Is the academy Leeds United’s best bet for success?

Article by Alex Schroeter

With our season now taking, what seems to be, a one way course for League 1 there have not been too aspects to be positive about.

Despite Ross McCormack’s good start to the season, much of the squad are yet to get going with new £1 million man Luke Murphy not quite living up to our expectations of him and Noel Hunt quickly becoming the subject of the growing frustrations of the fans. However, Leeds fans, do not give up all hope yet.

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Whether we have been challenging at the business end of the Champions League or fighting against administration in the third tier, we have always been able to rely upon the academy to produce some of the most exciting young footballers in the country. England internationals Aaron Lennon and James Milner were moulded and nurtured in West Yorkshire before going on to become established players at the highest level. Fabian Delph, now of Aston Villa, is finally starting to fulfil his potential he showed at Elland Road to merit an £8 million move at 19 years of age. Also, to have come through the youth ranks, are Danny Rose and Jonny Howson who continue to impress for their respective teams in the Premier League.

With such an impressive track record, it is quite right that our academy is playing an increasingly large part in our first team squad.

Sam Byram, perhaps our brightest talent, stole the show last season with outstanding performances, starting as a relatively unknown youngster on the first day of the 2012-2013 season against Wolves and developed into the best full-back in the league. In last season’s FA Cup tie against Tottenham, Byram marked Gareth Bale, the most expensive player ever, out of the game. Such performances have resulted in plenty of interest from Manchester City and an insulting bid from Crystal Palace in the summer. Along with fellow academy graduate Tom Lees, Byram has gone on to play for England under-21’s in the last year.

Thankfully, there are several more talented youngsters being given their chance in the first team. First of all, Dom Poleon has slowly made his mark with vital winning goals over the last couple of seasons against the likes of Nottingham Forest and Watford and terrorising full backs with his blistering pace. Neil Warnock compared Poleon to Victor Moses, whom he worked with at Crystal Palace, which goes some way to telling you of his abilities.

Along with Poleon, Zac Thompson enjoyed a loan at Bury last season and was later named their player of the season because of his commanding performances from defensive midfield and, justifiably, been considered by many Leeds fans to be one of our more promising youngsters.

Alex Mowatt has emerged at the beginning of this season as our next big hope as he debuted against Newcastle in the Capital One Cup and more than held his own against Cheick Tiote. This performance earned him his first league start against Millwall, which we lost, but once again Mowatt proved to be our spark in our midfield. Now being dubbed as the ‘next Gary Speed’, this would not be too far from the truth, both in style and his potential ability.

Our talent doesn’t stop there, with a number of young talents waiting in the wings. Charlie Taylor and Lewis Walters, England youth internationals, also have the ability to be our next break-out stars.

Hopefully, after reading this, Leeds fans will not be feeling so bleak about the future or may even feel optimistic, in extreme circumstances. Even if we are to finish yet another season in mid-table mediocrity we should see it as an opportunity for our youngsters to learn from and later propel us to the promised lands of the Premier League.

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