Leeds United have had a pretty good opening to their third Premier League campaign since returning to the top flight and the new recruits have made a good start to their careers at Elland Road.
USA attacking midfielder Brenden Aaronson, the combative Marc Roca and Danish defender Rasmus Kristensen have all made an impression on the Yorkshire locals, as well as the team here at SBOTOP. And they’ve all contributed to the eight points which Leeds have picked up to slot them into 11th place in the league table.
But the man of the season so far has been winger Jack Harrison who has made three assists and scored a goal in the opening six games, making more key passes than any other player and surely forcing himself into England head coach Gareth Southgate’s thoughts before the upcoming World Cup in Qatar.
With two England U21 caps to his name Harrison has always shown plenty of promise, and he’s been one of Leeds’ most exciting players in recent seasons, initially on loan from Manchester City. And since signing permanently in 2021, for a fee of around £11m, he has been a fans’ favourite and he could easily become another Elland Road legend.
Harrison is a head coach’s dream and Jesse Marsch knows he can use him on the left flank, where he is most comfortable, on the right or even as a number ten behind the main striker. His sense of an opportunity and quick thinking was picked up by Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira when he managed Harrison at MLS side New York City: “He’s a good player technically he’s really good, he understands the game, he can come and link with our number nine, he can run behind the back four, his football brain is fantastic.”
That is great praise from a great player.
Harrison’s dribbling skills and turn of pace can get the Elland Road fans on their feet and when he gets the ball they sense something could be about to happen. On the opening day of the campaign Harrison teed up a goal for striker Rodrigo in a 2-1 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers, and the Spanish striker benefited from Harrison’s work again when he poked home a dangerous cross in a 2-2 draw with Southampton.
Leeds’ stunning 3-0 win over Chelsea was one of the of the Premier League 2022 highlights season so far, certainly in West Yorkshire! And Rodrigo scored again, but this time so did Harrison, with a clinical strike to see off the top four chasing Blues.
Rodrigo has also been a big player in Leeds’ bright start to the campaign but the Spaniard suffered a shoulder injury during Leeds’ recent draw with Everton and he’ll be out for a few weeks.
Harrison was subbed in Leeds’ last game, a 5-2 defeat to Brentford, but that was a frustrating day for the whole team as Leeds had 68 per cent possession and won the shot count by 17 to 14, but they were just not as clinical as the Bees when it mattered. That loss was the second of the campaign for the Whites after falling to a 1-0 defeat to high flying Brighton and Hove Albion.
But 11th in the table is not a bad place to be at this early stage of the campaign, just four points behind Manchester United, in fifth place, and four ahead of the drop zone. The current Premier League 2022 betting odds place Marsch’s men outside the bottom six, which is the first objective, but the club is aiming higher than that.
And Harrison is certainly a top ten quality player… if not higher.
He’s now in his fifth season at Elland road, having first arrived on loan in 2018. He featured in 42 games in his first campaign with the Whites and has been one of the first names on the team sheet ever since. He scored his first league hat-trick in January 2022 as Leeds beat West Ham 3-2; and he scored the most important goal of his career in the final game of last season, an injury time winner against Brentford which confirmed the Whites’ survival in the top flight.
So, with the World Cup in Qatar looming, will we see Harrison in Southgate’s squad? Well the England boss has plenty of creative players to pick from but no-one stands out as a natural winger. Manchester United’s Jadon Sancho blows hot and cold, City’s Jack Grealish plays a more fluid role and West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen doesn’t look as dangerous as he did last season.
So Harrison deserves a closer look and, in any case, he will be a key player in Leeds’ Premier campaign.
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