Leeds United youngster Conor Shaughnessy has had his struggles in the last six months but will be delighted to start for the Republic of Ireland under 21’s in Kosovo late last week. Shaughnessy picked up a nasty injury last season and has only recently made his return to action.
Shaughnessy isn’t having it easy at Leeds United. A recent interview with Jay-Roy Grot was massively concerning in terms of the pressure he felt and at a young age it effectively broke him. Shaughnessy is and has come under fire massively and although he seems to be mentally stronger than Grot so far it can’t be easy. Marcelo Bielsa has spoken highly of Shaughnessy and if he rates him then that is effectively all that will matter.
The nature of being footballers is that criticism will come when people feel like it’s deserved. They are paid a lot of money and it comes with the territory, but there are ways to voice opinion that are fair, and ways that aren’t. Footballers are human after all, and some of the abuse that players get it so far over the top it’s beyond belief. Shaughnessy had a rough few months before his injury. His promising start to the season was forgotten as he struggled in central midfield in a couple of big games.
At Birmingham he was played ahead of Mateusz Klich to combat the height of Sam Gallagher, one of the most bizarre decisions we’ve seen at Leeds United for a while (on the pitch anyway). He was also thrown into games at Barnsley and then again at home to Millwall in one of the most hectic 90 minutes we’ve seen at Elland Road in more than a while. The situations were tough but his ability is true. Bielsa sees it and hopefully he can build himself back up after the injury.
