it? All 11 positions are important. But if you see what I'm saying, obviously Joseph

05:56would be playing up front and is obviously going to get chances. And if he missed chances or

06:01something that cost the team promotion, for example, or something like that, that might have

06:04been the fear. But now it's like a sort of clean slate. It's a new season. Equally, they still

06:09need to start very, very well. Every game is as important as the first game is as important as

06:12the 46th. But yeah, I just think everything sort of like stacks up now. The timing seems right.

06:19He's obviously fully fit. He's looking in great shape. He's gone out and improved his game and

06:24specifically worked up on his hold-up play. It was in the 21s game I did quite a while back where

06:29we hadn't seen him for a while. I think it was towards the back end of last year.

06:33He stepped out and it was so noticeable how much he sort of bulked up. He basically looked like

06:38a different person almost. He just really sort of stacks out and stuff. He sort of said,

06:44Skobala at the time, that he's been working up on his hold-up play, sort of holding the ball up,

06:49which is one thing that Bamford does so well. Really, when you see Joseph at the moment,

06:54when I see him play at the moment, there's nothing I look at him and think,

06:57he could just do with that or he could just do with that. He seems to be able to finish,

07:01as I say, he presses high. The one thing he hasn't got that someone like Bamford's got is

07:05experience. But I mean, given the chance, that will come, won't it? So yeah, I think it's fair

07:10to say that most people want to see him at least given a chance, his first choice, number nine,

07:14and I think he's deserved it. So give it a shot, yeah. I don't think he'll let anybody down.

07:18I mean, you can only gain experience by giving him that chance, can't you? Otherwise,

07:22exactly. If you're just restricting to the bench and substitute appearances all the time,

07:27is he ever really going to hit the heights he perhaps could? So I think as with Archie Gray,

07:32as you quite rightly said, he was given his chance. And so given the fact that he's had those

07:37cameos at the end of last season, in a high-pressure situation, as you say, is it now

07:42time with the start of a new season where we're not at the pressurised end of it, we're not at

07:47the business end of it because we're starting it, it's perhaps time to give him a go. And if

07:54he doesn't hit the ground running, so be it. You probably put Perot in or you put Rupert up front

08:01as well. But I think it could well be time to just give him that chance and just see how he

08:07copes with it as well. Because as I say, if you're good enough, you're old enough. And Archie Gray

08:13proved that last season very well. And I think, as I say, with Leeds having a bit of an issue in

08:19the striking department, obviously, as I say, Perot didn't really hit the heights last season.

08:22Bamford was injured an awful lot. And for someone who's come in and impressed in pre-season, then

08:27yeah, give him a go. It wouldn't surprise me still if Perot got the nod. It wouldn't surprise me at

08:33all. And even if I'm being honest, I kind of feel like it's sort of, you've got to try and get inside

08:38Daniel Farker's head, haven't you? I think it's probably around about 50-50 at the moment because

08:42Perot's obviously got that experience. And he has looked quite sharp in pre-season as well.

08:46He's scored himself. And I feel like the jury's out a little bit on him from a lot of fans,

08:50probably because so much was expected of him, bearing in mind how many goals he scored at

08:54Swansea. But as Daniel Farker said before, that's a different sort of entity to playing for Leeds

08:59up front. So I think it'll be touch and go. But I just wonder whether Joseph might sort of sway it.

09:04And I mean, social media is a dangerous place, isn't it? And stuff I've seen people sort of say,

09:09Joseph, the golden boot next season, you know, and all this. You never know. He's the sort of

09:13player, though, it wouldn't be the wildest thing. It's the sort of player, I think, that if he gets

09:17a chance and really grabs it and thrives, he could score a lot of goals. He looks like he's capable

09:22of doing that, I think. So, yeah, I mean, we've talked about it for a while, but it's surely,

09:28surely close now to be given that chance, I think. And the Valencia friendly will be key as well,

09:33because it's the last chance to impress, isn't it? Yeah, and that's what we're coming on to now,

09:37of course, because...

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