"Without being disrespectful"- Leeds United: Ross McCormack drops bold Ao Tanaka, Ethan Ampadu claim | OneFootball

The Japanese midfielder has stepped up to the plate since being called upon by the boss.

Ross McCormack has declared his position that he believes Ao Tanaka is better than both club captain Ethan Ampadu and Ilia Gruev.

Losing your starting midfield pairing to separate knee injuries in the space of four days has the capacity to debilitate any team, no matter their strength or hopes.

Even with the losses that Leeds made in the summer, they still had a pretty strong team by Championship standards, with the hope being that they would do one better this time than they did last season and make it back to the Premier League at the second time of asking.

Those aspirations were hit hard when Ampadu and Gruev were both ruled out until after the new year because of the serious knee problems that they had picked up.

Leeds manager Daniel Farke confirmed today (Friday, 25th October) that the timeline for the pair's returns remained the same.

There certainly feels like less of a need to get them back as quickly as possible, though, thanks to the two players that have stepped in for them: Joe Rothwell and Tanaka.

The two summer signings have started every game together since the Whites' 1-1 draw with Norwich, in which only the Japanese international was included in the first XI as Gruev was yet to pick up his knock.

They have gelled really well and helped to keep this team ticking in the midst of their injury issues, but Tanaka has been the standout of the two.

Ross McCormack says Ao Tanaka is better than Ethan Amapdu and Ilia Gruev

McCormack, who played 157 games and scored 58 goals for Leeds, as per Transfermarkt, has been so wowed by the work of Tanaka in recent weeks that he revealed, on talkSPORT (24th October, 11:35pm), that he believes the 26-year-old is the best midfielder at Elland Road, including the currently injured pair.

He said: "The good thing for me is that they’ve lost Ampadu and Gruev in the midfield and everyone was all worried about what’s going to happen, ‘we need to sign someone’.

"But, they’ve pulled in the Japanese boy, Tanaka, and I think he is – without being disrespectful to the other two – a level above."

The Scottish forward isn't the only one who is full of praise for Tanaka. His boss lauded his quick adaptation to life in the Championship. "You couldn’t expect he’d have such a bright start," said Farke, via the Yorkshire Post.

"Before, he’s played in the second tier in Germany, but not the Bundesliga. Of course, he has played for the Japanese national team on the top level, but not so much in club football.

"He was impressive in a crucial moment (on Tuesday, against Watford). Perhaps right now, he has to defend even more than what his natural game is because he’s quite good going forward.

"I’m not surprised, but impressed by this and pretty happy. He is doing an excellent job so far."

Ross McCormack isn't being hyperbolic with Ao Tanaka statement

It's often the case with this sport that we can either forget how good a player is, to an extent, or amplify their abilities while they're gone, depending on how their replacement is doing.

With McCormack, the former of those two options could be happening. We shouldn't forget the unbelievable season that Ampadu in particular had last time out to help Leeds get to the position that they got to.

Maybe it's a bit of that, and also a bit of lower initial expectations, that have boosted Tanaka's stock a little bit, but there is no question that he is deserving of the large amount of praise that he has received since stepping into the starting line-up.

There has been no drop-off in the team's performances. You could argue that they have looked better since he came in, actually.

That's as good as praise can get.