When Leeds United paid Valencia £27m for Rodrigo last month, they felt more relevant as a club than at any point since their Premier League relegation in 2004.
After sixteen years in the doldrums, they were back in the big time and back throwing punches at the top end of the European transfer market.
Rodrigo, Spain’s number nine no less, became Leeds’ most expensive signing since Rio Ferdinand arrived from West Ham for £18m in 2000.
The marquee signing was a benchmark of the new-found ambition at Elland Road but Rodrigo has yet to shine after three appearances.
The 29-year-old conceded a costly penalty at Liverpool on his debut, lost to Hull in the Carabao Cup and was then hauled off at half-time last week against Fulham.
His inauspicious start can be attributed largely to not yet being fully up to speed with the fitness and energy that Marcelo Bielsa demands.
Quite where Rodrigo will fit in to Bielsa’s 4-1-4-1 system remains to be seen ahead of Sunday’s Yorkshire derby at Sheffield United.
But as Kevin Davies, who played with Rodrigo for a season at Bolton a decade ago, tells i: “Bielsa will find a place for Rodrigo in the side because you don’t pay that kind of money without playing them.
“True, it’s not been the best start for him, but I’ve no doubt he will prove an excellent signing for Leeds.
“The tempo Leeds play at will suit him and I can’t see Rodrigo having any problems scoring goals and having a positive impact on their team.
“Patrick Bamford is a bit like marmite and people say he needs four or five chances to score.
“But Bielsa has a lot of faith in him and he’s repaying that trust superbly, so I think Rodrigo playing behind Bamford as a number 10 could work well for Leeds.
“It will just take time to bed him into the team but wherever he plays across the front three, or behind Bamford, he will make a huge contribution this season.
Marcelo Bielsa and Pat Lam?
For Leeds fan and Bristol Bears fly-half Callum @Sheedy95 they are two peas in a pod, he tells @hughgodwin_#LUFC #BristolBears https://t.co/TvAkVzQ7ye pic.twitter.com/JQb5kT1ang
— i sport (@iPaperSport) September 25, 2020
“Rodrigo has always been a one goal in three, one goal in four type of player anyway because he does a lot of work in wide areas.
“He works hard defensively and Bielsa will appreciate that work ethic and energy.”
A teenage Rodrigo spent the 2010-11 season on loan at Bolton from Benfica, scoring just once in 17 appearances.
Davies remembered: “Rodrigo was only 19 and it was a big challenge coming to a new country.
“But you could see Rodrigo had all the attributes – he was fit, quick, technically outstanding – and it was clear he would go on and have a very good career.
“He was a bit in and out because there was myself, Johan Elmander, Ivan Klasnic and Daniel Sturridge, so it was hard for him to get any consistency.
“He was probably frustrated he didn’t get more starts but he wasn’t one to bang down the door of the manager (Owen Coyle).
“He always had a smile on his face and loved his football. That’s the type of character he is – happy go lucky – and I think he saw his time at Bolton as a very useful learning curve in his career.
“Rodrigo was in the category of a Nicolas Anelka or a Sturridge – a player we knew would go on to do big things because of the quality he had.”
Davies knows about the pressures of making a big-money move – he was signed by Blackburn from Southampton for £7.5m in July 1998 but flopped.
The 43-year-old, who won a solitary England cap against Montenegro during Rodrigo’s season at Bolton, insisted: “Leeds are a massive club with very demanding supporters but Rodrigo’s had that at Benfica and Valencia, so I don’t think it will affect him at all.
“Give him time and he will thrive. If he does well for Leeds and starts banging in the goals, he could have another one or two big moves still in him.”
Follow i sport on Facebook for more Leeds United news, interviews and features
More on Leeds United
- Ayling exclusive: ‘Last season still hurts – but now Leeds are ready for the Premier League’
- Kevin Garside: Every team had a bruiser but few were as gifted as the Leeds United general
- ‘Sealing Leeds United’s promotion was the most important goal of my career’
- Bamford exclusive: ‘I owe a lot to Marcelo Bielsa. He’s the first boss to see me as a No 9’
- ‘Spygate’: Bielsa taught Lampard and all of English football a lesson
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/30aXGvV
Post a Comment