Rumors started popping up last night about the possibility that Rob Green could be on the move to Huddersfield Town after weeks of speculation about the future of the former England international. And with the emergence of Felix Wiedwald as the clear number one between the sticks for Leeds United, it’s not surprising that Green would want to move on. Just make sure that there is an adequate replacement in the works.
Christiansen on Green/Huddersfield: "I will talk about him after the game." #lufc
— Lee Sobot (@LeeSobotYEP) August 25, 2017
In the press conference today, Christiansen gave a cryptic answer about Green’s status, saying that he would “talk about him after the game.” Christiansen is usually quite frank in his support of players and his desire to not let them go, after he said about a thousand times that he wanted Chris Wood to stick around before Wood moved to Burnley, so this doesn’t seem like something that Christiansen would say if Green is someone that the head coach is wanting to fight to keep in the team.
Rob Green was one of the stars of the season last year under former manager Garry Monk, but he’s lost his place in the side to ex-Werder Bremen goalkeeper Felix Wiedwald, who has shown himself to be more than capable as a replacement for Green. Three straight clean sheets in the Championship, and counting, helps put fans and pundits at ease, as most assumed that Green would be the clear-cut favorite in the new season, with many other areas in the squad that would need to be addressed.
Leeds have had plenty of interest in Green, not just from Huddersfield, will only let him go if they can find a replacement in time. #lufc
— Lee Sobot (@LeeSobotYEP) August 25, 2017
If Green does want to move on, then set him free. There has been rumblings and rumors in the press about Green being linked with potential moves to Arsenal, Sunderland, and Middlesbrough, but none of them panned out, with Sunderland signing Jason Steele from Blackburn Rovers and Middlesbrough signing former West Ham United keeper Darren Randolph instead. We don’t know how serious the rumors were, but it’s telling that Green’s name has kept popping up over and over.
While it looks like Green may not be able supplant the current starting keeper at Huddersfield, Denmark international Jonas Lossl, if he wants to sit on the bench in the Premier League, let him go. He’s not going to suddenly change Christiansen’s mind about who should start, and Green’s error against Newport to allow a goal will not have put Christiansen’s mind at ease. Wiedwald seems a lot more comfortable distributing the ball from the back and starting the attack by throwing or passing the ball out to the fullbacks or central defenders, rather than simply hoofing the ball up the pitch towards the striker. With target man Chris Wood gone, hoofing the ball up the pitch isn’t necessarily going to be the best option anymore anyways, and Green’s strengths have never been his ability to put the ball on the floor and pass it along up the pitch.
It’s a tad annoying to be dealing with the club scrambling to see if they can find a replacement for the backup keeper at this time, since Leeds did sell one-time starter Marco Silvestri to Hellas Verona during the summer transfer window, but if Silvestri wanted to go back to Italy, then maybe it’s for the best. Either way, if Green is just going be taking up space on the bench, time to cash in and bring a keeper in that can play the way that Christiansen wants to play.