On Tuesday night, when Leeds United brought Hadi Sacko on against Burnley, I did a spot of fishing in a Facebook group, calling him Hadi Sackless and saying that the Clarets had positioned ball boys in the car parks.
Then he scores and I have all manner of Leeds United fans laughing at me, but the truth is I have always liked Sacko, never seriously had a dig like many have on both Facebook and Twitter.
Even in his raw stage, which many will say he hasn’t grown out of, I loved his top-end pace and ability to get away from defenders with what looked like consummate ease. Accomplished defenders were left floundering like fat lads in a Sunday League side after being dragged from their pits with a night’s quantity of ale inside them.
The main moments that stick in my mind are the Sheffield Wednesday game from 2016/17 – the Whites only win in their opening six games, and the Boxing Day win away at Preston North End.
In the former, Sacko was on fire and basically tore respected left-back Daniel Pudil a new one on the way to helping Leeds to a 2-0 win at Hillsborough. In the latter, Sacko’s pace was there for all to see after he received a ball near halfway and turned on the afterburners to torch the Lilywhites defence en route to scoring Leeds’ second goal in a 4-1 win.
Last season, the former Sporting Lisbon speedster, who kind of seemed to rock up on Leeds United’s two-game tour of Ireland, was more of a fixture in the side than he has been this campaign. Up to press Sacko’s contribution to Leeds United’s 2017/18 Sky Bet Championship campaign has been a five-minute appearance as a substitute against Bolton in the opening game of the season.
Against Burnley Hadi ‘Square It’ Sacko became Hadi ‘Score It’ Sacko and his 80th minute opener (below) was a welcome sight for many Leeds fans who still see a rough gem in the French-born youngster that simply needs some polishing.
😍 What a pass! Watch this and more with our highlights from last night’s @Carabao_Cup win over Burnley
➡️ https://t.co/OvcfgvrRb0 pic.twitter.com/WV8cG47w1D
— Leeds United (@LUFC) September 20, 2017
It was one of those moments, when Sacko received the ball, that Leeds United fans must have been wondering which Hadi was going to turn up – the wayward or the deadly one. The moment he knocked the pass from Pablo Hernández out from under his feet, one thing was clear – Charlie Taylor wasn’t going to catch him.
Now former Leeds United left-back Taylor is no slouch, but he was simply burned for speed and left trailing in Hadi Sacko’s jet-stream. Sacko raced away and calmly slotted the ball under Burnley keeper Pope, in doing so showing a composure that many fans have been asking to see.
So that brings about something of a quandary, where does this leave Hadi Sacko? Is he to be a perennial fringe member of the first-team squad at Elland Road, brought in only in the Carabao Cup and into the Sky bet Championship in case of injury/suspension of others?
The thing is, Hadi Sacko CAN be an asset to Leeds United’s season. He has that one thing that defenders don’t like to defend against – sheer pace. Ask Daniel Pudil this, because players like Hadi Sacko bring a sense of doubt in a defender’s mind – pace often forcing defenders to do their job whilst back-peddling.
Sacko might be raw, but he is also a player whose pace allows him to run beyond and behind players, his surging runs driving could be a way of driving Leeds United upfield. Of course the Whites have that capability in players like Ezgjan Alioski and Kemar Roofe, but neither of those players have the frightening speed that Sacko has.
Maybe Leeds should think of the 23-year-old in the league as they did in the cup against Burnley, as an impact sub being played beyond tiring defenders and fed by a midfield containing players such as Pablo Hernández and Samu Saiz.
Whichever way the club look at him, Hadi Sacko should have something of a future and a look-in at Elland Road this season.
