Leeds United: Manor Solomon shines on debut
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00:00I think if we move on to man of Solomon, he just looked like very good in that game, didn't
00:06he? Just just a player who you can tell has had the experience of the Premier League training
00:11coaching quality and coming to a league where he's perhaps a little bit too good for it.
00:17Now, I know we're just saying this after one game, but you can sort of tell at times, can't
00:21you? Yeah, yeah, 100%. Yeah, you've hit the nail on the head. He looked like a player
00:27that had the sort of CV that he's got, if that makes sense, in terms of when you go
00:31through the experience he's got, the games he's played and the goals he's scored, crucially
00:37at the level he's scored. It just looked like that. He looked like a Premier League player
00:40basically playing in the Championship. And to be honest, that's what he is because he's
00:44on loan from Tottenham. So that's not saying anything outlandish. That is a fact. And Leeds
00:51got a very good one there last season with Joe Road on absolutely excelling on loan from
00:55Tottenham. And to all extents and purposes, it looks like they're going to get the same
00:59again here with Solomon. And I think the only question mark you'd have with him is whether
01:04they can keep him fit and that he avoids injury, basically. Because obviously, as I'd like
01:08knee injuries before and stuff. But it doesn't mean everybody has injuries and stuff. So
01:12give the guy a fair crack of the whip and a chance and stuff. And obviously, straight
01:17into the starting line-up and quite a few eyebrows raised at that, really. Because obviously,
01:21A, he'd only just signed. And the bottom line is that he hadn't played since September.
01:25So it's basically a year out, certainly in terms of competitive appearances. But he did
01:30say in his interviews when he signed, he said he was fit and raring to go and ready to show
01:34himself, I think was the phrase he used. And he certainly did that. In the first five or
01:38ten minutes, he just stood out a mile. Basically, Louis Coyle just couldn't contain him. He
01:44was just all over him down that left flank. To be fair to Louis Coyle, he did fight back
01:47at times and gave him a reasonably good fist of things. But he just looked very, very good.
01:52And he looked like a player with the CV as well. 24 Prem games, four goals, two assists.
01:57I mean, it's not absolute bundles, but it's pretty decent for Premier League level when
02:00you're coming down to the Championship and 16 Champions League games, four goals and
02:04stuff. Back in February, March 2023, when he was on loan at Fulham, he scored five games
02:09in a row, four of them in the Premier League and one in the Cup against Leeds. So, I mean,
02:13when you look at stats like that, someone should be coming in to the Championship and
02:16excelling. And especially someone like that should be taking the eye when they're an attacker,
02:21which is what he is, obviously. And he said beforehand, left wing was his best position,
02:26started straight on the left wing and straightaway caused problems. And of course, it was no
02:29surprise considering how he started. It was him who set up the first goal of the game.
02:34And that was down to him, going forward from nowhere, skinning two people, getting to the
02:38byline, perfect cross and a fantastic finish from Joseph. So, yeah, I mean, I've heard
02:44it said by a few people that Manor Solomon will, is, will be, could be the best player
02:50in the Championship. And obviously, that's a big thing to say, but I find it hard to
02:55disagree really. I mean, obviously, there'll be people coming through throughout the season
02:59that you might not think of as much now. But with his CV and stuff like that, the experience
03:05he's got, the flair he's got, the attributes he's got, if he isn't the best player in the
03:09Championship, he's certainly going to be one of them. And Leeds have obviously, despite
03:14not getting a number 10, they've got an enormous amount of options out wide. But I think even
03:19so, I think he's got to be just about the first name on the team sheet, certainly out
03:23wide. So they've got a very, very good sign in there. And as I say, if they can keep him
03:27fit and injury free, he's the sort of player who you could see really stacking up the goals
03:31and assists this season, which is what they need because they've lost a boatload from
03:35Somerville and Routier. But I think having him in will go a long way to hopefully replacing
03:42that. Very good sign.
03:43Do you think the lack of a number 10 maybe changes the way Leeds have to play and they
03:46have to put more emphasis on the wider players? I know, obviously, they had more players than
03:51they did last season anyway, but you haven't got Routier anymore and so not as much can
03:55go through that middle. So is it more emphasis going out wide, do you think, now?
03:58Yeah, probably. And it felt a bit like that in the first half against Hull. That's one
04:03thing we were saying watching the game. It did feel like a lot of it was going out wide
04:06and it was kind of like... It was almost an obvious and lazy thing to say if Leeds weren't
04:12winning that you could just say, well, they need a number 10 because, obviously, Daniel
04:16Farker wanted one and they didn't get one. And so if it's nil-nil and they're not winning
04:20and they're not creating, then the first thing you're going to say is, well, that's because
04:23they haven't got a number 10. But I know it's an obvious thing to say, but it did look that
04:26way. Yeah, a little bit. But I think the other point to make, though, is that Solomon and
04:32Ramazani can both play as a number 10. They're probably not natural number 10s, but they
04:37both can play there. Nantes, I don't see why he can't play well at number 10. He drifts
04:42inside a lot anyway. And obviously, we've got Brendan Aronson coming back, obviously,
04:46from last season, who is probably the most natural number 10 Leeds have got, even if
04:51he's not a natural, natural 10 like a Pablo Hernandez-type sort of thing. So, yeah. But
04:56I mean, I think Daniel Farker, the nail on the head, when he was speaking post-match
05:00after Hull, he said, basically, if we haven't gone out and got a natural number 10, like
05:03a Maradona or a Gascoigne is the way he used it. I mean, imagine I'm one of them. But the
05:08way he said it was like, if we haven't got that, then we're going to have to find other
05:11solutions. And by that, probably means a little bit A in terms of the way we play, but also
05:15somebody else sort of stepping up to the plate and making that position their own, really,
05:19which is what the challenge is now. So, yeah. I mean, yeah, ideally, you'd have a first-class,
05:26natural number 10, but they haven't got one. And I think the bottom line is even without
05:31that, they should have enough. I mean, you look at the talent they've got and the attacking
05:34options they've got, it should be enough to win most games.