Finding time for Tyler Roberts - The Square Ball 7/7/22

MAGNUM MAN

Written by: Patrick Gunn

As we are waving goodbye to Tyler Roberts, he of Instagram Magnum fame and the occasional goal for Leeds United, it seems only right to take a look at his time in Yorkshire before he heads down to that London for a move that seems to be in everyone’s best interests.

You could argue that Roberts has enjoyed a prosperous time at Leeds. At just 23 years old, TyRo has amassed an impressive 108 appearances in a Leeds shirt, fifty of them in the Premier League. He was a frequent performer in the side that won the Championship in 2020, helped Leeds to a fine first season back in the top flight, and has cemented himself as a regular in the Wales set-up during his time here. Most 23 year olds would look at that resume and think, ‘yeah, I’ve done just about as well as anyone could have expected’. The truth is much more complicated than that.

Roberts probably has achieved more than could have been reasonably expected when he signed from West Brom back in 2018. At that time he was already highly regarded, but regard has never assured results, and he still had to work tirelessly, overcoming multiple injury setbacks, to force his way into Marcelo Bielsa’s plans. By the time Bielsa left Leeds, Roberts had become his go-to replacement in the attacking third. Whenever things weren’t quite working out (which, last season, was all the time), Roberts was called upon. Of those fifty Premier League appearances, the majority (29) were as a sub.

A fairly innocuous stat in isolation, but dig deeper and therein lies a huge part of what went wrong for Tyler Roberts. The weekly disbelief at Roberts’ introduction became something of a tradition among Leeds fans. Another game in which things weren’t going well; another game in which Bielsa introduced Roberts to little or no impact. The frustration was palpable. It wasn’t that Roberts was directly responsible for the poor performances — how could he be when he started most games on the bench? — and there were certainly more prominent players that could (and perhaps should) have taken the brunt of the fans’ criticism. Roberts, however, as unfair as it was, came to embody the irritation of the supporters in its entirety. Every time Bielsa turned to him, it reminded those watching of the lack of legitimate options at our disposal. Roberts’ inability to create or score was no different to the inability of the players already on the pitch, with much more experience, but because he was implicitly appointed a ‘game-changer’ by the nature of being on the bench, his inability to change the game took the failure the others had crafted before he came on and nailed it to the wall. As such, it was the unfortunate Tyler who took the pelters.

Things were made worse for Roberts by the emergence of one Joe Gelhardt. While Roberts, despite his youth, was hamstrung by his unenviable position as Bielsa’s ineffective Plan B, Gelhardt was the forbidden fruit — a magical, volatile concoction we all knew could make a difference, kept hidden away from us by the magician who demanded we wait until the potion was perfected. But how could we wait when the evidence looked so clear? When Gelhardt appeared, there was no fear, no trepidation, no nerves. This was a player who existed solely on confidence and adrenaline, willing to steamroll seasoned pros as if he was playing at Goals on a Monday night. When Gelhardt played, things happened. The same simply couldn’t be said for Roberts.

A good turn, a well-timed pass, a clever run, that was about the height of what we saw from Tyler Roberts last season. His single goal against Brentford was important and welcomed with open arms, but it represented an anomaly in an otherwise silent year. Too often, he was introduced to a game only to have no effect on the performance or approach of the side. Too often possession was waste, or thrown away. There was never a lack of effort, never a lack of desire to prove himself or his dedication to the team. But the quality we all saw in Gelhardt simply wasn’t there. Roberts just couldn’t seem to take his opportunities the way his younger counterpart did. The more Roberts played, the more fans called for Joffy. The more Roberts was preferred, the more bitter fans became.

What’s sad about the whole situation, aside from the unjust nature of Roberts’ relationship with a large portion of our fanbase, is that we’ve seen flashes of his potential. In the Championship years, he constantly improved in between a series of frustrating injuries, eventually looking every penny’s worth of the two-or-so-million pounds the club shelled out on him. His performance against Hull City during the promotion season in particular earned him rightful plaudits, and it looked as if his career would only kick on from there. In the Premier League, it took him a little while to find his rhythm, but he had become a key member of the matchday squad by the time Bielsa’s side were ending their first season back with such a flourish. His solitary top-flight goal against Southampton was well-deserved and capped off what had been an impressive run of starts in Rodrigo’s absence. It will be a source of frustration to TyRo himself that he wasn’t able to start more games, allowing him the chance to build his confidence and form, rather than always trying to change a beleaguered team with most of the game gone. As simplistic as it sounds, the longer he had on the pitch, the better he looked. Had Bielsa not prioritised Rodrigo in the ‘Pablo-role’, perhaps things would have worked out differently.

Tyler Roberts will most likely never play for Leeds United again. While some may look back on his time here more fondly than others, himself included, it seems everyone will be left thinking ‘what if?’ in one way or another. What if he had been able to stay fit in those first two seasons? What if he had been able to hold down a place in the starting line-up? What if Bielsa had given Joe Gelhardt more time, taking him out of the firing line for a while? Would he have had one more season to prove himself?

As so often with football, we’ll never know the answers to those questions. We’ll simply ponder them over the years to come as Tyler Roberts makes his own way in the game. If this is the end of things with Leeds, here’s hoping it works out for everyone. Here’s hoping Tyler Roberts gets his chance to show what he can do.