‘No Doubt Now’ – Former Leeds Star Tells Daniel Farke Non-negotiable For West Ham Game | OneFootball

Former Leeds United star Aidy White has told Daniel Farke that he now has to pick Jaka Bijol ahead of Pascal Struijk for the West Ham United game on Friday night.

The Whites showed initial promise upon their comeback to the Premier League, as they defeated the likes of Everton and Wolves in their opening five games.

However, Leeds have failed to win any of their last three games, losing two of them, a run that sees them slip to 16th in the league table, three points above safety.

At the weekend, Burnley defeated Leeds 2-0, and White feels that defender Struijk has given Farke reasons to drop him for Bijol.

The Slovenia international was signed in the summer transfer window, as one of the key incomings, but things have not gone according to plan for the 26-year-old.

Bijol is yet to set foot in a Premier League game and before Leeds face 19th-placed West Ham, White feels that Farke must go for the Slovenian ahead of Struijk following his performance, given he was signed to be a first-teamer.

“I think, from the Pascal Struijk point of view, don’t give the manager absolutely any ammunition he can use against you, when there is a lot of pressure externally to put Bijol in”, White said on BBC Radio Leeds (11:13).

“He played two international games – he has probably been signed as the number one starting centre-back.

“£18m is a lot of money to spend on somebody and Struijk might be worth very similar to that figure.

“But as a player like Struijk, you cannot give the manager any reason or any chance to bring you out of the team.

“And I think, going forward, the West Ham game will speak volumes in terms of his team selection, on what Daniel Farke’s mindset is with the players, and who he trusts and who he doesn’t.

“If he doesn’t make changes, I’ll be extremely surprised.

“Because, I thought, he’d potentially might put Bijol for this [Burnley] game.

“There is no doubt now, that he probably has to now put in him for the West Ham game.”

One Leeds legend admitted that the kind of money that has been spent on Bijol makes it hard to leave him out of the starting lineup, which has been the case so far.