Leeds United swiftly moved back to the top of the Championship table on Monday night with a dramatic 2-1 win over Sunderland at Elland Road.
Two goals from substitute centre-back Pascal Struijk completed a comeback for Daniel Farke’s side, who found themselves 1-0 down to a Wilson Isidor strike at the break.
Struijk and Joe Rothwell, who combined for both goals, will, rightly, get the acclaim for their cameos off the bench, but Mateo Joseph also made an impact.
The Spain U21 international came on and won 100% of his duels whilst constantly closing down the Sunderland defenders with his pace, which helped the Whites to force the opposition into hurried clearances to maintain dominance in the game.
Mateo Joseph’s first-team emergence
Unfortunately, it was another game that Joseph did not change with a goal or an assist, as his tally for the season remains at three goals and three assists in 32 Championship matches.
The former England youth international came up through the academy system at Thorp Arch and made 20 appearances as a substitute in the second half under Farke in the 2023/24 campaign.
|
Mateo Joseph (Championship) |
23/24 |
24/25 |
|---|---|---|
|
Appearances (stats) |
20 (0) |
32 (11) |
|
xG |
1.74 |
4.95 |
|
Goals |
1 |
3 |
|
Big chances created |
1 |
4 |
|
Assists |
0 |
3 |
As you can see in the table above, Joseph has been given more responsibility by Farke this season and has become a significant member of the first-team squad.
The 21-year-old starlet still has plenty of time left ahead of him to develop and improve, with these statistics showing that he is heading in the right direction.
Farke may also already have the next version of Joseph, despite the youngster still being early on in his career, in the academy in the form of Oliver Boast.
Leeds could strike gold with Oliver Boast
Analyst Ben Mattinson recently described the U18s centre-forward as one of the club’s “exciting” prospects, as the 15-year-old forward has impressed at youth level.
Mattinson posted: “The Leeds academy has a few exciting talents. Oliver Boast is the other I like most, from the U16’s but he’s been promoted to the U18’s and continued his goal-scoring. Another clinical finisher, good pace and movement to peel off defenders to create space and receive passes.”
Despite not turning 16 until May, Boast has already made the bench for the U21s this season and has been a regular for the U18 side in the Premier League, with 11 appearances.
The Leeds youngster has scored one goal in two appearances in the FA Youth Cup, an U18 competition, playing above his age bracket, and scored on his debut for England at U16 level.
This shows that Boast is playing above his agemates and that his form has impressed the coaches at national level, hence his cap for England’s U16s.
The 15-year-old ‘clinical’ talent appears to be an exciting prospect for the Whites if he can continue to develop and take the step up to the U21s on a regular basis, potentially following in Joseph’s footsteps by then kicking on and earning a place in Farke’s first-team squad in the future.
Related
73% duels lost: Leeds lightweight may be on borrowed time under Farke
The Leeds United attacker may not have a future in the team if they are promoted to the Premier League.
The German head coach could, then hit the jackpot with the talented teenager by bringing him into the senior squad to save the club millions on a new striker, which is what Joseph’s emergence prevented when Georginio Rutter was sold last summer.
