Leeds United man 'stepped up' at Thorp Arch after difficulty as unused sub spell is explained
A combination of an improvement in training and Leeds United's Elland Road cauldron told Daniel Farke that the perfect time had arrived for one of his more frustrated stars.
Largie Ramazani has not enjoyed the season that he might have envisaged when things were going according to plan in September and October. Goals against Cardiff City, Norwich City and Watford thrilled the Leeds fanbase and suggested the 24-year-old would be every bit as exciting as they had hoped when he arrived in a £10m summer transfer deal. But that Watford game ended prematurely due to an ankle injury and Ramazani has started just once in the 34 Championship games since then. The form of Manor Solomon and Daniel James has made both men almost permanent starters for Farke and their combined total of 21 goals and 21 assists has backed up the manager's selection preferences. But even so, Ramazani's campaign seemed to have fizzled out completely when he remained an unused substitute for a run of four consecutive outings, as Farke turned instead to full-back Isaac Schmidt as a wide attacking option off the bench.
Ramazani training improvement
But what Ramazani did in training and the way Monday night's game against Bristol City was going made Farke believe that the Belgian could yet end the season on a high. Elland Road and its triumphant atmosphere played a part.
"Yes thank God he delivered what he's shown already in glimpses, especially at the beginning of the season, that he can deliver end products," said Farke. "Last games when he came on he was a bit unlucky sometimes, not that tidy. It was the perfect moment for him to come in, the game was won, the atmosphere was excited. He's a mood player, he needs to be in a good mood. Stepped up in training in the last weeks, I had a good feeling he would reward himself with some proper scenes to finish the season."
Promotion might already have been achieved by the time Ramazani stepped off the bench to score two eye-catching goals and put Leeds 4-0 up against the Robins and truth be told the game was done and dusted prior to his introduction, but Farke is not underestimating the importance of his winger's big moment.
"For him to take this momentum in the finishing steps of the season it's quite important," said the German. "The last weeks and months were not easy for him after injury. He found it difficult to come back into the team and when he was on the pitch it was not always the perfect performance. Today it was good because he's a brilliant lad and he deserves a big boost for his confidence."