Sam Allardyce has now been confirmed as the new manager of Leeds United until the end of the season and the experienced Englishman has a huge job on his hands if he is going to keep the Yorkshire outfit in the Premier League.
With tough games against Manchester City, Newcastle United, West Ham and Tottenham Hotspur to come in the final four games, Allardyce must pick up a result if he is going to prevent Leeds from dropping back into the Championship.
The former Bolton Wanderers manager’s first job must be to fix a leaky Leeds defence which set a new unwanted record of the most goals conceded in a single Premier League month, while no side in the top flight has shipped more across the season.
In order to do so, the 68-year-old must consider dropping Luke Ayling, as the right-back has struggled throughout the campaign and looks way past his best.
Why should Ayling be dropped by Allardyce?
So far this season, Ayling has made 25 appearances in the Premier League, earning a hugely disappointing 6.55 rating from WhoScored which sees him ranked as the tenth-best player at Elland Road.
Only Marc Roca has been dribbled past more per game in Leeds’ squad, while the former Bristol City man fails to rank in the top five players for tackles, interceptions or clearances, which suggests that he isn’t pulling his weight.
The 31-year-old has been a great servant for Leeds over the years, accumulating 248 appearances in total, but his work rate and performances have left a lot to be desired this season, emphasised by the viral video of his ‘defending’ in Bournemouth’s opener over the weekend.
Despite playing as a defender, Ayling can be seen strolling back towards his own goal despite the Cherries’ dangerous attack, which culminated in Jefferson Lerma curling into the top corner to make it 1-0.
The right-back’s woeful pass success rate of just 69.2% in the Premier League is one of the worst in Leeds’ squad and backs up journalist Liam McGilligan’s claim that he is “absolutely horrendous” in possession.
Although summer signing Rasmus Kristensen hasn’t been much better than the £25k-per-week Englishman, he does boast a higher average rating (6.63), more tackles (2.5 vs 2.3) and more interceptions (1.4 vs 0.9) than his teammate.
Therefore, with Allardyce aiming to make Leeds a much more solid defensive outfit in the final four games, he must surely consider dropping Ayling, who has featured far too often this season given his dreadful form.
