Daniel Farke has a huge Junior Firpo problem at Leeds United: View | OneFootball

Junior Firpo's absence was felt against Bristol City by Daniel Farke and Leeds United.

Leeds United drew 0-0 with Bristol City over the weekend, which highlighted Junior Firpo's importance to the team at left-back under Daniel Farke.

Firpo was signed for €15 million (£12.8 million) from European giants Barcelona, with the La Liga outfit also set to receive 20 percent of any future fee for the defender. That fee appeared like a snip at the time, but prior to this year, he struggled to ever cement himself as a key figure in the squad.

The defender arrived with a strong reputation and pedigree having played for Real Betis as well as Barcelona in the Champions League. Injuries during his time at Leeds meant that the full-back featured just 43 times in the top flight across two seasons before Leeds suffered relegation to the Championship.

However, Firpo's introduction into Farke's side was one of a number of factors that helped to contribute towards an uptick in the team's form in 2024, when they won their opening nine league games of the calendar year to apply pressure to the top sides in the Championship.

While he has never been a strong one-against-one defender or the strongest in general defensive situations, Firpo has the ability to contribute to the Leeds attack consistently down the left-hand side, which is something that has greatly aided the side to keep winning games.

Junior Firpo's importance to Leeds

However, despite having his best year with the club so far, the Whites defender has come under plenty of scrutiny for his performances for the West Yorkshire outfit since signing from Barcelona in the summer of 2021. He is also criticised for his lack of availability, although that has been far less of an issue for him in the last 11 months.

The game against Bristol City saw him fail to start in just his third league game this year and was the first game he had missed altogether. It's a far cry from the injury issues that held him back for much of his Leeds career prior to January.

He has become one of the club's most consistent and reliable performers since the turn of the year and was not just a part of matchday squads but in Farke's best lineup. He showed his quality last season during the second half of the campaign when he was able to get a run in the side and build strong connections with the midfield and forward players.

The 28-year-old will overlap, and, crucially, hold the width. He is able to do this as he plays on his strong foot and is the only out-and-out left-footed full-back at the club, which opens up passing angles in build-up and crossing opportunities in the final third, where his dynamic with Crysencio Summerville was particularly fruitful.

This season has so far been more of the same, with four goal contributions already from left-back (1G, 3A). Despite that, Firpo's situation remains a problem area just as much as it has been in the recent past. He is the only specialist who is naturally left-footed and thus should be their go-to player this season to play the majority of minutes at left-back.

He appears to be settled, happy, and playing the best football of his career in West Yorkshire. He has rarely shown the sort of quality he managed with Betis, but it is the best football he's played since that 2019 season and highlights what a run of games can do for a player's form and confidence.

Despite all the positivity, the red flag remains that he is unlikely to replicate the back-end of last season over a 46-game season. The fact that last year was the most games he has featured in highlights the need for another specialist who can take his minutes when out of action.

Leeds' problem without Firpo against Bristol City

Leeds have four full-backs on their books this season in Firpo, Jayden Bogle, Sam Byram, and Isaac Schmidt. Although it appears as though the latter have been signed to cover the full-back area on both flanks. Byram deputised on Saturday, where he was solid enough in a defensive sense in Firpo's absence with suspension, but showcased why a left-footer is so crucial to keeping the pitch as big and wide as possible.

With games thick and fast, and Byram's fitness also an issue in the long-term like Firpo, the Dominican Republic international is likely to need help with a left-footed player, which is significant when combining and overlapping, perhaps showcasing the need to keep Byram as a right-sided player and Bogle's natural understudy.

Not only was Firpo's recent fifth yellow significant and likely to be an issue again later this season but neither he nor Byram have particularly strong injury records that can be relied upon as the primary starting player. Depth was needed, and although Max Wöber could fill in, and Pascal Struijk has also played as a left-back, a specialist who is left-footed would allow them to stay centrally in their preferred role of centre-back.

Byram covered full-back on both sides last season, as did Cody Drameh and Jamie Shackleton, but the latter have both exited the club, and Schmidt may have more career minutes at left-back than anyone bar Firpo, but he has the same issue of being a right-footed full-back.

He is not able to play on his strong foot, leaving Firpo as the only out-and-out left-footed full-back at the club. Breaking teams down was an issue for Farke last season, but it should be easier to navigate if both Firpo and Bogle are on the pitch at the same time, as they have the ability to hold width and overlap, which allows the attackers to invert and roam centrally to combine with one another.

Without one and with Byram at left-back, Leeds lost that ability and those combinations, with his hesitancy in the final third an issue, as well as his ability to utilise his weaker foot for quick and crisper passes at better angles. Firpo creates those moments more often, and it may have been an oversight to sign Schmidt with Byram perfectly capable on the right.

Then again, of Byram and Schmidt, the latter is the player who profiles the closest to Bogle, given his superior speed and athleticism, as well as his ability to overlap and join the attack. He has not made his full debut for the side yet, having cameoed on three occasions thus far, but may have even more upside as Bogle's understudy.

Schmidt has played a handful of minutes against the likes of Cardiff, Coventry, and Sunderland; the latter of which was a particularly impressive substitute appearance in a few key moments. It's unlikely that Farke will turn to him on Saturday against Plymouth Argyle with Bogle now suspended, but Leeds' problem at left-back is going to remain and be a problem again.

Neither Farke nor Leeds supporters will be keen for Firpo to drop out of the team any time soon or be out for any meaningful length of time given how dependable and high-quality he has been of late. However, another injury or suspension is forthcoming given his career history, which will leave them with creative problems in the final third down the left-hand side.

A left-footed full-back may well be on the club's shopping list this January, with Firpo inarguably one of the first names on the teamsheet as one of the club's most crucial players as both an individual and for his work structurally and tactically as part of the team.