If you had said that Caleb Ekuban would even be considered an important player or a starter not many would have continued the conversation in a serious way. Chris Wood was here, Lasogga has signed since and goals were going in from all angles. Fast forward a month and a bit…I can’t wait to get him back.
Ekuban has scored one goal, a very good goal it has to be said but what we have seen in his performances are that he can do a bit of something nobody else in the squad can. Away at Sunderland he was thrown into the mix and he caused all sorts of problems for a side that, at the time were bang in form. He held the ball up, linked with the players behind him and stretched the defence when we needed him to. Unlike any striker we have he has a serious turn of pace and there was a sense of serious disappointment when he hobbled off during that game. In previous games in the cup he had also shown glimpses of something very different in our squad, and now he is back in training, and soon to be back.
I wouldn’t hesitate to put him back on the bench and get him back playing very soon. We have Jay-Roy Grot coming off the bench in every game at the moment and it’s fair to say it isn’t working at all. Maybe he could turn out to be a player but as things stand he is a lazy option for Christiansen and more importantly he is genuinely a lazy player. The other striking options certainly aren’t viable in the eyes of Thomas Christiansen and the goals aren’t flowing, or chances coning their way. Pawel Cibicki seems a waste of a signing as he can’t even get a chance in the first-team despite the very poor form and Kemar Roofe who has impressed on every occasion in that role is pushed out wide again, a position that clearly doesn’t suit him.
Ekuban is set to return after the break and it can’t come soon enough. Lasogga and Ekuban in a front two would work for me and even as a lone striker we know he can do a job. Teams wouldn’t be able to push so high against us because Ekuban will run the channels and make defenders turn and run, something they won’t want to do. His pace and raw ability will get fans excited and probably pump up Elland Road more than the long balls launched forwards towards Lasogga. He probably won’t be back in the side straight away but we have nothing to lose I personally I can’t wait to see him back on the pitch.
