No noise like this noise - The Square Ball 9/11/21
15 MINUTES
Written by Rob Conlon
Have you calmed down yet? I’m not sure I have. After Leeds
drew 1-1 with Leicester, my usual post-match debrief with friends over pints in
The Holbeck largely consisted of weary looks to one another and the tentative
question, “That was… fun, right?”
It’s been a long time since I’ve left Elland Road so
emotionally exhausted, and it felt good. After a weekend in which Raphinha’s
Instagram raindance put an end to former Championship foes Neil Warnock, Daniel
Farke and Dean Smith, winning would have felt too obvious, losing too
heartbreaking. Instead, the result, but more specifically the performance,
provided exactly the right dose of angst and adrenaline. Just how we like it.
The opening fifteen minutes of the second half had a lot to
answer for, as Leeds used Leicester as bewildered opposition for a session of
murderball. I’m fascinated by what triggers these spells of frenzied intensity,
when the visiting team are made to feel like they’ve been thrown in a washing
machine, shutting their eyes and holding on until the world stops spinning. Is
it the instruction of Marcelo Bielsa, or was Leicester’s tardiness, emerging
from the tunnel long after Leeds were ready to get things going again, the
inspiration? Do the players take their cue from the noise of the crowd or a
moment of class or commitment from a teammate? Is it the instinctive alchemy of
eleven bodies and minds suddenly synced?
As captain, Liam Cooper might know the answer. His awkward
back pass at the start of the second half weirdly seemed to help, giving
Leicester a corner and the Elland Road crowd flashbacks of Norwich’s goal the
previous week. Once Youri Tielemans drove his shot wide of Illan Meslier’s post
in the aftermath, Leeds decided the next stage of the game was going to belong
only to them.
The signs weren’t obvious. Meslier’s goal kick was volleyed
straight back into the Leeds half, forcing Cooper to stretch and scuff a
clearance awkwardly into Kalvin Phillips. As Leicester were sensing the chance
to press Leeds high up the pitch, Adam Forshaw cushioned the ball back to Phillips,
who hurriedly passed it square to Stuart Dallas on his right. Elland Road was
quietly panicking, making the murmurs Victor Orta fears, until Dallas started
running down the right wing, finding Dan James with a clever pass between
full-back and centre-half. James’ cross was blocked, but the muscle memory of
those gruesome midweek sessions at Thorp Arch was awoken.
The physics required in Jack Harrison’s miss from underneath
the bar are one of the few things in life beyond Bielsa’s mastery, but perhaps if
he’d scored we would have been deprived of the next ten minutes of ferocity.
Harrison robbed himself of the credit he deserved for the gorgeous cross that
led to the corner in the first place. Leeds’ crossing was frustrating
throughout, but this was a peach, arcing towards the edge of the six-yard box,
where Caglar Soyuncu nearly headed the ball into his own top corner. The crowd
was sensing the potential in Leeds’ play, and the involvement of pantomime
villain Kasper Schmeichel helped keep the Kop’s ire away from Harrison and
towards the opposition.
As the intensity was rising, Bielsa was preoccupied with
adjusting the lid on his half-time brew. His composure suggested things were
going to plan. Wherever he looked from the sideline, he saw James, haring back
and forth, side to side, suffocating Leicester’s defenders and crashing into
tackles like the creation of a mad scientist fusing the DNA of Gjanni Alioski
and David Batty (unfortunately, he was shooting like them too). One tackle on
Soyuncu created another dangerous opportunity and when Leicester finally dared
stringing three passes together, James threw his whole body at Wilfred Ndidi,
winning the ball and leaving the visitors still dreaming of reaching Leeds’
half. One Leicester clearance did pass halfway, where Cooper was standing as
the only outfield player in Leeds’ part of the pitch. Back it went towards
Schmeichel’s goal in a blur of pass and move.
Forshaw has waited more than two years to feel this buzz
again. While it’s tempting to think the presence of a steady central midfielder
helped Leeds become their frantic best, Forshaw must be sick of watching and
was never going to step back and let his teammates have all the fun. He kept
appearing on the right wing, linking up with Raphinha and Dallas, twice finding
clever cut-backs into Leicester’s penalty area, desperate to be met by a Leeds
shot that never came. Dallas was playing like Pablo Hernandez from right-back,
pinging passes with the inside and outside of his right foot. An assist should
have arrived as a reward when overlapping and sending in the perfect cross for
Rodrigo to score, but the ball was volleyed into the side netting.
In LUTV commentary, Bryn Law was trying to be heard over the
crowd. “No noise like this noise in the Premier League,” he said. But Leeds had
used up their quota of big chances and Rodrigo’s miss gave Leicester a chance
to take a breath and put their heads back on the right way round. Phillips’
foul on Tielemans meant Leicester could waste time and momentum. In the 60th
minute, they won a corner, giving the South Stand their first close-up of the
game since Cooper’s wayward back pass; it was the first time since half-time
Leicester played more than one pass to a teammate in Leeds’ territory.
At full-time, Bielsa described the game as “very beautiful”,
telling his players he recognised them for the first time this season as the
team built in his image. Watching Leeds when they find their groove under
Bielsa makes watching any other team feel pointless, like watching a different
sport. When Leeds are as good as they were for those fifteen minutes, why would
you want to watch anyone else?
