Leeds United's underrated defensive cog is a sore miss for Daniel Farke | OneFootball

Leeds United handed Sam Byram a one-year contract at Elland Road following his release from Norwich City in June, and many supporters would not have foreseen how crucial he would become this season.

The Whites had taken their former right-back on trial as they weighed up whether to sign the former Canary on a free transfer; however, the 30-year-old is a well-known player to the Leeds fanbase, as he came through the ranks at Elland Road, and would go on to make almost 150 appearances for the club.

He then secured a high-profile switch to West Ham United for a reported fee of around £4 million, but has now returned to the club he left when he was 22, and worked under Leeds' new boss, Daniel Farke, during his stint with Norwich.

After a promising early start to his footballing career, it’s fair to say that the full-back's trajectory as a player didn’t really take off as many expected it would, with injuries restricting the impact he could make with the Hammers, and at his last club, Norwich, too.

Byram managed only 36 appearances for West Ham and signed for the Canaries in 2019 on a four-year deal, where he would manage 54 games during his stay, spending much of his time at Carrow Road as cover at both left-back and right-back.

Byram has started 16 of Leeds' 24 games in all competitions this season but has been missing recently with a hamstring problem.

The Whites have failed to win in both of their last two games, in a loss to Sunderland and the draw on Saturday to Coventry City, and the last time Byram didn't feature from the start in a game was during a draw to Rotherham.

That means that the 30-year-old has started in all the last six wins for Leeds, and the last time they dropped points with Byram starting was in a 1-0 loss to Stoke City in early October. It really highlights how underrated the re-signing has been, when considering how little excitement there was at the time of the announcement.

Of course, winning games cannot be pinned to one player in a team sport, but his understanding of Farke's system and consistency this season have been crucial in either left or right-back positions.

Without him, Leeds' build up on the left in particular has suffered, and it highlights the need to get him back fit, as well as to bring in more competition on the left-hand side of Leeds' defence, so as to not rely too heavily on Byram.

Leeds' left-back problem

Byram’s hamstring injury was always likely to increase the need to bring in a left-back during the January window. He has been ruled out for around three weeks, which follows on from Farke revealing Firpo would also miss the next three weeks with a similar hamstring injury, as stated just last week.

Stuart Dallas is recovering from a leg break which dates back to April 2022, and Jamie Shackleton is also suffering from a glute injury. That means all of the players to have started games at left-back this season or in recent years are out during the busy time of year during the festive period, other than Djed Spence, who is currently deputising out of position.

Not only is he a key cog in Farke's system for the left-sided ball progression, but he has already contributed well in front of goal, too. Byram has a goal and an assist in 19 games, coming in vital wins over Ipswich Town and the opener against Watford - the latter seeing him bag his first goal for the club in over eight years.

The question marks will, of course, still remain regarding his fitness, which is why further competition at left-sided full-back has to be on the agenda, to decrease the work load and reliance on a player with a substantial injury list in his career so far. Currently, they sorely miss him, but added support would surely be welcomed by Leeds fans and Byram alike.

Speaking in a recent pre-match press conference, journalist Phil Hay revealed that Farke explained they could now go into the market for a left-back, and he also stated it was something they had considered before news of further injuries.

“Farke indicated that he's giving through to recruiting at left-back in January - and was thinking about that even before Byram/Firpo got injured. Farke says Firpo is close to returning to training.”