Season Grade: Adam Forshaw

Expectations

Adam Forshaw was brought in to solidify the midfield in the January transfer window from Middlesbrough. Leeds United were, at the time, trying to roll the dice towards promotion. As it were, by the time the transfer window closed, the playoff dream was almost certainly gone, and it was pretty much confirmed by the time that Paul Heckingbottom took over. Even with the lofty expectations for the team, the expectations for Forshaw himself were not put into the stratosphere.

Performance

Luckily for Forshaw, almost none of the blame for the poor results seemed to fall on his shoulders. And while Leeds United’s fall from playoff grace was nasty, brutish, and long, Forshaw played pretty well when he was included, even if the team only won one game out of the 12 he appeared in for Leeds this season.

Forshaw was a calming, steady influence in the midfield. He didn’t score any wonder goals like Kalvin Phillips, but he did all the small, simple things right and held on to the ball and rarely picked out poor passes or gave up the ball easily. He wasn’t flashy and he while he’s not as defensive as Ronaldo Vieira, he still was by far the best central midfielder on the team all season.

Overall Grade: B

Forshaw came in and did the job he was expected to for Leeds. While not the flashiest or most exciting player on the team, he came in and did a fine job, automatically slotting in as the first name on the team sheet for central midfielders. He played in 12 matches for Leeds this season after appearing 11 times for Boro, but he played over 870 minutes for Leeds while only playing 450 minutes for Boro. He seemed to not be in the plans of Tony Pulis, but performed just fine when his name was called on for Leeds.