da marjack bet： This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…
da blaze casino： Talking to Football Insider, Noel Whelan has delivered his verdict on the sale of Aapo Halme last summer, claiming it was a big mistake from Leeds to get rid.
What’s he said?
The Whites had a mass clear out over the summer as 31 players left either on a temporary or permanent basis.
That included a host of young players as not only Halme walked out of the exit door, but so did individuals like Tom Pearce and Clarke Oduor.
Halme was perhaps the one with the best first-team prospects having played four times in the Championship last term.
However, despite also selling Pontus Jansson, they decided to move him on as he joined Barnsley.
It’s a decision that Whelan doesn’t appear to be too happy about. He told Football Insider:
“Bielsa should not have let Halme go. He has been doing very well at Barnsley and is a promising young centre-back.
“We could do with him now and it was a poor decision to let him go. I’m sure Bielsa will be thinking, ‘goodness, I shouldn’t have sold Halme, that was a big mistake’.
“It’s coming back to bite us a little bit.”
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Leeds lack height
With Liam Cooper set to miss the next six weeks through injury, Leeds will now be without their biggest aerial presence.
The Scot wins on average 4.7 aerial duels per game, that’s almost two more than Ben White who is the next best at 2.9.
It’s no secret that Leeds have struggled from set-pieces this season and 43% of the goals they’ve conceded have been from dead ball scenarios.
Selling the 6 foot 6 frame of Jansson was never going to help their cause but neither was letting Halme leave.
The young Finnish defender stands at 6 foot 5 and quite possibly would have been able to have quite a strong impact when it comes to defending corners.
Halme has won 4.1 aerial duels per outing this term but it’s important to recognise that two of his six Championship appearances have been from the bench. That number would likely be higher had he started more regularly.
In this regard, it’s a bit of a mistake and given Cooper’s injury, it could come back to bite them in the next few weeks as there is a lack of genuine options to replace him.
With 5 foot 10 Gaetano Berardi stepping in for the central defender, they certainly lack a strong presence – something that could become an even bigger issue after the international break.