Max Wober probably wasn’t signed by Leeds United to play as a midfielder. However, that’s where the Austrian featured in his first appearance for the Whites since his move from Red Bull Salzburg, and that’s where he managed to catch the eye.
Jesse Marsch had spoken about the versatility of the 24-year-old, who he knows so well from his own time in the foothills of the Alps, insisting he is comfortable at left-back, centre-back and as a number six. But it’s fair to say the head coach didn’t anticipate having to use Wober in the middle of the park quite so early in his United career.
Wober, though, looked more than at home in the role as he helped swing the needle of momentum back in Leeds’ direction at the Cardiff City Stadium. Leeds were 2-0 down when he replaced Darko Gyabi in the 59th minute of the contest in South Wales, but his composure, level-headedness and ability in the midfield role instantly made a difference.
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He wasn’t the only man to breathe life into the Whites in South Wales, with Rodrigo giving Leeds an attacking threat, while Cody Drameh did relatively well in the right-back role after replacing Rasmus Kristensen. His influence in the middle, though, was enough to get Leeds fans excited as they cast their eye over the new recruit for the first time.
Wober only arrived in West Yorkshire on Tuesday morning but many had hoped to see him named in the starting line-up on Sunday afternoon. As it was, he had to settle for a bench spot, but a dismal defensive performance in the first half from the Whites saw him asked to warm up at half-time.
He eventually got the nod to go on just before the hour mark and his first touches were good ones, moving the ball well and showing guile to evade Cardiff challenges and pick his passes. It wasn’t long before Wober was having a say in most things Leeds did well in the FA Cup third round encounter, pushing up the field when needed and looking to combine with the likes of Junior Firpo and Wilfried Gnonto to his left.
He showed a bit of a mean streak, too, at times. In his efforts to block a Bluebirds long ball, Wober burst 15 yards across the field before sliding in front of the Cardiff man to take the brunt of the clearance and that was an act that went down very well with 6,000 or so travelling fans behind the Cardiff goal.
Wober was then on hand to gee up the Leeds fans, who he was clearly impressed with, when the Whites were awarded a penalty in the 80th minute of the contest. Leeds missed the spot-kick on that occasion, but after eventually finding the back of the net in stoppage time, he took a booking for a foul that could be seen as an attempt to slow things down.
It was a tough watch at times for those who had made the journey down the M5 to Cardiff, but Wober’s arrival into the side will have undoubtedly been a reason for cheer. Marsch was heartened by what he saw from the former Ajax and Sevilla man, too.
“Max, you can see is a man on the pitch,” the head coach said. “For a young player, he's very mature, he's a leader, he's not normally a six but I know that I can use them like that and we put them in the match and he absolutely helped calm things down and helped make the right decisions to bring us back into the game.
“I asked him at half-time did he think he could go 45 and he said ‘yes’. I decided to wait a little bit just to give the group a chance to see if they could respond with that XI. I thought the beginning this half second half was OK but I made the subs early because I thought we needed more.
“The discussion with Max the whole time was do I use him as a centre back, do I use them as a left back, do I use them as a six? In the end I think that decision to put them in the midfield was the right one.”
Whatever Marsch is planning for Friday’s night’s Premier League trip to Aston Villa, Wober will certainly have a role to play as he prepares to make what will be his league debut for the club. Fans will be watching on keenly, too, hoping that his performance at Cardiff was just a sign of things to come.
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