Marcelo Bielsa can be defined by his stubbornness and a determination to do things his way was shown when Leeds were 2-0 down at half-time to Everton. He substituted Raphinha.
The man many thought was Leeds’ best chance of a comeback.
The player with twice as many goals as any of his team-mates; indeed, a winger in a relegation struggle who has only been outscored by Mohamed Salah, Diogo Jota, Raheem Sterling, Heung-Min Son, Jamie Vardy and Cristiano Ronaldo in the Premier League.
The Brazilian has been both Leeds’ best finisher and creator this season. As they face Manchester United this Sunday, he looks their likeliest chance of victory.
He stands out, both against his team-mates but also some of his opponents, looking like a player destined to join a better team in the summer.
The 'best of the rest'
He is not just Leeds’ top scorer but their best finisher, with eight goals from an xG (expected goals) of 5.95.
Having never previously averaged more than 0.27 goals per 95 minutes in a full league season, he is now at 0.40.
Everyone with a higher ratio, with the exceptions of Maxwel Cornet and Ismaila Sarr, is either a striker or a big-six player.
Neither Cornet nor Sarr has an assist, whereas Raphinha has two and ought to have had more. His expected assists (xA) total of 4.56 means only he, Jarrod Bowen and Mohamed Salah are in the top 10 for both goals and expected assists.
It gives him a greater xA than Leeds’ next two most creative players, Rodrigo and Stuart Dallas, combined.
That difference of 2.26 makes him statistically one of the unluckiest creators in the division, along with Bernardo Silva, Kevin de Bruyne, Sadio Mane and Diogo Jota, with the chances they have supplied not reflected in their relatively meagre assist tallies.
Raphinha’s nine assists last season put him joint sixth in the division, with only Harry Kane, Bruno Fernandes, Kevin de Bruyne, Jack Grealish and Son above him.
While his xA per 95 minutes has dropped from 0.35 to 0.23 this season, he has been a consistent threat, posting a combined xG + xA (xGI) over 0.50 per 95 in four consecutive seasons for Rennes and then Leeds.
This season’s total of 0.54 stands out in comparison: of non-strikers who play for non-top six clubs, only Jarred Bowen has been better according to xGI/95 so far this term.
'A passer, dribbler, crosser and shooter'
Raphinha has had 57 shots at goal this season, the seventh most in the league. Bowen (62) is the only interloper in a top six of the usual suspects, in Salah, Kane, Ronaldo, Mane and Jota.
The Leeds man has the lowest percentage on target (22.8), in part because he shoots from further out, with an average distance of 21.9 yards. It provides a comparison with Fernandes (21.4).
Seven of Raphinha’s long-range efforts are free kicks, and only he and James Ward-Prowse have scored from a direct free kick both this season and last.
His ability to contribute to all elements of the attack makes him Leeds’ leading individual in each category; he is passer, dribbler, crosser and shooter.
As well as being seventh for shots, he is 10th in the Premier League for both progressive passes and crosses. He ranks second for nutmegs, with 12, third for players dribbled past, fourth for key passes and sixth for shot-creating actions.
Should Man United sign Raphinha?
And he is outperforming many of the United players he will face on Sunday.
Ralf Rangnick has said that left wing is Jadon Sancho’s best position, meaning there could be a vacancy on the right.
Only Ronaldo has had more shots and only Jesse Lingard has averaged more shots per 95 minutes than Raphinha (2.93).
Fernandes has made more key passes (71) than Raphinha (43) but no other United attacker has more than 28.
Only Fernandes (9) can rival his seven completed crosses into the penalty area. Raphinha’s 108 progressive passes is more than Sancho, Marcus Rashford and Ronaldo have between them.
Raphinha’s 80 shot-creating actions give him a lead of 28 over Mateusz Klich, his closest team-mate.
At Old Trafford, it would put him behind Fernandes (105) but well ahead of everyone else; Luke Shaw is second, and full-backs rank second to the Portuguese in several creativity categories for Ralf Rangnick’s team, illustrating that United’s various quick wingers are not as inventive as Raphinha.
He has played more minutes than each of them, but his 4.11 shot-creating actions per 95 minutes is only topped by the bit-part players Donny van de Beek (now at Everton) and Lingard, plus Fernandes (4.64) and, just, Sancho (4.14) at the other United.
Defending from the front
Another aspect, given United’s difficulties pressing, is Bielsa’s all-action style of play.
Raphinha’s 33 tackles puts him behind Fernandes but with almost twice as many as any other United attacker; his 61 successful pressures is more than any of Rangnick’s players except Fernandes plus the defensive midfielders Fred and Scott McTominay.
He has attempted more pressures in the final third than anyone except Fernandes. And if Raphinha’s low success rate at pressures (23.0%) may be a sign he is not a natural, at least the effort is there.
But the broader picture is of one of the Premier League’s best all-round attacking players in what is currently one of its lesser teams.
Perhaps Raphinha’s legacy to Leeds will be keeping them up. Perhaps a man found near the top of individual charts now will be seen somewhere closer to the summit of the actual table next season.
