Leeds United have entered the final international break of 2021 15th in the Premier League after 11 matches played this season.

Marcelo Bielsa's men have only won two of their 11 league games, but have avoided heading into the break in the bottom three.

The Lillywhite have 11 points and are three points ahead of 18th-placed Burnley, whilst they are four points behind 10th-placed Crystal Palace.

Liability

One player who has let Bielsa down with his performances this season is Welsh international winger Daniel James, who joined the club from Manchester United for a reported £30m in the summer window.

Since making the switch, he has averaged a SofaScore rating of 6.57 in the Premier League for the Lillywhites - ranking him 19th in the squad. Jack Harrison (6.48) is the only senior player below him in the list, with Crysencio Summerville, Charlie Cresswell and Cody Drameh the others making up the bottom five along with Harrison and James.

The 24-year-old summer signing has been a liability on the pitch. Whilst he puts in the hard work and tries to make things happen, his quality lets him down at the end of the day and his lack of end product will surely frustrate Marcelo Bielsa.

In 10 league outings for Leeds, James has registered zero goals and one assist, whilst he has created a measly five chances in that time.

Former Premier League forward Darren Bent once criticised the attacker's decision-making in the final third and branded him as 'headless'. He told Football Insider:

“The only thing about Dan James at times, for me, he’s a little bit headless.

“He’s shown great potential, when he first went to United he played really well, scored a few goals but at times he for me he’s fouled or he shoots sometimes when he should pass it, he’ll pass when he should shoot.

“He’s got great pace and I think he’d be a great addition in anyone’s squad but when we talk about someone coming in and making a real difference and adding a lot of quality to whatever they’ve already got, I’m not quite sure."

Per SofaScore, James has also been a liability in terms of keeping the ball, with 103 losses of possession in 10 top-flight games.

Whilst his end product in scoring and creating goals has been lacking, the main concern may be how often he gifts the ball back to the opposition throughout matches. He has also lost 62% of his duels, proving himself to be a lightweight in the defensive side of the game.

This shows why James has let Bielsa down this season, as he has been poor at keeping the ball, competing in duels and delivering quality in the final third.

Paying so much for a player who has only offered running thus far does not appear to be a great piece of business, but there is plenty of time left for him to come good and, hopefully, the Argentine can get the best out of him,

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