Leeds United have a whole host of players on international duty this month with Daniel Farke left with the bare bones of his squad to work with over the next couple of weeks.
A frustrating position given Leeds face a huge test against one of their promotion rivals when the break is over. The Whites play host to Burnley next Friday, just two days after Brenden Aaronson faces Mexico.
Four are currently with Wales in Ethan Ampadu, Joe Rodon, Charlie Crew and Karl Darlow. Willy Gnonto, Mateo Joseph, Ilia Gruev, Max Wober, Manor Solomon, Ao Tanaka and Jeremiah Mullen are on duty.
Another is Junior Firpo, who has chosen to start representing the Dominican Republic in the last year. He played a few times for his country before the Paris Olympics, which Leeds barred him from playing in.
Firpo helps Dominican Republic beat Bermuda with 10 men
Returning to the Dominican Republic squad after his omission from the Olympics team, Firpo’s side took on Bermuda in the CONCACAF Nations League, where they also face Dominica, and Antigua and Barbuda.
Despite wearing the no.3 shirt, Firpo lined-up as a centre-forward in a surprise new role for the left-back. It comes after Firpo previously played as one of two no.10’s behind the striker in a 3-4-2-1 formation.
His side went down to 10 men on 11 minutes but still managed to run out 3-2 winners on Saturday. A big win in the Dominican Republic’s aim to go and secure promotion to the top tier of the Nations League.
A new possibility for Daniel Farke as Firpo shines in new role
Firpo might have played and lasted 90 minutes as a centre-forward in a 4-3-3 system on Saturday but it is likely to have little persuasion on Daniel Farke in ever using the left-back as a striker for Leeds United.
Not due to Firpo’s ability as a centre-forward but more likely because Leeds are incredibly well-stocked up front. Mateo Joseph scored for Spain’s U21 side against Scotland this week, coming off the bench.
He remains first choice ahead of Joel Piroe and Patrick Bamford while Joe Gelhardt is looking to feed off scraps whenever possible. While Firpo might be used as a striker for his country, he won’t be at Leeds.
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