Inside Rodrigo Moreno's Leeds United evolution as revealing numbers emerge - YEP 22/8/22

Leeds United forward Rodrigo Moreno has led the line whenever Patrick Bamford has been absent this season

By Joe Donnohue

Leeds’ experimentation with Patrick Bamford stand-ins hasn’t always gone swimmingly, just ask Dan James.

The Welshman briefly replaced Bamford at the spear-tip of Jesse Marsch’s attack in Southampton just over a week ago, reprising a much-maligned role which struggled to yield results last season, but it was Rodrigo who emerged from the tunnel for the second half as the side’s No. 9.

Within 60 seconds of the restart at St Mary’s, the Spaniard had found the back of the net, making a near post run Bamford would have been proud of, to prod home Jack Harrison’s pinpoint cross.

It was the 31-year-old who picked up the scraps from Brenden Aaronson’s pressing during Leeds’ opening game of the season, and turned a low percentage chance into a goal, rifling past Jose Sa in the Wolves net.

And on two occasions now, the Spain international has headed Leeds into a two-goal lead from well-worked set-piece routines.

Where there was once hesitation, there is now conviction – Rodrigo is shooting more and taking chances on the fly, thriving in a position many thought he was no longer capable of playing.

In the Premier League this season, only one player has attempted more shots than Rodrigo – that being Fulham’s Aleksandar Mitrovic, a player who knows his way around the penalty area and is very much a selfish striker.

Rodrigo’s 13 attempts at goal are level with Mitrovic’s tally when subtracting the two penalties the Serbian international has already taken this season.

The Leeds man is also demonstrating how he can mix it up as a No. 9. Of his 13 shots, four have been with his right foot, five with his preferred left and another four with his head.

Rodrigo’s four headed attempts are particularly significant when considering only Harry Kane and the aforementioned Mitrovic have taken more shots with the same part of the body.

At 5ft 11in, Rodrigo is not the towering physical presence of a Mitrovic or even Kane, nor has he ever been throughout his Leeds career.

This season, though, with greater emphasis on set-plays, the Spaniard is making calculated movements hoping to capitalise on poor defending.

As a result, he has scored two goals from four headed attempts – joint-highest in the division alongside Mitrovic and Kane, and both from well-worked set-pieces.

"Obviously the position is a factor,” Rodrigo said in a recent interview with AS. “With Bielsa it was a man-to-man system, which meant at times you had to defend very deep positions. Also, I was playing as a centre midfielder.

"I’d say that it’s [goalscoring] more to do with the team as a whole, when the team plays well, we all come out benefitting from that and improving.

"The arrival of Jesse has been a great help for me,” he added.

Last season Rodrigo took 47 shots in the Premier League, roughly half of Raphinha’s 88 attempts and three shy of Daniel James’ half century.

This year, he is already over a quarter of the way to matching last season’s tally with just three matches played – a mere eight per cent of the campaign.

Understandably, this is partly due to the fact Rodrigo is playing in a more advanced role but the locations in which he is taking shots on are also rather telling.

During 2021/22, Rodrigo managed just 20 attempts inside the penalty area and a further five inside the six-yard box.

Already this year, he has scored twice from inside the six-yard area. Twelve of his thirteen attempts have been within 18 yards of goal, whereas last term 47 per cent of his shots were from outside the box.

In short, Rodrigo is getting closer to goal and shooting more often, which suggests his goalscoring form may not be an early-season flash in the pan.