Helder Costa signed with a great deal of expectation in the summer and after a stuttering start, he is beginning to prove why the hype existed.
On the chalkboard
The winger has impressed with his quality in the Championship before and he was a big player for Wolves in their Championship winning season of 2017/18 – contributing to 11 goals.
He didn’t make the grade in the Premier League last year, scoring just once, and his lack of form continued over in a Whites’ shirt this term, but now he is now past that phase and really finding his feet.
Questions were raised earlier in the campaign as to why the Portuguese star wasn’t being picked regularly by Marcelo Bielsa, but the Argentine has been proved right in his decision to slowly integrate him into the squad.
He has spent time understanding the system and now his impact has added a new dimension to the Leeds attack, just as opponents may have been building up a way to stop the team’s best attacking players.
Against Cardiff the 25-year-old showed exactly what he thrives at, and if he continues his current form he could easily prove to be the difference in getting Leeds promoted this year.
Explosive
Much of Leeds’ success has been based on their careful use of the ball, and other wingers like Pablo Hernandez and Jack Harrison please Bielsa due to the way they retain possession, and the boss often picks them despite their lack of athleticism.
Stuart Dallas is another dependable figure for Bielsa but he too lacks the dynamism and unpredictability that Costa offers in the final third.
The on-loan Wolves man is beginning to show exactly why he was brought in and the difference he has made on the team in recent weeks has been significant, and thus led him to start regularly for the first time.
A true test for any Leeds fan: Can you match these iconic images with the right results?
Against the Bluebirds, he used his pace to great effect when Leeds launched an early counter-attack, and he duly showed brilliant composure and quality to slot the ball into the back of the net.
As per WhoScored, he also made four key passes in the match and that is key when defences sit deep and wait for Leeds to try and break them down.
While his 91% pass accuracy underlines the improvements he has made to fit Bielsa’s style.
Harrison may have been nominated for the November Championship Player of the Month but Costa is proving just as effective, and having two wingers at the top of their game allows Hernandez to exert his influence in the middle of the pitch, which makes the whole team better overall.
Costa has, therefore, been introduced well to the point that he has had an excellent impact on the team, and helped to put them in a position where they are favourites for promotion, as well as being more likely to sustain their challenge with him to call upon this time around.
In other Leeds news, fans have been praising the actions of Kalvin Phillips, but not for his displays on the pitch like usual.
