"The missing piece" - Pablo Hernandez tipped to fit in Daniel Farke's Leeds United team | OneFootball

FLW's Leeds United fan pundit singles out Pablo Hernandez as an ex player that he would love to have seen in this current Leeds team.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Leeds have enjoyed a strong start to the 2024/25 campaign, as expected.

After Leeds' failure to secure promotion from the Championship last season, due to their defeat to Southampton in the play-off final, the expectation for this season is nothing less than promotion.

The season is only four games in, but the Whites look strong and are so far unbeaten. It was a slow start to begin with, having drew to newly-promoted Portsmouth aswell as West Brom, but wins against Sheffield Wednesday and Hull City mean the club are in a good position following the first international break.

There may be reservations about Daniel Farke if Leeds do reach the Premier League, but one thing for sure is that he knows how to earn promotion, having done it twice with Norwich in the past.

Leeds are also very familiar with getting promoted from the Championship, having achieved it as recently as 2020.

Their squad under Bielsa that season was sublime, and perhaps Leeds fans would love to see one or two of those players in the current squad under Farke.

So, we put the question to FLW's Leeds United fan pundit Kris Smith: Which ex-Whites player would fit perfectly into Daniel Farke's current XI and why?

Leeds fan claims that Pablo Hernandez would suit this Leeds side perfectly

Leeds United supporters will remember Pablo Hernandez for the impact he had on games, and FLW's Leeds fan pundit, Kris Smith, believes the club are still missing a player of his qualities.

"Leeds and Farke have been crying out for a lock-picking attacking midfielder for some time, and I do think we've not actually replaced Pablo Hernandez at all in the three years that he's been gone."

"We've had goals from out wide and from strikers over the past few seasons, especially in the Championship last season, but when we've come up against some stubborn defences, we've really lacked someone in the middle who can open the game up, the sort of defence-splitting pass that we'd need."

"Obviously Hernandez is the one you look to straight away. He was outstanding for us and he dragged us through so many games and essentially to promotion. When it looked like there was no hope of a result in some games, he got us out of that, whether it be from a goal or an assist." "His capacity to play in a high press like he did under Bielsa, even if it was only for 45 minutes, it does underline that he would be perfect for this Leeds team under Farke, even on the counter attack."

Pablo Hernandez's spell at Leeds United was unforgettable

The Spaniard spent five years at Elland Road and had an impact that will never be forgotten by Leeds supporters. He initially joined on loan for the 2016/17 season, but his performances were enough for Leeds to give him a permanent deal in January 2017.

The Leeds faithful had endured years of pain in recent times, but the addition of Hernandez, as well as the managerial appointment of Marcelo Bielsa in 2018 gave their fans some hope once again.

Hernandez was already an excellent attacking midfielder, but Bielsa took him to a new level once he joined the club, as in his first season under Bielsa, he contributed to 24 goals.

The 2019/20 campaign is one that Leeds will never forget, and Hernandez was one of the stars of the show. The experienced Spaniard scored nine goals and assisted nine that season to finally help Leeds into the Premier League after years of suffering.

Hernandez was in the twilight of his career, but that did not stop him having a huge impact on games, as his goals and assists were absolutely vital to Bielsa's plans.