Daniel Farke must consider axing Willy Gnonto from the Leeds United starting 11 after Crysencio Summerville taught the Italian a lesson against Hull City.
Gnonto was an early and unforced change at the MKM Stadium on Wednesday night (20 September) and was replaced by Summerville in the 21st minute.
On his injury, Farke said, as quoted by Leeds Live (21 September): “It was a knock on his foot, also rolled his ankle a little bit was pretty painful, was a bit swollen and we have to wait for further assessment, hopefully, it’s not too bad. But now we have to wait,” – offering very little in terms of a return timeline.
While yet another injury will be a real frustration for Farke, who will be keen to start making his new club much more consistent, Summerville should be considered as Gnonto’s permanent replacement after showing up the 19-year-old after coming on against the Tigers.
Gary Neville dubbed Gnonto “absolutely fantastic” last season on Sky Sports, as quoted by Leeds Live (13 January) and for the Championship level, he is certainly a cut above most.
However, Summerville had a real impact on the Whites when he came on and the goalless draw should not take away from the noticeable influence the 21-year-old had.
Per SofaScore, Summerville ended the clash with the highest rating of all players at the MKM Stadium, including Liam Rosenior’s men, having played 21 minutes less than many.
He proved to be a constant threat to the Hull backline, being tackled three times across his 69 minutes on the pitch. Offensively, he produced three key passes, four accurate crosses, three shots (two on target) and two successful dribbles.
While it would be unfair to compare Gnonto’s Hull stats to Summerville’s, the noticeable difference when the Dutchman came onto the pitch was there for all to see.
Farke was also full of praise for the former Feyenoord man, stating after the Hull clash that he had a “perfect reaction” to being benched and worked hard for his team on and off the ball.
In the context of the whole season, Summerville also comes out on top. He bests the Italian on total goal contributions (one goal and one assist), expected goals (1.4), shots per 90 (4.25) and expected assists (0.7) [FBRef].
Gnonto is, of course, a great asset for Farke to have at his disposal and depending on when he returns from his new injury, will have a big impact on Leeds’ bid to gain promotion back to the Premier League.
But on the face of play, Summerville has emerged as a more impactful option.