This Is What Shows – Leeds United Star Sees Real Strength In Whites | OneFootball

This Is What Shows – Leeds United Star Sees Real Strength In Whites | OneFootball

In partnership with

Yahoo sports
Icon: Inside Futbol

Inside Futbol

·22 February 2025

This Is What Shows – Leeds United Star Sees Real Strength In Whites

Article image:This Is What Shows – Leeds United Star Sees Real Strength In Whites

Ashley Allen/Getty Images

Leeds United defender Junior Firpo has insisted that having players such as Willy Gnonto sitting on the bench shows the depth the Whites have and stressed that is important for a club trying to win the league.


OneFootball Videos


The Whites are on course to clinch automatic promotion from the Championship under Daniel Farke and they have shown real strength in depth, not least with the wealth of attacking options at the manager’s disposal.

They are by far the highest scorers in the league, with a whopping 68 goals scored in just 33 outings; that is just 13 goals fewer than they scored in 46 league games last term, a record they look on course to smash.

Article image:This Is What Shows – Leeds United Star Sees Real Strength In Whites

Two goals came from Pascal Struijk in the match against Sunderland on Monday when Leeds were 1-0 down until the 78th minute and were staring at a defeat.

Now heading into another all-important game against fellow promotion-chasers Sheffield United, Firpo insists that strength of the bench is always the key for teams trying to win the league.

He feels that there were periods when injuries hit Leeds, but believes that is when the squad depth shone through to get them through those times.

“We know this [that we have players on the bench who can turn the game around against Sheffield United],” Firpo told LUTV.

“We have been the whole season like that, even we had a period when we had a few players injured or even when players who were playing really good, they got an injury and then another player came into the starting eleven and started to do really well.

“I have always said we have players like, for example, Pascal [Struijk] – such an important player for the squad.

“But we are playing so well, we are not conceding goals and everything is difficult for the manager to move the team.

“And also you have players on the bench not even playing minutes, like Willy Gnonto, who is an unbelievable player.

“This is what shows the depth we have in the squad and the good moments that our players are having and this is really good, this really important if you want to try and win the league.”

Gnonto, who has played just 85 minutes of first-team football since the turn of the year, scored a goal in the 7-0 win over Cardiff City.

An Italy international, the winger has often seen Farke prefer other options ahead of him and the jury is out on whether he will be called upon over the final stretch of the campaign.

View publisher imprint