Jayden Bogle, I get it now — Square Ball 24/1/25

Always liked him

Written by: Chris McMenamy

I didn’t fully comprehend Jayden Bogle’s role in Leeds’ opening goal against Norwich at the time. Angus Gunn’s wayward long ball straight from kick-off had distracted me. By the time Illan Meslier collected this Champo copyrighted hoof, surveyed his options, and launched a flat throw toward Bogle, Leeds were on the move and my mind frenzied as Manor Solomon scored yet another early goal.

Bogle received Meslier’s throw and set off down the right wing with intensity. He played a quick double one-two with Brenden Aaronson that created the space for Dan James to sprint into and set up Solomon’s goal. Leeds were up and running. Bogle was, as always, running — and he didn’t stop until the final whistle. It was always going to take time, but it appears Daniel Farke has found his ‘preferred’ starting XI, his winning formula. And it includes a potent combination on the right side between Bogle and James.

Every Leeds United promotion-winning side needs a strong right flank. Mel Sterland and Gordon Strachan. Luke Ayling and Pablo Hernandez. It didn’t feel like I was seeing visions of The Flying Pig when Bogle first lined up for Leeds against Portsmouth on the opening day, a 3-3 draw in which he looked rather flummoxed defensively, something we were warned about when Leeds signed him from Sheffield United. Bogle gave away an injury-time penalty that allowed Portsmouth to take the lead and he has Aaronson to thank for sparing his blushes by equalising almost immediately afterwards before missing a gilt-edged chance to complete the comeback.

Bogle sprinkled momentary lapses in concentration, avant garde positioning, and a handful of yellow cards among decent attacking performances in his first few games at Leeds. His maiden goal against Coventry gave us a flash of what he had hoped to see: a marauding full-back getting in behind an opposing defence and finishing calmly. Still, defensive issues remained. The heartless among the Leeds fanbase might even place upon Bogle some of the blame for That Goal at Sunderland, as he needlessly gave away the free-kick that preceded it. I can understand having one full-back who can’t defend, but two? That’s excessive.

But my impatience, irrationality, whatever you want to call it, that’s a consequence of the season that is 2024/25. Leeds need as much as they want promotion this year because football is eating itself alive financially and we can’t keep up by playing against Millwall and Plymouth. Consequently, my mind can’t comprehend that a new signing like Bogle needs time to gel with his teammates, but even someone who has played almost 200 games across the Championship and Premier League needs a little time to find his feet.

Five months on, Bogle has become a key player as well as a constant threat to opposing defences. After a commanding performance in Sunday’s derby against Sheffield Wednesday, he backed it up on Wednesday night, wreaking havoc upon a Norwich team that couldn’t get out of its own way. Their attempts to play out from the back looked uncomfortable and weren’t helped by Bogle repeatedly appearing just outside the Canaries’ penalty area to help in pressing some hapless defenders into conceding possession to Leeds.

Bogle continued his recent trend of passing like a midfielder, attacking like a winger, and covering ground like a long-distance runner, all from full-back. He almost scored his fourth Leeds goal as the first half drew to a close, a volley from Ao Tanaka’s weighted cross-field pass that forced Gunn to react quickly and save at his near post. You could argue he played a subtle part in Leeds’ second goal by attacking the back post, allowing James to ghost in behind him and finish off Solomon’s cross.

“Bogle has been my player of the match for the past ten games,” Farke said afterwards. “This was a normal game by his high standards. He is outstanding and a top-class character. Great performances in attack and defence.”

It’s no coincidence that Bogle has looked more defensively sound in recent weeks, the benefit of playing over 2,000 minutes this season and the development of partnerships with Joe Rodon to his left and James in front. Much like Leeds United, he’s hitting his stride at an important time. He’s already achieved promotion once before with Sheffield United in 2023 and his experience could prove vital down the stretch, something Leeds lacked late last term.

Bogle signing for Leeds really annoyed Chris Wilder and that’s good enough for me, but it helps that he’s become a key Leeds United player, one that we might be able to fête properly at the end of this season. It might have taken a little time for the Elland Road crowd to take him in as one of their own, partly because of the play-off binocular gestures in 2019 with Derby and the failure of previous full-back signings, but after a string of “normal” performances he more than deserves some love.