'Exactly what you want' — Graham Smyth wants to see a lot more of Leeds United tactic after Wolves success — YEP 25/9/25

By Kyle Newbould

There were plenty of promising signs during Leeds United’s 3-1 win at Molineux.

YEP chief football writer Graham Smyth loved what he saw from Dominic Calvert-Lewin at Wolves - with hope Leeds United can continue playing to the striker’s strengths.

Calvert-Lewin opened his Leeds account with a brilliant headed effort to make it 1-1 at Molineux on Saturday, with quickfire goals from Anton Stach and Noah Okafor ensuring three points returned to Elland Road. Alongside that header, the free agent arrival produced an excellent all-round No.9 display, battling for long balls and bringing his teammates into play.

Leeds often went long to Calvert-Lewin who despite being against a physical Wolves back-three, stamped his mark on the game as Farke’s side got around his knockdowns and swung dangerous crosses into the box. And it’s a style of play Smyth would like to see adopted throughout the Premier League season.

“He’s probably a lovely guy off the pitch but he’s a horrible bully when he’s on it,” he told the YEP’s Inside Elland Road podcast of Calvert-Lewin. “I thought his centre-forward play… he was up against big brutes, as he will be every week when he plays, and I thought he gave them a real battle.

“He was a real handful, he really competed in the air, he's got a great leap on him and an ability to hang in the air. He got up really early for that cross and stayed there, almost waited for the ball to come in mid-air and stuck his head on it. Great finish as well, that's exactly what you wanted to see from him and it's exactly what you want to see from him all the time.

“If you have a Dominic Calvert-Lewin in the box, you want to be putting crosses in. You saw that in Leeds’ play in the first half but there were a few occasions where he didn't read it, the cross came too early or he went front post and the cross went back post. But it bodes well that he’s off the mark already.”

There were plenty of promising signs for Leeds and Calvert-Lewin at Molineux, even if the almost telepathic relationship between long-term teammates isn’t quite there yet. The 28-year-old admitted early frustration after last weekend’s win that his runs didn’t match the crosser’s intended target, but that will only improve with time.

“That’s my game at the end of the day, balls in the box,” the striker said of his goal. “It’s not the only thing I do but when you do put the ball in the box I am a threat. I was happy to see it come in and my job is to be in the right position at the right time. I was a bit frustrated a few moments before that, we had a couple across the six yard box which is my job to be there. So to get the goal I was happy.

“To be in training and building fitness, two starts in a row is good for me. The only way you can get match fit is by playing games. I can still get fitter, I can still get stronger and hopefully score some more goals.”

Calvert-Lewin will hope to turn two consecutive starts into three when Bournemouth come to Elland Road on Saturday, with Leeds back in front of their own support for the first time in almost a month. Head coach Farke will provide an update on his squad and look ahead to the game later this afternoon.