Mighty Leeds Weblog

Leeds United left Old Trafford with a hard-fought point, having prevented Manchester United from completing their comeback job. By Graham Smyth The Whites, under Michael Skubala’s caretaker charge, went 2-0 up against the side in third place in the Premier League, but conceded twice in the second half and came under heavy pressure as Erik Ten Hag’s men looked for a winner that never came. Skubala spoke of his pride at the determination shown by the players to dig out a point in such difficult circumstances, at such a difficult place, visiting Old Trafford just two days after the sacking of Jesse Marsch and in the midst of a long winless run. Here’s the YEP take on a dramatic night on the other side of the Pennines. Good day Willy Gnonto Every day is a good day to be Willy Gnonto. So often the main man in attack of late, he struck brilliantly to give the Whites the lead, boosting his already remarkable popularity with the fans. Turning it on against Manchester United, away...

Leeds United and Michael Skubala sent a message to prospective candidates in the race to replace Jesse Marsch with their 2-2 draw at Manchester United, reports YEP chief football writer Graham Smyth. By Graham Smyth Who would be a manager, at Leeds United? Not so much taking a job as climbing willingly into a pressure cooker, whoever replaces Jesse Marsch will need to be made of stern stuff. Even if the Whites were not perched above the relegation zone on a cushion made only of one place and the magnificent point gained at Manchester United on Wednesday, this would not be a job for the faint hearted. Ask anyone who has walked through the doors of Elland Road and spent any time at all around the place, particularly on matchdays, and they will all trot out the same description. Massive club. As with all clubs boasting size, stature and history, those things breed expectations and thanks to their rise from the Championship back into the Premier League where they belong, Leeds quit...

After all the criticism Jesse Marsch took for desperately trying to put positive spins on points dropped, it would be churlish not to acknowledge that Leeds United failed to beat Manchester United at Old Trafford on Wednesday night. By Stuart Rayner But as 2-2 draws go, it was a massively encouraging one. "We're Leeds and we're proud of it," the away end sang at full-time, a refreshing change from Sunday's calls for a change in the dugout. Yes, Leeds took a 2-0 lead and were unable to keep it but the history books and form books both tell what a treat a point was. And it could easily have been three, with Brenden Aaronson hitting the base of the post from a free-kick at 2-1. It is 13 years since Leeds last won at Old Trafford, 21 since they beat the Red Devils in a Premier League match and 42 since their previous league victory at the home of their bitterest rivals. Whereas Leeds had won two of their last 17 matches, Manchester United had not lost at h...

Leeds United were better than Nottingham Forest in lots of aspects of Sunday's game at the City Ground. By Stuart Rayner It was irrelevant. Because the usual combination of poor defending and bad finishing – allied, it must be said, to some very good goalkeeping from Keylor Navas – meant Forest scored a goal and their visitors did not. So Leeds remain level on points with Everton, the team the other side of the dotted line who they face the weekend after next. The "tactical clarity" coach Jesse Marsch so often talks about only counts for something when you make it count for something, and Leeds are not doing that at the moment. In fact, they have rarely done it since August. If the Whites, in their tie-died yellow away shirts on Sunday, were all over the shop, as they were this time last year, that would be one thing. You could sack the manager and move on. But Marsch's team is giving enough encouragement to a board which clearly believes in him whilst r...

Leeds United fell to a tenth defeat of the Premier League season as a host of good chances counted for nothing in a 1-0 defeat at Sunday's Premier League hosts Nottingham Forest. Lee Sobot Leeds began brightly but fell behind in the 14th minute as Forest netted with their first attack through Brennan Johnson who volleyed home after latching on to Pascal Struijk's attempt to clear a Morgan Gibbs-White free-kick. A string of fine saves from new Forest keeper Keylor Navas then kept Leeds at bay as the hosts took a 1-0 lead into the interval. New signing Weston McKennie and Crysencio Summerville were then brought on 12 minutes after the restart followed by record signing Georginio Rutter and also Junior Firpo and then Sam Greenwood as the final change. But Forest held firm with Leeds unable to repeat their first-half display as they suffered another defeat which leaves them only outside of the drop zone on goal difference. Leeds began well and went close in the second minut...

