Jaidon Anthony had to watch most of Leeds United’s 2023-24 season from the bench. The winger started twice in the league all season as Crysencio Summerville’s run to the Championship’s Player of the Season prize strangled his chances. Living on the margins of that ill-fated run to Wembley did not stop the Bournemouth loanee encouraging Joe Rothwell to return north.
Leeds, Elland Road and Daniel Farke was not a hard sell for the Manchester native, but he did lean on Anthony for that personal insight into life as a player here. Rothwell initially followed his Dean Court colleague’s lead, with no starts in any of the opening eight league games. Seven months on, Rothwell has nearly quadrupled the league minutes Anthony racked up and there are still nine games to play.
Based on the evidence of Wednesday night’s 2-0 win over Millwall, and the way he has been playing as winter turns to spring, Rothwell needs to add to that tally before the show ends at Home Park on May 3. Rothwell was the one change Farke made to Sunday’s losing XI, the one starter not sullied by that Portsmouth experience and he led from the front on Wednesday night. The 30-year-old has come here for a second promotion in as many seasons, but the summer will be at the back of his mind.
The midfielder’s Bournemouth contract expires in June 2026, but he has been deemed surplus to requirements for effectively two full seasons in Dorset. Andoni Iraola’s side are now chasing European football and on an upward trajectory. Rothwell is experienced enough to know he is unlikely to be playing for his parent club next term.
Could Leeds be his next permanent home? This is the question which revolves around virtually every member of Farke’s squad. If they get promoted, what use will they be in the top flight? When you see Rothwell lead from the front like he did last night, it’s easy to see how he would at least make a serviceable squad member in the Premier League, especially if you picked him up for a, comparatively cheap, seven-figure fee.
Crucially, there is no pre-agreed buy option in place for Leeds at the end of the season. If Farke wants him, Leeds will have to bid for him and fight off any competitors. A few more goals and assists might go some way to convincing chairman Paraag Marathe he is worth an investment.
After 37 appearances, including 25 starts, Rothwell is still yet to break his duck. Goals are one of the key reasons Farke brought him to West Yorkshire. Only one of his four assists has come from open play too. The manager is still holding his feet to the fire.
“(There are) still a few challenges in his game and also in possession, he could do with a goal,” Farke said after the Millwall win. “He could also do with an assist out of the game (in open play).
“Let’s not praise him too much. We have 37 games played, goals and assists could be a bit more. Today, there were one or two situations where he could have scored.
“We will hold the pressure high to get always the maximum out of him, but yes, I would definitely agree today, his performance was outstanding.”
When a team loses once in 19 league games, there are not too many selection headaches to sink your teeth into. Farke’s revolving door in midfield is one of few narratives to have emerged of late.
Since Ilia Gruev returned to the line-up at Burnley on January 27, he and Rothwell have traded starts in the engine room. The Bulgarian has started all five away games and the hardest home clash, against Sunderland, while Rothwell has started all of the other four Elland Road ties. The pattern is abundantly clear, but Rothwell has made his strongest case yet for breaking that mould when Leeds travel to Loftus Road on Saturday.
In a team that needed to reset the tone after Sunday’s loss in Hampshire, Rothwell played like the one man without that blot in his copybook. He was responsible for the third-minute opener. It was Rothwell who nicked the ball from Casper De Norre and sparked the counter. He fed Joel Piroe, it came back to the number eight, he carried and the ball was eventually pushed to Manor Solomon for the cross that forced the own goal.
Leeds celebrate their opening goal against Millwall (Molly Darlington/Getty Images)
There were multiple passes which caught the eye in a first half that showed the rest of the team searching for confidence. In the 14th minute, Rothwell split the Millwall defence from deep, looking for a Jayden Bogle run. In the 35th minute, there was an inch perfect pass driven, from near the centre circle, to the tip of Junior Firpo’s boot down the left. He was accurate and progressive with his distribution.
In the second half, the weight of that aforementioned goal drought seemed heavier than ever on Rothwell’s shoulders. In the 52nd minute, he rolled a short corner to Solomon and bounded around the back of the winger. He was given the ball back, on the move, as he drove into the box and past a challenge before drilling the ball low at goal. Blocked. A frustrated look to the sky followed.
Sixteen minutes later, Rothwell delivered a corner into the Millwall box, but it was cleared back out to him on the right flank. Instead of aiming for someone in the crowd of gathered bodies, he decided to push the ball left and drive his weaker (left) foot at it. It was wild, wide and arguably the rashest thing he did all night. He was yearning for the net to ripple and tried too hard in that instance.
Throughout that second half there were moments of class from Rothwell. He made blocks, interceptions and tidied up one loose ball after an errant Piroe pass left Farke with his head in his hands. The loanee just seemed one step ahead of everyone on the field, save for Ao Tanaka in a resurgent second-half showing.
Rothwell did not get his goal, or his assist, but is he emerging as one of the unheralded heroes of the promotion push? He may not have started enough games recently for such a tag, but those two assists in the Sunderland fightback seem to have already secured his place in any future folklore about the 2024-25 campaign.
He is certainly not going to be remembered as someone who was banging on dressing room walls, delivering big speeches to the team. He is one of only four outfield players over 30 years old in the squad, but that’s not prompted him to take a lead as an experienced head. Calm is a word Farke and captain Pascal Struijk both used after full time on Wednesday.
“Relaxed, calm, experienced, great lad,” said Farke. “I love him. Good sense of humour, but it’s not like he’s always there with a speech or talking that much. He holds the cards close to himself, but in a nice and gentle way.
“A great team-mate, it’s a joy to work with him. Even on the training pitch, I enjoy when he sometimes touches (the ball) so tender, it’s more like pure poetry.”
Struijk said: “As a person, he’s a top player, top guy as well. He’s a little bit on the calmer side, but that doesn’t take anything away from what he brings to the table.”
Rothwell complained of a stiffening knee in the latter stages of Wednesday’s win. Farke hopes an ice bath and treatment will keep him in contention for Saturday. If not, that big decision will be taken out of the manager’s hands. If he’s ready to play, however, Rothwell could not have done more with his chance to break the cycle of rotation.
(Top photo: Michael Regan/Getty Images)
