Jamie Shackleton has been slammed for being ‘overrun and outgunned’ in Leeds United’s midfield when the Peacocks came up against Manchester United in a preseason clash earlier this week.

So, what has happened so far during Leeds United’s preseason?

It wasn’t the start to preseason preparations that Leeds would’ve been hoping for, and a loss to fierce rivals United is certainly not the way new boss Daniel Farke would’ve wanted to get his tenure at the Yorkshire club underway either.

The teams played the game in Oslo’s Ullevaal Stadium to a sold out crowd, and despite Leeds now competing in the Championship, the game itself was a fairly competitive one.

By halftime, the game was still level, and it took until the 67th minute for United youngster Noam Emeran to finally make the incisive move and open the scoring for the Red Devils.

It took just another 14 minutes for 19-year-old Joe Hugill to double the score, but by then, the game was already out of sight for the Whites.

While a few Leeds players, notably captain Liam Cooper and Ian Poveda, shone during the game, some looked more than a little rusty after a few weeks off, specifically Jamie Shackleton.

According to Leeds Live journalist Beren Cross, the 23-year-old, who was given a 5/10, ‘looked overrun and outgunned in the middle. Guilty of one notably sloppy pass which was picked off inside the Leeds box.’

Is Jamie Shackleton good enough?

His poor showing against United might be just a single game in the eyes of new boss Farke, but it might be time for the club to cut their losses on the Hemsworth-born midfielder.

The Leeds youth product spent last season on loan with Championship side Millwall but started just 17 games for the side, and, according to WhoScored, he averaged a pretty poor rating of 6.25 across the season.

His underlying numbers don’t look great either, with FBref, who compare players in a similar position across what they define as the next best eight competitions, placing him in just the top 37% for successful take-ons and clearances, the top 46% for blocks, the top 51% for touches in the opposition’s penalty area and the top 52% for progressive carries, all per 90.

Those are his standout attributes from the last 12 months as well, so there isn’t a single attribute for which he is above average, which should be ringing alarm bells in the minds of Leeds staff.

To top it all off, he was named in The Second Tier’s ‘Worst XI’ of the season in January.

Who are Leeds United playing in preseason?

Unfortunately for Farke, things don’t get much easier in their next preseason game, as Leeds take on French giants AS Monaco in York’s LNER Community Stadium on Saturday, July 22nd.

The Principality club finished in a somewhat underwhelming sixth place in the league last year, but with players like Wissam Ben Yedder and Breel Embolo, they should be a good challenge for Leeds.

Things look a little easier for the Whites in their final two games before the season starts as they take on Premier League side Nottingham Forest in Burton’s Pirelli Stadium on Thursday, July 27th.

Leeds should feel confident enough going into this game as the home side came out on top in both fixtures last season, with The Garibaldi only beating Leeds 1-0 in February.

The final preseason game sees Farke’s men travel to Tynecastle Park in Edinburgh to take on Scottish Premiership side Heart of Midlothian on Sunday, July 30th.

The Jambos finished in fourth spot last season and could prove a challenge for Leeds, despite the Yorkshire club’s 50% win rate against the club.

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