Junior Firpo arrived amidst great excitement in 2021 ... we had managed to get our hands on a much needed left back who had shone at Real Betis, an established La Liga club and Barcelona felt he was worth shelling out £20m for Of course, with Barca facing financial ruin, they were forced to quickly sell off a stack of players, and Leeds managed to get Firpo in to help fill the left back hole ... we were all keen to see the player from Barcelona, not often we get one of theirs after all However, Firpo arrived not 100% fit, and he struggled in his first season as niggles, Covid and a lack of pre-season training hampered his progress ... this season has been much the same, with another injury in pre-season scuppering any thoughts of him starting the season on a roll Instead it has been more of the same as the lad struggles to find fitness ... hopefully the World Cup break has been kind to him, and he's not far off a return to action please log in to view this image You see, personally I rate Firpo ... yes, he's looked a bit shaky at times but that's down to decision making, not ability ... the thing about decision making is that it's tied to a player's confidence, and confidence in turn is tied to fitness ... half-fit players tend to try too hard, because they feel they need to show the boss they're on the path to recovery ... truth is, although technically they may be over an injury, they're fundamentally not yet at the fitness level required to play in a full on Prem match This was the main issue in the Bielsa era, match ready fitness ... players would return from injury and have to turn out for the U23s a couple of times before they would even be considered ready for the bench ... this would add two to three weeks to their rehabilitation time, leaving the squad creaking Firpo is clearly battling to get himself to that match level of fitness displayed by players like Adams and Aaronson ... I don't think we've actually seen Firpo at his sharpest yet, which is why we've seen patchy performances form a player low on confidence because of his fitness issues My hope is that Junior finds his fitness, and gets an extended run in the team ... I've definitely seen glimpses of a proper talent there, and once he's fit and flying, I believe we'll have the player Betis saw do so well for them The thing about Junior is that he's excellent going forward, he scares defenders and he can cross a good ball ... he's also got a tremendous leap and can cause havoc in opposing boxes at corners ... his defending hasn't been the best, but he did come into a Bielsa team blighted by injuries and he had to play with no cover in front of him, often left to deal with two attackers out wide on the overload Firpo has all the attributes you want from a Leeds left back on attack, and I think that if the team starts to defend more as a unit and look after their full backs a bit better, we'll see a better Junior for sure Now, there is another option Marsch can consider, and that's three at the back Bielsa style ... by this I mean that Roca sits deep just in front of the centre backs, in effect creating a back three ... this would release Rasmus and Junior as attacking wing backs, and this is where Junior comes alive ... he'd be playing almost as a winger, a role that I think suits him perfectly Time will tell, Junior just needs things to d=fall his way for once ... a couple of good outings playing in a more attacking role and we'll see a player who can contribute effectively to the team ... I'm not sure, but I think Marsch said that Junior has all the qualities to be a big asset for the team For now we wait to see if Junior will be fit and ready to go ... I really do hope so, it'll be a massive boost for the team if he can find fitness and form
I doubt whether his agent could have written a better advert for him tbh...........Billy don't be a hero
Pretty sure whenever Firpo played for Bielsa he had Harrison in front of him. Whatever Harrison’s faults Firpo couldn’t have wished for a better player to cover for him. Harrison is so good at tracking back, covering his LB and providing an outlet for the LB to pass to. So to say he had no cover in front of him and had to deal with two attackers on his own is just plain wrong Billy. Alioski combined so well with Harrison because they interlinked superbly - and he’s not even a proper left back. Just my opinion btw.
Actually, that was the problem ... Harrison didn't do his work properly, often caught way up the pitch when giving the ball away ... it was very unlike Jack, when as you say he did it so well with Alioski/Dallas at left back ... maybe because he saw them as not proper defenders he felt he needed to help out more ... this season Harrison has left Struijk exposed far too many times, as he did with Firpo ... could it be poor communication between them? I really do watch the games, closely, and I don't offer my thoughts on the fly ... let's see what the future brings
Not too sure about that Billy. Harrison has been used predominantly on the right wing this season - and it’s destroyed his form, possibly his Leeds career, and potentially decreased his saleable value. Maybe it’s Sinisterra who doesn’t track back on the left that well in any case Summerville and Gnonto don’t shirk their defensive responsibilities so all is not lost.
