Whilst it’s never popular in West Yorkshire, the international break has actually arrived at a good time for Leeds United.
Although Noah Okafor managed to score the winner against Tottenham over the weekend, the Swiss winger is still dealing with an adductor injury.
Anton Stach missed the game at the weekend. The international break will give the German some time to let his broken toe and finger heal.
Gabriel Gudmundsson was also forced off at half-time over the weekend with a hamstring injury. However, the Swedish defender is expected to make a quick recovery and could feature against Bosnia on Saturday. This will be handy for Leeds to see how he gets on before the Premier League returns.
But for a different reason entirely, this international break has certainly come at the right time for another Leeds United star.
International break much needed for Jaka Bijol amid game-time frustrations
“Every footballer who doesn’t play is unhappy. These are facts, and I would be lying if I said anything different,” Bijol told 24ur.com.
“On the other hand, I know that the club is doing well. I’m also happy about that, because this is an exceptional club with exceptional fans who deserve good results.
“It can happen that everything changes overnight and you’re playing the next day. That’s when you have to be ready to put in a good performance.”
After our opening ten league games, Bijol has started just three. The defender has played a total of 264 minutes across his five appearances. Nico Elvedi has often been preferred ahead of the Slovenian. (Sofascore)
But now Bijol doesn’t have to worry about playing second fiddle to anybody now that he’s away with Slovenia.
In the last international break, Bijol played every minute of Slovenia’s four Nations League games. You would assume this would be the same in this current break.
Slovenia are set to play Switzerland on Friday and North Macedonia on Monday. So that will likely be another two games that Bijol features in.
From a Leeds perspective, this is ideal. With Bijol rarely playing for the Whites this season, this international break gives the defender a chance to play competitive football and build his match sharpness.
If Bijol impresses for his country whilst he’s away, it certainly won’t do him any harm when it comes to getting back into the Leeds team upon his return to West Yorkshire.
Daniel Farke may rely on Jaka Bijol more after the international break
Another reason why it will be good for Bijol to get some minutes into his legs over the international break is because of our fixtures when we return.
In our first three games back, we travel to Stamford Bridge to take on Chelsea, host Coventry at Elland Road before going to The Etihad to play Manchester City.
In these tough away games, we’ll be forced to sit back and defend the box and soak up pressure. And these are the games that are tailor-made for Bijol and his skill set.
The Slovenian won’t have to worry as much about playing a high line. He can just focus on getting his head in the way of anything that moves.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Farke make this defensive change for those games. And if he is considering it, a couple of impressive Bijol performances over the international break could give Farke the nudge he needs to give the 27-year-old the nod ahead of Elvedi against Chelsea.
