Raphinha: Pundit makes ‘scary’ Leeds claim after what he saw in person
Alan Hutton has suggested Leeds United have become too reliant on Raphinha after Saturday’s 3-0 defeat to Everton.
The former Scotland manager, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, insisted the Whites lacked creativity with and without the Brazilian winger at Goodison Park.
Raphinha was taken off at halftime, with Marcelo Bielsa confirming it was a tactical decision rather than anything fitness related.
Hutton, who was watching on from the stands at Goodison, admitted he “didn’t understand” Bielsa’s thinking.
He admitted Leeds’ lack of creativity with or without Raphinha was “scary”.
Hutton told Football Insider’s Russell Edge: “At half-time, Bielsa brought off the likes of Raphinha and Klich and I didn’t understand why.
“With regards to Raphinha, even though he was up against Gordon and it was difficult to get past him, I didn’t understand what Bielsa was trying to get out of it.
“Leeds never really had an answer, they didn’t really know how they were going about it with ideas they had moving forward. That was the scary thing.
“Everything kind of relies heavily on Raphinha’s shoulders if you want to go and produce. It’s like a couple of seasons ago with Jack Grealish at Villa, everything went through him. Raphinha’s kind of the same.
“He plays a lot of games. When fit, he always starts. He has been away for the internationals. With everything that everybody’s been through over the last couple of years, you’re going to get spells where you’re going to be tired.
“There’s got to be other players within the team to step up and fill that void and areas. I see what they tried to do, putting Dan James out on the wing with his pace. Try and cause different sorts of problems.
“I think for Raphinha it was just one of those days where everything he was trying wasn’t quite coming off. Unfortunately, Bielsa subbed him off at halftime.
“I still felt he had a lot to give. If he’d had stayed on the pitch, I still believe he could have created something.”
Raphinha has been a creative spark for Leeds this season.
The Brazilian has scored eight goals and contributed two assists in 21 Premier League games.
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