For a team Jesse Marsch insists until he is blue in the face is making good progress and achieving greater clarity, Leeds United's best XI is far from obvious. By Stuart Rayner Perhaps that is because this is 2023, when many clubs no longer have an identifiable strongest team. The addition of Georginio Rutter, the emergence of Crysencio Summerville and Willy Gnonto, and the reinvigoration of Patrick Bamford means the Whites have plenty of options up front. Rodrigo is their top scorer, Luis Sinisterra is fit again, and Jack Harrison and Brenden Aaronson are in the mix too. But it is in defence where Leeds most need to get their act together to avoid the sort of nerve-shredding relegation battle they put supporters through last season. Marsch was brought in precisely because Leeds had become an embarrassingly soft touch defensively at the end of Marcelo Bielsa's reign. Losing 3-0, 4-2, 6-0 and 4-0 was no way for one of the great figures in the club's history to si...

BEST YET Written by: Moxcowhite • Daniel Chapman In a pleasant but fruitless reversal of recent trends, Leeds United set up to play very well against Aston Villa, and did. Instead of turning in a forlorn half and having to change, they dominated and should and could have scored more and won. The flip was that, as United’s hopes grew into a goal, the changes for chasing the game eroded all the good stuff they’d been doing. Leeds didn’t play worse all night than in the last ten minutes, when they were trying to clinch a comeback draw. It had been chaotic all night, the good kind of chaotic, but by the end, nobody in a Stilton shirt knew where any of their cheesemates were playing, defenders were panicking about nothing at all, Illan Meslier was miles out of goal and slowly clotheslining Philippe Coutinho round his neck. With his thigh. Which was actually quite impressive. With more and more attackers on the pitch in something like a 2-1-7 formation, Leeds lost sight of their one re...

Leeds United left Villa Park empty handed on Friday night following their 2-1 loss to Aston Villa, but Jesse Marsch was clutching positives. By Graham Smyth The boss saw an impressive display that warranted far more than it got, but not everyone of a Whites persuasion in the ground agreed. Here's the YEP take and some things you may have missed. Good day Tyler Adams Brought so much energy, intensity and physicality to the midfield. Crunched into tackles, won possession at times when it looked all-but impossible. A difficult man to play against. Willy Gnonto Another who is really difficult to deal with. Defenders face a choice of fouling him or watching him sail by, so he earned Leeds plenty of free-kicks. He put Bamford's goal on a plate and might have had one himself. Leeds have got to keep him fit. Patrick Bamford Back on the pitch, back among the goals at long last. The result will not have felt good but Bamford will be champing at the bit to get out there ...

It was yet another coulda, woulda, shoulda night from Leeds United. This broken record needs changing. By Stuart Rayner For over an hour they were the better team at Villa Park, even if it all evaporated once Emi Buendia headed his team 2-0 up in the 63rd minute. In a season of what-might-have-beens, this loss took the biscuit. Even Patrick Bamford's late goal rubbed salt into the wound, making the final score 2-1 but there was never much danger of an unlikely comeback, for all the good work put in at 1-0. It is probably the fact results are not often reflecting performances which is keeping Leeds coach Jesse Marsch in a job but it is his responsibility to make sure they do. Two wins in 17 games in all competitions is a desperately poor return which would produce a P45 at many a club. It was a long way short of Leicester City away before the World Cup, but there were definite rumbles of "Marsch out!" from the visiting supporters and boos when he went over to t...

CUP MAGIC, LEEDS STYLE Written by: Moxcowhite • Daniel Chapman Should have known, really! Should have known. There was a bit, a short time before kick-off, perusing Cardiff City’s team news, comparing their new stadium to the old and angry Ninian Park, thinking about the quality that exists in Leeds United’s Premier League squad, when I thought: this might be fine. This game could be simple. Leeds could calmly win 3-0. Our opponents, from the bottom of the Championship, were ill and understrength. Leeds United were also understrength. And it was them who made me sick. There was not much to object to in United’s starting line-up, especially once Jesse Marsch reeled off the list of muscular injuries affecting absent players. But sure, give Junior Firpo a shot, bring Rasmus Kristensen back, try Darko Gyabi in midfield, give Joe Gelhardt some playing time, put Pascal Struijk to centre-back — and captain. All moves with merit. But on top of the changes, Marsch asked them to play like…...

