When Daniel Farke reflected on Leeds United signings in this year’s summer transfer window, he made it clear that there were no guarantees.
It is typical of the German’s management style to shield his players from the weight of expectation. Though he was cautious about the roles Largie Ramazani and Ao Tanaka might play, both have grown to become standout performers in recent weeks. He applied the same caveats — warning of a lack of experience at Championship level and being able to cope with the physicality of the English second tier — to Isaac Schmidt, who has so far played the fewest minutes (10) of the summer 2024 outfield signings.
This could be a landmark week for Schmidt, a versatile full-back who joined on deadline day from Swiss Super League side St Gallen. For the second game in a row, Farke will need to make changes at full-back.
Schmidt was overlooked on Saturday, with Farke picking Sam Byram as the suspended Junior Firpo’s replacement on the left against Bristol City. Though Firpo will return for the visit of Plymouth Argyle next weekend, right-back Jayden Bogle picked up his fifth yellow card of the season in Bristol, meaning he will miss that game. That suspension could present an opportunity for the 24-year-old Schmidt to force his way into the side.
After making just three appearances, all from the bench — each time coming on to replace wingers and see out the game — it is hard to know Schmidt’s level as a full-back.
Though he has also played as a winger and central midfielder in his career, 55 games at left-back make up the bulk of his senior experience. He has experience in Switzerland’s top flight with Lausanne and St Gallen, as well as scoring in the latter’s Europa Conference League qualifier against Trabzonspor of Turkey in his final game before leaving for Leeds.
His performances in 34 league appearances for St Gallen last season, 26 coming at left-back, provide enough data to tell us the type of player is and how he might take to the Championship.
The pizza chart below shows his metrics from that 2023-24 campaign, with the asterisked categories adjusted to Premier League standards. (For a greater understanding of how The Athletic uses pizza charts to analyse players, click here.) This does not apply to every metric but is a helpful comparison, given Leeds’ ambitions of winning promotion back to the top flight and Farke’s view that Schmidt is a player he will look to develop.
Farke’s assessment after Schmidt signed for the club, while cautious, reflects where he sees him in his pool of full-backs.
“He’s a great guy and a really good age, still on his way up the hill in his career,” Farke said, before last month’s game against Burnley.
“He has a great mentality and is desperate to play for the shirt and the club. But you have to keep in mind that he has not played in any of the top five leagues in Europe, so this is a different scenario to play in this country and this physical league. The Premier League is the best league in the world — but the Championship is the toughest, due to the load of the games and the physicality.
“We will give him the time to adapt to this and we have some proper options in the full-back position. It’s not like he has to come straight in and cut the league to pieces. He’s an important squad player and we will work with him and lift his potential to make the best possible player out of him. Then it’s up to him to grab the chance with both hands, to make the step through the door.
“When a player has not played at this level, it’s always difficult to give a guarantee that he will one day be the best full-back in this league but he has lots of potential and a great mentality and character.”
Schmidt has an impressive highlight reel from his time in Switzerland, capped off with that farewell goal for St Gallen.
The data from last season shows he is an active carrier of the ball (carry and dribble volume: 98 out of 99), which reflects his attacking tendencies as a full-back. Farke likes this quality in his wide defensive players: Firpo and Bogle offer plenty going forward, and Byram made a name for himself earlier in his career at Leeds with his running.
‘Front-footed’ best sums up Schmidt’s defensive qualities, too. He looks to get tight to his man — shown above in the defensive intensity metric (74 out of 99) and in his defensive actions, which includes the number of ball recoveries, interceptions and aerial duels he makes (98/99). When those metrics are adjusted to Premier League level, Schmidt still performs strongly, reflecting his potential to make the step up a division with Leeds.
Where Schmidt was less refined last season was in his progressive passing (23/99) and ball retention ability (18/99).
Leeds are used to dominating the ball at Championship level and playing out from the back, so those qualities are important. They have only had the minority of possession twice in 12 league games this season, achieving less than 50 per cent of the ball against West Bromwich Albion (0-0 draw) and Coventry City (3-0 win).
While it seems unlikely that Schmidt or Byram will unseat Firpo and Bogle as first-choice at full-back any time soon, the pressure is on both to shine when opportunity comes their way.
As Firpo continues to have one of his best seasons as a Leeds player since joining in summer 2021 and Bogle grows in confidence, they meet most of the requirements Farke likes to see in his full-backs. And as a natural right-back with considerable experience, Byram is most likely to start in place of Bogle, even if fans are eager to see Schmidt’s attacking capabilities.
But Plymouth’s visit on Saturday presents a rare chance for Schmidt — a chance to prove to Farke that he is ready.
(Top photo: Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