Course it's effective. He has been **** since we signed him. I don't need to write 500 words when three will sum it up....he is ****. It would be a massive turnaround if he suddenly turned in to a great left back as there have been zero signs of it so far.
He has to be turned into a footballer before he turns into a great left back. And even then there’s a long way to go - controlling the ball, heading the ball in the direction he intended it to go, finding a teammate with a pass, not being caught constantly out of position, and when he is caught out of position actually making an effort to get back… Oh **** it….he’s a lost cause…get rid.
Great post Billy and 5 stars for the effort and backing up with examples. I hope you are right but I have to disagree, I think he’s an awful player
Apologies Billy. Just read Ristacs reply above and realise my brief retort is out of order after the effort you put in to the thread. Genuinely apologise for that, that's on me. Right...Firpo... He has slow acceleration over 5 yards. He doesn't have the top end speed to make up for it. His positioning is questionable and doubles down on that by making rash decisions that leave us exposed or ends up with him getting booked. He defends square on too often leaving him easy to skin. When he does get skinned he doesn't have the pace to regain his position so gives up. He's not bad in the air tbf but his headers lack the direction intended. He DOES like to get forward which I like and he's not afraid to try the difficult pass which is why Bielsa signed him. Unfortunately it's not happened for him going forward but does have a couple of assists to his name whilst here. Generally speaking, the game seems too fast and too physical for him. That's why he has to dive in too often. I can't think of any game where I thought he was excellent. He does well not to make a **** up. His performances have been poor and he is injury prone. He's constantly walking a tightrope due to stupid early yellow cards. All of the above have a knock on effect on the team as centre halves have to come across to cover leaving the middle of the pitch exposed. That's why I think he is ****.
Actually he is very quick over five yards ... the only time he looked slow was in last ten minutes of first games back when his legs had gone His "positioning" is when he's exposed ... in the Bielsa system it was because he had followed his man infield and nobody covered for him He looks squared up because he knows he's vulnerable in two on ones, and inevitably the winger already has two yards of space on him As I said, wait and see ... I always try to look beyond the obvious, and Firpo can play ... I haven't said he's a great defender at all, as I suggested he should be used as a wing back ... in fact, he'd probably be effective out wide as well, it's natural for him
Billy as usual accentuating the positives. My view is he looks a decent footballer in possession but has been a car crash defensively. Mitigating circumstances are ongoing fitness issues plus playing under bielsa man2man marking system followed by marsch Wanting his fullbacks high… 2 systems that ask a lot of questions of full backs. I don’t see it as impossible he could adjust with a long run in the team being healthy but I also think it’s a case of him just not suiting the physicality of the league. There are some similarities with Koch - he spent a year doing weights so he could cope with Pl forwards - and it’s helped but he’s still better on the ball than off it.
Fair points milky and probably about spot on regarding Firpo's time with us. Just wondering why he seems to pick up so many injuries during training though and Forshaw is similar in that respect ? Can't believe for one second it's the actual training so must be something else.
Maybe he'll end up like Dan James and just not get the breaks. Firpo comes in for his first start this season and Jesse decides he'll rest Cooper and then play Sinisterra in front of him whilst leaving Harrison on the bench. Is that leaving him exposed when not fully match fit, or should he be good enough to handle that after 3 months out injured ? By the way the one time DJ played left wing (second half against Burnley at home) he was sensational.
What's Dan James excuse at scum and more importantly at Fulham? I like DJ. He's passionate, gives everything, puts his body on the line for the team. He's just not quite Premier League level. I've given up on Firpo. There's no passion, doesn't give everything and the fact opposition teams target him every game should tell its own story. Makes me chuckle when posters say that we should have kept Alioski when the first season back in the PL he was the weakest link by a long way. He's just twice the player Firpo is.
