Is Leeds United’s Hadi Sacko on thin ice?
As far as ‘frustrating’ players go, there is no doubt that Hadi Sacko is near the top of that list for the Leeds faithful.
Gather fans of any club in the country together and ask: “Are there any players in your current side that make you want to pull your hair out?” You would be hard-pressed to find a Leeds United fan who didn’t respond to that question with the words… “Hadi” and “Sacko.”
But what is it about the winger that has Whites’ fans scrambling for the ‘head in hands’ GIF whenever he seems to play?
A run of poor performances towards the back end of last season, and the beginning of 2017/18’s campaign has seen Sacko’s name somewhat blacklisted.
Lack of maturity in Sacko’s game
Hadi Sacko arrived at Leeds in July 2016 on loan from Sporting Lisbon (Sporting CP) with a view to a permanent transfer. His signing came amidst the club’s surprising appointment of Garry Monk as the new manager.
Initially, his obvious ability to outpace defenders and show impressive turns and bursts of acceleration brought a lot of hype and excitement to the Elland Road stands. Sacko’s confidence to take players on and be fearless in carrying the ball in wider areas was something Leeds had been lacking for some time.
Despite all the early signs of initial promise though, Sacko’s initial gloss started to wear off. Fans were quickly becoming used to the fact that he was all too often found to have an end product that disappointed.
Being deployed in the wider areas, Sacko often worked hard to get himself into a position to deliver a cross or ball into the box, and yet could seldom pull off what was required of him.
His decision-making and ‘lack of awareness’, for want of a better phrase, also appeared to hamper his development and potential.
It reached a point during the 2016/17 season that in virtually every game you would hear or see the words: “Sacko runs the ball out of play,” or, “great work by Sacko out wide, but his cross is poor and is cleared easily.”
It was becoming more and more evident that despite his pace and ability to take on his full-back, Sacko wasn’t showing the level of ‘footballing maturity’ that was needed to raise his game.
Permanent contract showed intent
No one could really suggest that on the evidence of his performances that Sacko wasn’t trying. Quite the opposite, really. The winger appeared hell-bent on improving from his shortfalls.
Still only 23, which is more towards the junior end of the football spectrum than the senior, Sacko still has time to make an improvement on his self-admitted shortcomings.
New owner Andrea Radrizzani made Sacko his first official signing of his reign of ownership at Leeds United, despite the departure of Garry Monk.
For an estimated fee of £1.5–1.75m, the club’s decision was enough of a ‘sell’ to fans that they still intended to use him, to develop him, and to bring him on.
Improvements elsewhere ‘leaving Sacko behind’
Of course, every fan likes to see a player at their club succeed, obviously. In the case of Hadi Sacko, I don’t think this could have been more true.
The potential he shows, and the way he somehow seems to have engraved himself into the hearts of Leeds United fans, has given him the opportunity to have another go at Elland Road this campaign.
What hasn’t helped him, however, are the improvements being made in the squad as a whole, and specifically at his position.
Kemar Roofe was another last year who openly admitted his performances weren’t quite good enough…
But Roofe went away over the summer, got his head down, and worked. It’s evident. The number 7 has come back this season looking hungrier, fitter, sharper and leaner than ever before. He carries an attitude and ‘swagger’ about him, an attitude that says, ‘put me in the team’.
Sacko hasn’t. He’s stood still.
The signing of Ezgjan Alioski combined with the improvement of Roofe has seen Sacko fall quite quickly down the pecking order. Some would even argue that Stuart Dallas will be picked over Sacko in due course.
Sacko — who put in another poor showing against Port Vale on Wednesday evening in the Carabao Cup — made a cameo appearance in the 3–2 away win over Bolton Wanderers on Sunday, only to do himself no favours in trying to win over the fans’ belief in him.
The key moment we’ll all remember was a complete miss-kick, 12 yards from goal, that had he connected properly would have sealed the win for Leeds and sent them top on opening day.
Instead, “standard Sacko”, could be read all over the internet.
Social media presence is a saving grace
Leeds have had many an infuriatingly frustrating winger over recent seasons: Jimmy Kebe, Cameron Stewart and Modou Barrow to name a few.
The edge seems to be taken off Hadi Sacko’s — let’s face it — sub-par performances due his activity and interaction with fans across social media platforms.
He seems to have adopted that catchphrase, “Square it Hadi,” as his own, and often uses it alongside an array of emoji’s to run away from the fact that he is currently not up to the standard required of playing in this side.
It is almost as if this, combined with a strange inability to dislike the guy, gives him a reprieve from fans where others would have already been slaughtered.
Is this fair? Probably not. Should Sacko be allowed to get chance after chance to finally impress because he’s hard not to like? Probably not.
Ultimately, Sacko has undoubted raw talent and a new contract to go with it. He possesses pace, acceleration and a fearless desire to beat his man — a player not often encountered in this day and age of Championship football.
But once fans have had enough of looking through the Twittersphere façade, the catchphrases, and the “I’ll keep trying to square it!” tweets, will the faith be kept by the fans? I doubt it. We’ll see how long Christiansen and Radrizzani keeps theirs.
