Wilfried Gnonto answers Leeds United's promotion problem with Daniel Farke no-brainer
Leeds United's New Years Day was far from perfect on Wednesday afternoon. Daniel Farke's men were held to a 1-1 draw against play-off chasing Blackburn Rovers in a very frustrating game.
The Whites were far from their best and the outcome of the clash was no surprise. Blackburn visited Elland Road with the aim of frustrating Leeds and defending their goal with real authority.
Manor Solomon and Brenden Aaronson both struggled to unlock the Rovers defence, misplacing passes or constantly opting to run away from goal. Even in the first-half, some fans wanted Wilfried Gnonto to come on.
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When Jayden Bogle went down and Farke was forced to make his second change in the 51st minute, Gnonto was stripped and primed to come on. However, the Leeds boss had a change of heart and the Italian sat back down.
Eighteen minutes later, he came on in an attempt to turn the game around. Alongside Patrick Bamford and Mateo Joseph, Gnonto was introduced and the game changed. One of Leeds' issues on Wednesday was the forward's poor decision-making. There's playing patiently and then there's what was happening.
Gnonto came on and added something different to the attack. The 21-year-old completed 80% of his passes, created two chances - the most out of any Leeds player - and made five passes into the final third.
There are question marks as to why Gnonto wasn't on the pitch from the start following his decent display against Derby. Since the start of November, he hasn't started more than two games in a row. Farke's options in attack means someone must miss out and over the festive period, he's largely been used off the bench.
Leeds have five games across the course of January, including a trip to promotion rivals Burnley on the 27th. If Leeds are going to strengthen their promotion bid, Farke is going to run out of reasons not to start Gnonto from the off.
