Ilia Gruev Opens Up On Midfield Competition at Leeds United

After the joys of beating Everton on the Premier League opening day, the optimism around the club has slowly turned into a bleak reality and the prospect of a long season ahead set in.

Shortly after the win, the club announced club captain Ethan Ampadu was out until the September international break. The Welsh international was seen clutching his knee in the second half of the game.

For the next few games, it meant that Ilia Gruev was asked to step into the captain’s shoes. Ultimately, he did not quite hit the strides that the Leeds faithful had hoped for.

‘So Many Good Players’ At Leeds United

With Ampadu back in the team and having featured in the narrow 1-0 loss to Fulham in the last outing, Gruev was speaking to BBC Radio Leeds:

“We have so many good players. You can see in training also how high the level is.”

“I can feel as a player that this makes me better because every day you have great team-mates with a lot of quality and you have always to be aware.

The midfield at Leeds has significantly been boosted over the summer with signings such as Anton Stach and Sean Longstaff, as well as existent players like Ampadu and Ao Tanaka. The team has good depth for a side expected to face a relegation battle this season, and for Gruev, trying to battle for competition with the club captain will prove to be a mighty task as he fights for gametime.

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Looking Ahead to Saturday’s Game

United face Wolves, who are bottom of the Premier League table after four games. Although the West Yorkshire club have a respectable four points so far, Wolves (2) have scored more than Leeds (1).

The lack of goals in the team is causing serious scrutiny, as Leeds have only scored on goal – and it was from the penalty spot against Everton on the opening day.

Gruev believes that Leeds go into the game as the favourites:

“I think the [match against Wolves] is going to be in our favour because I think we will get better and better from week to week.

“We still want to stay calm out of these games now. We didn’t concede in two games. Unfortunately in the last game against Fulham, [conceding] in the last minute was a tough one.

“Nobody expects now us to go to Wolverhampton and score a lot of goals. Of course if it happens, great, and it can happen.

“We want to stick to our principles, we want to play our football, and then the goals will come.”

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