Exclusive:Facundo Buonanotte defended by Leeds United icon after underwhelming outing against Birmingham City
Leeds United icon Tony Dorigo has defended Facundo Buonanotte following the playmaker’s underwhelming display against Birmingham City.
After two cameos from the bench in the Premier League, Buonanotte was handed his first Leeds start in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
Leeds managed to scrape past Birmingham via a penalty shoot-out, but Buonanotte’s impact was minimal and he was substituted at half-time.
It was an underwhelming first start for the Argentine playmaker, who was signed on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion last month.
Facundo Buonanotte verdict delivered
However, former Leeds defender Dorigo has insisted it is still important to get the 21-year-old integrated.
Speaking to The Yorkshire Post via Gambling.com, who help people in the UK compare online casino sites, Dorigo said: “I think what's clear is that when you have a competitive squad, you have to play well to stay in the team.
“I think any successful team, whether you're trying to stay up or whether you want to win a championship, you need that competitiveness.
“I think what Facundo brings to the party is something that we haven't got, so that's why it's really important for him to get integrated as quickly as we can.”
‘Non-stop’ FA cup clash
The circumstances were far from ideal for the playmaker, who seemed to get lost in the blood and thunder of a frenetic FA Cup clash.
Dorigo has conceded Leeds cannot afford to be too patient with Buonanotte, but believes more of the attacking midfielder’s ability can be showcased in the Premier League.
He said: “You're not going to get many opportunities because we can't wait four, five, six games, we kind of need it pretty quickly.
“The chance he had yesterday was one of those opportunities where he needed to grab it with both hands and unfortunately he didn't, because the type of game Birmingham brought was extremely physical.
“I think we played quite physical, but they kind of took it to another level and that's what they needed to do to stop us playing.
“And what we then needed from Facundo is to get involved, bring it down and get some calmness to the game, but there was no calm moment in that game. It was just a crazy physical game, which is brilliant for the FA Cup, I've played in many of those.
“But I think maybe one or two of the boys thought it would be a little bit different, shall we say. But I always knew what it was going to be like and I think Facundo was one of those that just struggled a bit unfortunately.
“It was absolutely non-stop and no one else could really get the ball down either, so we shouldn't really be picking him out too much.
“But he is a player that can offer the other side of things and that's what we didn't see. I think at times when we do have possession in calmer games in the Premier League, that's where I think we'll see more of him.
“And hopefully we do, because I've seen bits of him at previous clubs he's been at, and he's got ability. In that, there's no doubt.
“He's got something to offer us that we haven't got, so it's important that we integrate him as quickly as we can. But at the same time, you can't wait forever. It’s a bit of him and a bit of us really.”