Leeds United's quality makes up for their lack of quantity in 2-1 win over Norwich City - Yorkshire Post 31/10/21

Marcelo Bielsa likes to do things differently. Leeds United showed the pros and cons of it at Carrow Road on Sunday, but fortunately for them it was the good side which shone through.

By Stuart Rayner

Bielsa’s insistence on a tight-knit squad has hurt the Whites at times in a difficult start to their second season back in the Premier League and the absence of a real centre-forward was painfully apparent against Norwich City side who should have been there for the taking.

Those who say there are no easy games in the Premier League are wrong this season - there is Norwich at home and Norwich away. At least that is the theory. Leeds made very heavy weather of a 2-1 win.

But they did win, which was crucial, so the methods worked. The boos were all from the frustrated Norwich fans.

The pay-off behind Bielsa's strategy, the thinking behind it, is that fewer players allow their money to go further. Quantity is sacrificed for quality.

It was that quality which decided the game, Raphinha and Rodrigo scoring top-drawer goals either side of a defensive calamity to give Leeds a win which their work over the 90 minutes as a whole probably did not deserve. Good players can do that.

It papered over a real mix-and-mismatch feel to the line-up as they continue to struggle in the absence of the injured Patrick Bamford.

This week it was Jack Harrison's turn to fill in as the No 9 in what was a 3-3-3-1 shape, but by the time the half ended, he was a left-wing back, with Dan James moving from left wing to centre-forward. Behind him Rodrigo, seen as a genuine centre-forward by Spain when he moved to Elland Road, was playing in the hole.

Eventually he too would have his chance up top, partnering James there at the start of the second half, and having a stint on his own before making way for Tyler Roberts, the most natural choice to play there, had his go.

Not that it was the only area they had problems. Their disjointedness and jitteriness on the ball put them under pressure defensively against a winless team who have been feeble in this season's Premier League.

Nothing summed it up better than Norwich's goal, Jamie Shackleton passing the ball back to Illan Meslier, who tried to return it but could only kick it behind for a corner Leeds could not defend properly.

It was just another way Leeds made life more uncomfortable for themselves in the middle of a crazy five minutes as the two teams boiled the game down to highlights football.

A specialist goal-getter might have been able to take full advantage of Stuart Dallas's pass down the inside channel but in taking the ball around Tim Krul, James gave Grant Hanley encouragement to get back on the line and was unable to smack a shot that got there before he did.

Win or lose, Leeds tend to dominate possession, but this is a pale imitation of the Whites, and they allowed the Canaries, more focused on battening down the hatches lately, to see more of the ball in the first half before putting that right in the second.

When James cut a Milot Rashica cross out he could only direct it to Teemu Pukki, who shot wide.

Kieran Dowell was in far too much space where one might have expected Struijk to be when Kenny McLean spotted him but he could not make anything of it.

Max Aarons beat James to Hanley's long ball but Struijk did well to block and before Leeds got the ball clear, Normann dragged a shot wide.

Meslier finished the half with a low save from Rashica's long-range effort. It was probably going wide but the goalkeeper could not risk it.

Still, Leeds had Raphinha, back after missing the midweek League Cup defeat, and Struijk was able to find him in the 29th minute. But when he put in a perfect cross for Bamford to run onto, Ozan Kabak beat James to it.

When the Wales international got his head on another ball from the Brazilian, Hanley beat Rodrigo to it. He may not be flashy, but he is a proper centre-back.

Raphinha's goal was all the more joyous because it came out of the blue, Struik raking a long pass to James, whose ball onto the Brazilian was similarly good, but certainly did not put anything on a plate for him. The winger cut inside before unleashing a shot which left Krul no chance.

Before Leeds could pat themselves on the back, their defensive calamity presented Norwich with a corner Andrew Omobamidele got free from at the back post and headed in.

Rodrigo was not having that, taking the ball from Phillips and lashing a shot from a distance it made no sense to shoot from unless you have his natural ability.

And that was that, really. Put back in their box, Norwich probably knew at that point it was not going to be their day and their faffing around in stoppage time when urgency was so obviously needed frustrated the home fans.