Largie Ramazani was finally handed his full Leeds United debut at Cardiff City and wasted little time to show what he will bring to Daniel Farke’s side this season.
Ramazani had to wait the best part of a month to be handed his first Leeds start. He came off the bench in both outings against Hull City and Burnley, getting just 12 minutes against the latter.
But the game in South Wales was the platform he had been waiting for. With Leeds dominating the game, Ramazani showed his class by opening the scoring.
Tony Dorigo was full of praise for Ramazani’s first touch in the lead up to the goal. It allowed him to use his pace to get away from the defender, leaving him one-on-one with Jak Alnwick.
Aston Villa star Amadou Onana praised his Belgian compatriot Ramazani after the game, suggesting that should be the catalyst to kick starting his Leeds career.
Ramazani display should give Farke confidence to start Ao Tanaka
Of Leeds’ four signings in the final eight days of the window, only Manor Solomon arrived from a side in England. As such, he was the only one handed starts against either Hull City or Burnley.
Ramazani, Ao Tanaka and Isaac Schmidt, meanwhile, all came from leagues across Europe. Farke has been far more reluctant to give them too many minutes while they settle in.
However, Ramazani’s instant impact should give Farke the confidence he needs to give Tanaka a start. Leeds are crying out for a more natural number eight in that midfield, and Tanaka is exactly that.
The Japanese international has so far been reduced to just brief cameo appearances, only coming on at Cardiff in the 90th minute. Ilia Gruev has been preferred to him.
While Gruev has not necessarily been poor, he lacks that forward thinking presence needed in that box-to-box role. In fact, it was a backwards pass by Gruev which prompted boos from Leeds‘ away end on Saturday.
It is understandable why Farke has not wanted to throw the ‘incredible‘ Tanaka or Schmidt in the deep end up to now, but Ramazani should be the sign he needs they are ready.
Tanaka passing stats compared to Cardiff starting XI vs Leeds
Tanaka may well have only been brought on in stoppage time, but his passing stats were incredible.
All be it in an advantageous game state, he completed all 25 of his attempted passes. That is remarkable and shows what he can offer this team.
| Player | Mins played (inc stoppage time) | Passes completed |
| Ao Tanaka | Eight | 25/25 |
| Perry NG | 100 | 10/23 |
| Calum Chambers | 100 | 14/25 |
| William Fish | 100 | 16/24 |
| Joel Bagan | 23 | 6/7 |
| Callum O’Dowda | 82 | 7/13 |
| Ollie Tanner | 60 | 6/8 |
| Manolis Siopis | 82 | 10/16 |
| Joe Ralls | 60 | 9/12 |
| Rubin Colwill | 100 | 6/12 |
| Wilfried Kanga | 47 | 3/6 |
As shown by the stats, not a single one of Cardiff’s starting outfield players completed more passes than Tanaka during the entire game.
Of course, Cardiff were absolutely shocking, but it shows just how comfortable Tanaka is on the ball and how much he will demand it.
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