A love-in at Elland Road for this highly impressive Leeds United team - The Athletic 23/5/21

By Oliver Kay

They came to say goodbye. And thank you. And welcome.

At last Elland Road was full of noise, fervour and joy once more. From those belated first glimpses of Rodrigo and Raphinha to the dewy-eyed farewells to Gaetano Berardi and Pablo Hernandez, it was an afternoon those Leeds United supporters inside the old place will treasure.

Four hundred and forty-two days had passed since Leeds last played in front of their home crowd. Back then, on March 7 last year, a 2-0 victory over Huddersfield Town took them seven points clear of third-placed Fulham with nine games to go in the Championship. Every Leeds fan had begun to dream — however cautiously — of promotion back to the Premier League after a 16-year absence. None of them imagined at that time that one type of exile would be followed by another.

Back they came, finally, with a spring in their step. There were only 10,000 inside the ground but it sounded like a lot more.

In some ways, it felt like they hadn’t been away — like nothing had changed since the COVID-19 pandemic sent football behind closed doors. But so much has changed. This team has just continued to grow and to flourish under Marcelo Bielsa. It is unrecognisable from the one that Hernandez was somehow persuaded to join, initially on loan from Al-Arabi, back in 2016.

A 3-1 victory over West Bromwich Albion, courtesy of goals from Rodrigo, Kalvin Phillips and Patrick Bamford, meant that Leeds finished the season ninth in the Premier League. Although that is two places lower than Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2018-19, their total of 59 points is the highest recorded by a newly-promoted team since Ipswich Town 20 years ago. Another three points would have taken Leeds level with Tottenham Hotspur, who finished seventh and qualified for the new Europa Conference League.

Beyond the impressive numbers, watching Leeds has been a joy all season. This afternoon was no exception. Yes, it took on the feel of an exhibition match in the second half, which a coach like Bielsa might struggle to accept, but there remains so much to admire in the way that Luke Ayling, Liam Cooper, Stuart Dallas, Phillips, Jack Harrison and others have risen to the challenge of playing in the Premier League. How troubling it was, after the season he has had, to see Phillips leave the field in pain in closing stages, a shoulder injury raising concerns about his hopes of representing England at the Euros.

Those Leeds supporters who have longed for the opportunity to watch Raphinha and Rodrigo in the flesh were treated by the sight of them combining for the opening goal on 17 minutes — a wicked inswinging corner converted gleefully at the far post by the former Spain forward. Rodrigo looked like a player who had longed for the opportunity to celebrate in front of Leeds’ supporters. So did Ayling for that matter.

Phillips made it 2-0 before half-time with a free kick that bounced awkwardly in front of Sam Johnstone and, from that point, it seemed only to be a question of whether Hernandez would score the goal the supporters desperately craved. He was full of artistic endeavour, dropping deep and spraying some beautiful passes, but it wasn’t his day in front of goal. He had no fewer than five attempts, two of them well saved and one deflected wide. Even his team-mates were willing him to score, but it just didn’t happen.

Leeds’ players had warmed up wearing T-shirts in honour of their departing heroes — “19 Hernandez (Thank you Pablo)” and “28 Berardi (Thank you Gaetano)” — who had been presented with awards beforehand in honour of their service to the club. Finally, though, just beyond the midway point of the second half, came the time for them to depart the stage.

Berardi went first to rapturous applause, embracing every team-mate on his way to the touchline before making way for Pascal Struijk. The ovation for Hernandez was even greater as he made way for Tyler Roberts. And as the crowd spent the remainder of the game chanting their names to the tune of La Bamba, the two of them sat there behind the dugout, struggling to hold back the tears and no doubt reflecting how far Leeds have come since they signed up to join a club that was the embodiment of the word dysfunction.

Where did it all go right? The owners certainly deserve credit for bringing stability and vision, but it is hard to look beyond the moment that vision was crystallised with the arrival of Bielsa. Seven of this afternoon’s starting line-up were regulars in the 2017-18 season when they finished 13th in the Championship. The way they have flourished under Bielsa’s management, both individually and collectively, really is extraordinary — particularly when you consider that West Brom and Fulham have both gone straight back down again with more players of proven Premier League experience.

Further good news is expected over the coming days, with Bielsa understood to be edging closer to signing an extension to a contract that expires this summer. Chief executive Angus Kinnear wrote in the match programme about how Bielsa and the board have been “planning for next season since the turn of the year”, while the head coach said after the game that he could not have imagined receiving more than he gets at Leeds — and that, to be clear, seemed to be a reference to fulfilment, not money. He called the afternoon “unforgettable”.

It is worth recalling something Danny Cowley said after his Huddersfield team were beaten in the last game at a packed Elland Road. “If you’re going to be outmanaged, then be outmanaged by a genius,” said Cowley. “I’m not sure we’ve ever got to that level of performance that Leeds did today. You look at the energy and intensity. He must be relentless in his demands of them to play with that physical output. I will be interested to see how the Premier League copes with them when Leeds go up.”

Interesting? It has certainly been that. No, Leeds haven’t quite taken the top flight by storm as they did when finishing fourth under Howard Wilkinson in 1990-91 before going on to win the title the following season. But the gap between the first and second tier was so much smaller — financially and otherwise — in those days, as Blackburn Rovers, Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest demonstrated over the years that followed. To perform as Leeds have done, while sticking to a game plan that so many observers were so eager to dismiss as naive, is highly impressive.

It was a shame that by the time referee David Coote pointed to the penalty spot with 11 minutes left, following a handball by Okay Yokuslu, Hernandez had left. Instead, it fell to Bamford, a half-time substitute for Rodrigo, to stroke the ball past Johnstone, his 17th goal of the Premier League campaign. Only Harry Kane, Mohamed Salah and Bruno Fernandes scored more.

The only blots on an uplifting afternoon for Leeds came in the closing stages. Nobody worried too much about Hal Robson-Kanu’s consolation goal other than Bielsa, who looked appalled, but what followed was more worrying; Phillips appearing to damage his shoulder after diving into a wild challenge on Grady Diangana.

Otherwise, it was an afternoon to savour for Leeds’ players and for every fan inside the ground. There have been times in the not-too-distant past when the end-of-season walkabout must have felt like running the gauntlet. This time, after the lockdown, it was a love-in. And for those who were here, particularly for Berardi and Hernandez, it will live long in the memory.