Leeds United: Daniel Farke cannot make Mateo Joseph mistake again - View | OneFootball

Leeds United have a reputation for developing young talent, and a number of promising forwards on their books currently, but one that was under utilised during the run-in was Mateo Joseph.

The likes of Patrick Bamford, Georginio Rutter, and Joel Piroe were always likely to feature in the majority of minutes in attacking areas for Daniel Farke. However, players such as Joseph and Joe Gelhardt were retained by the club this summer, allowing other young forwards such as Sonny Perkins and Sam Greenwood to head out on loan instead.

The pair will have been hoping for development minutes with the first-team, and share some similarities in how the starts of their respective careers in LS11 have gone so far. Firstly, as Gelhardt's first goal for the club came during a 3-2 defeat at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea in 2022 under Marcelo Bielsa.

Almost exactly two years on, and Joseph repeated a similar feat with his very own moment much like Gelhardt's, as Leeds were defeated 3-2 at Stamford Bridge in the FA Cup fifth round, with Joseph securing his first senior goals with a brace against Leeds' bitter rivals.

Many would have expected that to be a turning point for Joseph to receive further minutes, but instead Farke stuck with the tried and tested options of one of Bamford or Piroe to play with Rutter in attack.

Mateo Joseph's campaign

The 20-year-old striker was starting his second game in a row in the cup loss to Chelsea, and it was also just his second start all season in any competition for the club. Injury restricted Joseph to less action than he would have liked this term during the beginning of the season, after starting the campaign on the treatment table, but he has all the fundamentals to make it as a striker to a very high level.

The 20-year-old can finish well, run the channels, link play, hold up the ball, and is strong in one-v-one situations as well. His skill-set for a striker is well-rounded already, and he has all the attributes of a modern day number-nine to succeed with more refinement and development.

Joseph's displays in back-to-back games in the FA Cup caught the eye. He acted as Leeds' focal point against Plymouth in the FA Cup replay, striking the woodwork and showcasing his ability to work the channels and play off the shoulder in a difficult fixture.

That game came after a big confidence boost for Joseph personally, having only recently signed a new deal at Elland Road until 2028. The youngster repaid the faith in him and followed that Plymouth performance up with his brace against the 2021 UEFA Champions League winners.

However, he strangely found himself left out of action against Huddersfield completely, but then followed the appearance against Chelsea up with another fantastic cameo against Stoke City. The Whites found themselves under the cosh, and, with both Gelhardt and Joseph on the bench, Farke turned to Leeds' recent FA Cup hero.

He came on and excelled again, almost scoring when he rounded the 'keeper late on, only for the covering defender to clear his shot off the line, whilst also helping to alleviate pressure and get Leeds up the pitch by making the ball stick in the final third.

Given how crucial Bamford has become to Leeds, it was always unlikely that he would be dropped often for the remainder of the season, but Joseph has taken his chance to impress Farke in those two cup games, and again from the bench against Stoke.

Joseph's end of season struggles

Instead of that game being the turning point Joseph needed to start more often in the Championship, or come off the bench earlier than he had previously, he found his end-of-season game time was nowhere near enough for a player needing to develop and learn.

Joseph is the player that needs to be refined by the club into the all-round striker Bamford is, but he would come off the bench for no more than 27 minutes for the rest of the season, and fail to start a single game. Per Transfermarkt, the majority of his cameos were around one-to-ten minutes, which barely gave him the chance to impress Farke and make a decent impact on games.

A late goal against Watford just minutes after his introduction was the best he could muster in an output sense, but even during the play-off final against Southampton, Joseph was able to showcase his obvious talent in terms of leading the line and stretching the pitch by running in behind, or pressing more intensely than a player like Piroe. Leeds looked far more threatening after Joseph and Dan James' introduction, and the Spaniard's profile could be the answer to a lot of questions next year.

Joseph is obviously gifted, and he either needs to be utilised with greater regularity by Farke next season in the Championship, with an increased number of starts, or head out on loan. Another season such as the 2023/24 campaign will only see his growth stagnate.