This season, Ethan Ampadu has been a pillar for Leeds United and Daniel Farke, but his success has limited Ilia Gruev’s opportunities
This season, Ethan Ampadu hasn’t caused many problems for Leeds United, so Ilia Gruev might consider himself quite unlucky. For extended periods of this season, Gruev has been marginalized by Daniel Farke, who has relied heavily on the newest Whites captain, who is undoubtedly the first name on his teamsheet every week.
At Cardiff City Stadium on Saturday, Gruev earned his third start in as many games and ultimately began to show why Farke was so keen to choose him out of the Bundesliga.
Throughout the season, the Bulgarian international has lacked rhythm and momentum while Ampadu has been making gains.
Since the first game of the season, the Wales international has hardly missed a beat and hasn’t done anything to cause Farke to doubt that position within his system. Gruev has only been allowed to make brief appearances; his complete debut versus Stoke City in October was a solitary and unpleasant experience.
The former midfielder for Werder Bremen hasn’t taken any action to move lower in the hierarchy. Farke acknowledges that Ampadu—who moved into defense yesterday—finally made room and that this was a major contributing factor.
“Ethan Ampadu is possibly one of the standout players of the season thus far, so his (Ruev’s) only issue was playing at center back,” Farke remarked. It’s the identical spot where Ilia had to wait a lot and we never had any issues.
He entered the game a little bit at number eight, which may not have been his natural position given the challenging road schedule. Although his effort in these games delighted me, he demonstrated today (Saturday) that he is a top player with a top attitude. This is not the first time he has demonstrated this quality, as he was also excellent in the cup.
Farke finds a lot of similarities between Gruev and Ampadu, which is why the latter is waiting for a chance from the former. Among the qualities the German emphasized in the Bulgarian was helping out teammates when they made mistakes.
“He plays with the greatest distance of any player on the field, is incredibly skilled with the ball, neat with it, makes wise decisions, fixes his teammates’ mistakes, and recovers balls exceptionally well,” Farke added.
He’s also critical to the game’s equilibrium. Since that is precisely what Ethan Ampadu has done thus far this season, it sounds as though I would be talking about him.
“We needed Ethan in a different role today, and Ilia had a chance to shine. The deep six role is undoubtedly one where we have the fewest issues as a team. I’m happy to have such wonderful options as Ethan and Ilia today for that.
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