A 2-2 draw means Leeds United will meet Cardiff City again at Elland Road later this month Sonny Perkins scored a dramatic late equaliser to keep Leeds United’s FA Cup hopes alive and seal a 2-2 draw at the Cardiff City Stadium. The Whites will meet Mark Hudson’s side at Elland Road later this month for a place in the fourth round. Winners Max Wober The Austrian was denied a debut from the start, but he emerged at the start of the second half and instantly looked the part in the middle of the park. He probably wasn’t signed to play in midfield, but he looked comfortable on the ball and gave the Whites something they had been missing in the first half. He was composed, he found his passes and he gave the midfield an aggressive edge, too, as he sat in the pocket and tried to dictate play. It wasn’t a perfect performance but it was a fine debut for the former Red Bull Salzburg man and it certainly bodes well moving forward as he hunts for his first start, which could come at A...

Teenage substitute striker Sonny Perkins bagged a 93rd-minute equaliser to save Leeds United’s skin in the FA Cup third round and seal a 2-2 draw at Cardiff City and Elland Road replay. Lee Sobot Cardiff went ahead with their first real attack in the 24th minute as Jaden Philogene-Bidace fired home after Mark Harris had been played in behind Pascal Struijk and Junior Firpo. The Bluebirds then doubled their lead just seven minutes later as Sheyi Ojo netted from the middle of the box after Andy Rinomhota this time played the ball in behind Diego Llorente. But Leeds finally burst into life following a triple substitution ten minutes into the second half and one of the substitutes in Rodrigo pulled a goal back less than five minutes after coming on when heading home from a short corner after a Sam Greenwood cross. The Whites were then awarded a penalty with ten minutes left as Joel Bagan kept out a Junior Firpo drive with a handball on the line for which he was sent off but Rodrigo...

Leeds United’s first game of the new year ended in a 2-2 draw against Wednesday night’s Premier League visitors West Ham United after a pulsating and end-to-end contest at Elland Road. Lee Sobot Leeds went ahead in the 27th minute through a clinical finish from Willy Gnonto after a lovely move and one-two with Crysencio Summerville who laid on a perfect through ball. At 19 years and 60 days old, Gnonto became the third youngest Italian scorer in Premier League history and also the youngest Leeds top-flight scorer since James Milner in April 2004. West Ham, though, equalised in the 45th minute after the intervention of VAR led to an Irons penalty for Pascal Struijk's foul on Jarrod Bowen and Paqueta coolly converted the spot kick. The Hammers then went ahead less than one minute into the second half as a misplaced pass from Brenden Aaronson was cut out by Gianluca Scamacca who punished Aaronson with a perfect first time finish from the edge of the box that went in off the post...

HUMAN ERROR Written by: Moxcowhite • Daniel Chapman There was something diabolical about Kevin De Bruyne as he moved over halfway to create Manchester City’s opening goal. For 45 minutes Leeds United had been compact, tight, as difficult as they could be to play through, but in first half stoppage time they’d seen a gap and decided to attack it. When that fizzled inevitably in favour of the red and black shirts, De Bruyne looped the loop into space out wide, and as the ball went to him, so did the television director’s camera, broadcasting the moment when De Bruyne, the ball rolling in his feet, scanned the empty field ahead of him. He almost smiled, indistinguishable from a frown, like a devil. He knew his team could score now. I knew they would score now. Everyone knew that, for Manchester City against Leeds, scoring would be winning. A handful of well-designed passes later and Rodri had the ball in the net. The last kick of the half decided the game, and De Bruyne could relax. ...

The ill-defined limbo that exists between Christmas and New Year was perhaps a fitting time for Leeds United to return to action. By Graham Smyth Bank Holidays, unusual working patterns, spiking blood sugar levels and the awkwardness of exchanges that should neither begin with 'Happy Christmas' or 'Happy New Year' combine to make that handful of days after the Yuletide festivities and before the Hogmanay celebrations a weird period. It can be difficult to know how to feel and what to think. And so welcome to Leeds United's world. A club finding itself in a limbo between an ownership era quite evidently coming towards its end and the obviously quite imminent beginning of another, is a difficult one to define or pin down. That World Cup break was a weird time for everyone in the Premier League, bringing with it such uncertainty and unknown effects for player form, fitness and team cohesion. Then there's the January transfer window, just around the corner...