'Important' Anton Stach message rings true for Leeds United trio with World Cup dream in sight
Leeds United have plenty of reasons to finish their Premier League campaign strongly with an extra edge for some.
Leeds United could be mathematically safe before facing Tottenham Hotspur on Monday but don’t expect Daniel Farke’s squad to be sporting flip-flops with the World Cup in sight.
They are virtually safe already, but defeat for West Ham against Arsenal on Sunday would do it, effectively making Tottenham, Brighton next weekend and West Ham on the final day dead-rubbers when it comes to survival. But Leeds will still have plenty to play for.
Financially, each position in the Premier League table is worth almost £3million and any player bonuses will likely increase too. But for a small group of first-team regulars, these potential so-called dead-rubbers might be their final auditions for a place at the World Cup.
As a squad who have spent all season towards the bottom of the Premier League, Leeds have players of international quality but few who can count themselves undroppable. Particularly for top nations like England and Germany, only a handful of world-class stars can start thinking about this summer’s World Cup with any sense of certainty.
Assuming he recovers from a hamstring injury in good time, Gabriel Gudmundsson is almost guaranteed to make the Sweden squad while Ao Tanaka will be heading across the Atlantic Ocean with Japan. Brenden Aaronson has been omitted from a couple of USA squads recently but will likely partake in a home World Cup. Others cannot be so sure.
Anton Stach, for one, is right on the edge of the Germany picture. A first international call-up in almost four years recently was just deserts for an outstanding debut campaign at Elland Road, but even as a favourite for Leeds’ Player of the Season award the midfielder played just 11 minutes of a friendly win over Switzerland.
Stach is competing against experienced Bayern Munich pair Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka, £40m-rated Stuttgart star Angelo Stiller and Brighton regular Pascal Gross among others in the central midfield picture. He also faces a challenge to impress head coach Julian Nagelsmann, who recently claimed the Leeds man was ‘not exceptionally strong in the air and not a top ball-winner either’.
England and Switzerland uncertainty for Leeds United pair
Similarly, the level of competition among England strikers is heating up. Dominic Calvert-Lewin also featured in the most recent international break, playing 35 minutes against Uruguay before a pre-planned early return to West Yorkshire. Harry Kane is the undisputed first-choice No.9 but there are a handful of options fighting to back him up.
Brighton’s Danny Welbeck is one goal ahead of Calvert-Lewin on 12 in the Premier League scoring charts while Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins is one behind - albeit on 17 across all competitions. All three will be desperate to end the season out in front and gain that edge in the England striker debate.
And then there is Noah Okafor, whose recent Switzerland career has been overshadowed by difficulties with manager Murat Yakin. A recent conversation between the two appears to have ironed things out but his March call-up didn’t result in any pre-World Cup minutes, thanks in part to the careful management of a hamstring injury.
“For sure, I would be happy to go to the World Cup with my country,” Okafor recently told BBC Sport. “I think [there is] nothing nicer than to go to a World Cup with your own country. I'm confident about this, but first we have to finish these three games here, and then we will see what happens.”
The winger has picked up an unfortunately-timed calf strain and will miss games against Tottenham and Brighton, assistant coach Edmund Riemer confirmed on Friday. But that will only make him more desperate to finish the season on a high at West Ham, regardless of what is or isn’t on the line.
It shouldn’t go unnoticed that all three are in great form, scoring one each in last week’s 3-1 win over Burnley. Farke’s entire squad still have pride and a higher Premier League finish to play for, but for a small group there is that added edge of a trip to the USA, Canada and Mexico.
"The last three games are important for us,” Stach said in the aftermath of last week’s win over Burnley. Don’t expect him or anyone else to be on the beach just yet.