Leeds United v Watford: Woeful Whites hit a new low

Yorkshire Evening Post 2/4/12

By Phil Hay
In one week, out the next and yet again Leeds United – the Championship’s version of the Hokey Cokey – find themselves needing snookers.

“Gobsmacked,” said Neil Warnock last week when asked how he would feel if Leeds stumbled into the play-offs, and he was not playing dead after all. His club are now in the market for a miracle as well as a new squad after a pitiful loss to Watford.

The possibilities seemed endless after Leeds’ victory at Millwall but Watford brought reality to bear on Saturday, the ninth visiting team to win at Elland Road this season. Leeds lost as few times at home in the year when they were relegated from the Championship, a damning statistic among many others.

Therein lies one of Warnock’s problems, in addition to his doubts about the calibre of player available to him: a team he cannot trust to show up one week to the next and a stadium which has lost its ability to inspire, or at least to inspire the team who reside there. Watford’s win was easily earned.

They scored at either end of the game, with each goal claimed by Chris Iwelumo, and they squeezed United in between with the same drive which asked Leeds to chase shadows at Vicarage Road in December.

Gulf

There was a certain gulf in class and a definite gulf in application. It is why Warnock has consistently spoken of play-off qualification in sceptical tones. “You saw that today,” he said. “If you think we’ve got any chance of making the play-offs, you’re kidding your readers.”

United’s manager was hamstrung by an unimpressive referee, unfamiliarity in the centre of his defence and frailty all around it; spoilt for choice when it came to finding fault, particularly within his own camp.

Watford’s attitude and industrious style explained their recent purple patch and they had ample opportunity to atone for the 95th-minute equaliser they conceded to Leeds at home four-and-half months ago. United’s afternoon flickered and died once Tomasz Kuszczak, the Watford goalkeeper, pulled off two unlikely saves in rapid succession early in the second half.

Warnock made no attempt to clutch at straws afterwards, angered by a performance as unconvincing as any other this season, Leeds’ 7-3 defeat to Nottingham Forest included. His mood was hardly improved by the injury-time dismissal of Paul Connolly, sent off after his second booking with the day already lost. “Bloody stupid,” said Warnock angrily, and not for the first time.

United’s defence was his unknown quantity on Saturday and ultimately their point of weakness, built around the unrecognised partnership of Tom Lees and Alex Bruce. Darren O’Dea’s suspension brought the pair together hoping to replicate the resistance shown at Millwall and avoid the bloodbath of Leeds’ defeat to Nottingham.

The portents could not have been worse, an antithesis to the aerial dominance of Watford’s Martin Taylor and Nyron Nosworthy. Iwelumo had already scooped a half-volley over Andy Lonergan’s goal when, in the sixth minute, Saul Deeney wriggled out of tackles by Michael Brown and Paul Robinson and threaded a pass behind Bruce. Iwelumo anticipated it perfectly and finished it off with a sweep of his right boot.

It did not take the displeased look on Warnock’s face to tell his players what was necessary in response. In pensive and edgy surroundings, Robert Snodgrass picked up the dropped baton by driving into Watford’s box and producing a shot which Nyron Nosworthy blocked with his head. Bruce headed the resulting corner over the crossbar.

But the nerves among Warnock’s players were biting sporadically: Lees mis-kicking a flicked header from Iwelumo within touching distance of Lonergan, and Aidan White misplacing a pass behind Robinson. It did not help either that referee Paul Tierney saw Watford’s side of the argument in a running battle with Luciano Becchio. The Argentinian was booked for dissent after belatedly seeing a foul on him acknowledged.

Lonergan maintained a manageable deficit in the 20th minute by blocking Deeney’s strike with his legs after Carl Dickinson found another hole in Leeds’ defence, but Warnock could see his side treading water. Had Doyley found a team-mate rather than cutting the ball back to Connolly from the byline, a second goal would almost certainly have followed.

McCormack’s well-hit effort which carried into the crowd was a break in the mediocrity of a first half which saw a host of misplaced passes. Both teams were guilty. Having had his head cut open at the New Den a week earlier, Bruce reached the interval with cotton wool stuffed up a smashed nose and blood seeping through.

Between that and an injury to White, four minutes of injury-time brought the half to a close, and Snodgrass drew the first save from Kuszczak in that period, forcing the on-loan Manchester United keeper to tip an inventive effort behind. Crucially, Lonergan met a strike from Deeney at the other end with two firm hands after the striker sprinted away from Bruce.

The tackle from Dickinson which damaged White’s ankle brought Danny Webber into United’s team at the start of the second half. The need for impetus from any quarter was glaring but Watford continued to look for opportunities to counter-attack. It took a covering tackle from Lees to take the ball from Sean Murray as gaps opened up on the edge of Lonergan’s box and Iweulmo’s limp finish at the end of Murray’s inviting pass had the same effect.

In the 57th minute, Leeds finally saw a chink of light when Bruce met Clayton’s free-kick with a header which Kuszczak pushed away. Snodgrass following up looked certain to score but drilled the ball weakly against the Kuszczak’s arms. Though Watford refused to bend, it at least made Dyche’s defence contemplate the half-hour ahead of them.

They remained a picture of calm in comparison to the team opposing them. Warnock earned a lecture from Tierney soon after, and United’s blood bin grew in numbers as physiotherapist Harvey Sharman found himself re-treating Bruce and dealing with a cut on the head of Lonergan.

Warnock eventually pulled out a wild card, giving Ramon Nunez a rare appearance and pulling Clayton – by now on a yellow card – from the fire. Nunez’s first act was worthy of his time on the field, a shot which curled inches around Kuszczak’s far post.

In his short cameo, the Honduran exuded some pique of imagination but United should still have been beaten in the 89th minute when Lees slipped and left Deeney to run clear. The forward seemed more interested in seeking a square pass to Iwelumo than beating Lonergan himself and his half-hearted finish struck the keeper’s body, sparking a scramble from which Leeds somehow emerged unscathed.

It mattered not. Watford chipped away at Leeds’ tired defence incessantly until Lonergan parried Deeney’s shot and Iwelumo sank the rebound on the volley. Looking composed and unruffled, their manager Sean Dyche hit the nail on the head.

“You need talent to win football matches,” he said, “but only after respect, honesty, desire and passion. Those things link a team.”