Leeds United have been blessed in one respect that their highly thought of Academy programme has brought many youngsters through the ranks.
One of these youngsters is left back Charlie Taylor, who became a fixture in the side last season when Stephen Warnock left to join Derby County.
That was last season, a debut season where Taylor looked like he’d been playing in the first team set up for years. This season Charlie Taylor has picked up where he left off early May 2015. A series of maturing performances have marked him out for the burgeoning star that he is fast becoming.
A more perfect example of his dual threat as an attacking left back couldnt be found than the game against Hull City yesterday. Equally adept attacking down the flank or tracking back, Charlie Taylor showed both sides of his game.
Charlie Taylor’s stamp on yesterday’s game – the number
- 22 successful passes (4 crosses) – 68% accuracy
- 3 successful dribbles
- 6 successful tackles
- 4 interceptions of Hull passes
- 6 clearances from defence
- 9 defensive blocks
As a team, Leeds were starved of possession and thus passes, but Charlie Taylor still managed to complete 22 passes, including 4 crosses; one of these crosses being the assist for Chris Wood’s opening goal. His surging runs also allowed him to beat defenders three times, one of these being a surge into the penalty area that led to him being hacked down, Chris Wood failing to convert the resulting spot kick.
But it’s defensively where Charlie Taylor shone in yesterday’s game – courtesy of his 25 defensive actions. Taylor was a rock at the back with 6 successful tackles, 4 interceptions, 6 clearances and 9 blocks – these 25 defensive actions being instrumental in him being awarded WhoScored’s Man-of-the-Match with a 9.4 rating.
data used is derived from WhoScored.com’s Hull City vs Leeds game.
