Leeds are sinking into the relegation quicksand and showing little sign of the fortitude to navigate a way out - The Athletic 24/2/22
By Adam Crafton
It was March 1960 when Leeds United last conceded three or
more goals in four consecutive league games but Wednesday evening’s 6-0
drubbing by Liverpool at Anfield means Marcelo Bielsa’s team have broken a
record that stretches back 62 years to a time when their manager was a toddler.
The concern, however, is very much in the present. This
defeat, combined with a victory for Burnley over Tottenham, leaves Leeds in
15th place, three points clear of the relegation zone, but Sean Dyche’s side
have two matches in hand with a far superior goal difference.
The problems are instantly obvious in the numbers. By
conceding six against Liverpool, Leeds have now conceded more than the 54 goals
they conceded in the entirety of last season in the Premier League. No club in
the division has conceded more. Over seven Premier League matches against
Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal this season,
Leeds have conceded 32 goals. Manchester United, not usually a free-scoring
side, have scored 20 per cent of their Premier League goals this season against
Leeds. Liverpool, the division’s top scorers, have scored just under 13 per
cent of theirs against Leeds.
During Leeds’ last six Premier League away games, they have
conceded twice against West Ham, three against Aston Villa, Everton and
Chelsea, six against Liverpool and seven against Manchester City.
It is an utterly unsustainable run of form for a club that
aspires to achieve a third consecutive season in the top flight. For Leeds, the
frustration is that a corner appeared to have been turned by back to back
victories over Burnley and West Ham in January. This now appears to be a false
dawn. Leeds have since taken one point from five games, conceding 17 goals in
the process.
Burnley, meanwhile, have conceded only twice in their last
six matches and their run of fixtures has been anything but kind, taking in
games against Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United, Tottenham and Brighton.
Newcastle, who are also improving, have conceded four goals in their past six
matches and the gap at the bottom of the league has subsequently tightened. The
clubs most capable of recording clean sheets are usually the likeliest to evade
danger — as the pressure mounts and confidence drains, it is unlikely that
Leeds would be able to score the three goals per match their defending
currently necessitates to take points from fixtures.
Leeds, it should be said, are not alone in worrying. Norwich
and Watford will still be most observers’ favourites for relegation and Leeds
should be encouraged that Brentford, who are in free fall, have won only one of
their past 10 fixtures and played the most games of any side placed 14th or
below in the Premier League table. Everton, meanwhile, have won two of their last
17 Premier League games. As such, while the anxiety of Leeds supporters will
understandably be on their own doorstep, a little bit of curtain-twitching at
those around them should provide crumbs of comfort.
Yet to watch Leeds last night was to witness a side sinking
into the relegation quicksand without demonstrating much of the fortitude or
organisation to navigate a way out. As ever, the away support was vocal, not
only for the team but also for the manager. Leeds supporters sang Bielsa’s name
even with the team 3-0 down and out of the match in the second half. The
peculiar truth is that Leeds actually played reasonably well until they fell
2-0 down, even unsettling Liverpool early on, but were once again sliced open
with embarrassing ease. The score could have been more damaging. Both Fabinho
and Mohamed Salah skied chances from close range and goalkeeper Ilan Meslier
made more good saves.
The concern is that Bielsa said he saw enough in the
second-half fightback against Manchester United to back his players to go on
the front foot against Liverpool. It did not require the benefit of hindsight
to recognise such a plan was fraught with danger and many will feel Bielsa must
now adapt his approach to handle the players’ brittle confidence and continued
omissions through injuries.
Most jarringly, Bielsa was even asked whether the club’s
owners have spoken to him about the club’s form.
Bielsa said: “I don’t know if the question you’re trying to
ask is if I think I should continue with the style of play that I’ve been using
up until now? How am I not going to question what I’m doing? Of course I
question myself. When you ask yourself why the things that are happening to us
are happening, the question is I don’t think that the change of style is going
to change what’s happening to us. When a team is going through what we’re going
through, it’s only going to awaken doubts but I don’t need the owners to give
me conclusions about the succession of results of the team that I manage.”
There is a view, particularly among neutrals, that Bielsa
designs his game to be an entertaining back-and-forth, often making matches
resemble a fast-paced basketball court where each team attacks at pace on the
transition. There is truth in this but the plan is not to experience
high-scoring games every week. Bielsa sets up his team in the way he does
because he believes it to be the most effective way to create chances for his
own team and restrict opportunities for the opposition.
We should note how, for example, the final 14 matches of
Leeds’ promotion-winning season in the Championship saw Leeds keep 10 clean
sheets.
They conceded more than one goal in only one of those 14
games. In the final 11 matches of last season, a run in which Leeds lost only
once, Bielsa’s defence conceded only eight goals. As we know, Bielsa and his
staff dedicate huge time and resources to preparing every aspect of the
opponent’s play. On Sunday against Manchester United, Leeds prepared a dossier,
as always, on the visitor’s attacking set pieces, knowing the zones where they
are delivered, but a man-to-man system often sees Leeds’ defenders confronted
by stronger players in the air. At that point, the logical outcome is Leeds are
vulnerable to concessions and it was the same situation when Virgil van Dijk
scored Liverpool’s sixth at Anfield.
Speak to those in the inner sanctum at Leeds and the
difficulties of this campaign are not overly difficult to explain. They knew as
far back as last summer that smart Premier League coaches would be wiser to the
tempo and patterns of Bielsa’s system this time around and staff were privately
cautious about setting expectations to match last season’s ninth-place finish,
where Leeds finished only two points short of Arsenal and three short of
Tottenham. Coaches are regularly exploiting the creaks and crevices in the
Leeds set-up. As one example, Manchester United’s Victor Lindelof stepped out
of defence to trouble Leeds on Sunday and so too did Joel Matip on this
occasion.
Another pivotal issue is that Bielsa believes the success of
his style depends on the strength of his team in the No 4 and No 9 positions.
For large portions of the season, Leeds have done without his preferred
options, with Kalvin Phillips and Patrick Bamford injured. Leeds are hoping to
have those players back in time for the home match against Aston Villa on March
10.
Since the beginning of last season, Leeds have lost 16 of
their 22 Premier League games without Kalvin Phillips (W4 D2), compared to just
11 of the 41 games he has featured in (W19 D11).
In the case of Phillips, those problems were compounded on
Sunday against Manchester United when his replacement, Robin Koch, was injured
early, meaning Pascal Struijk moved into the position, only for Stuart Dallas
to then take over when Diego Llorente picked up a hamstring issue by half-time.
This meant three changes to a position Bielsa considers the
most important on the field. Leeds’ issues in central defence have been
exacerbated by two injury-prone players in Koch and Llorente. Captain Liam
Cooper is also out of the picture currently. In the case of Llorente, he
performed dreadfully in the first half against Manchester United. He was
replaced as a precaution due to previous hamstring injuries and despite some
hope he could make the Liverpool game, he has been held back for the weekend
fixture against Tottenham.
The upcoming matches against Tottenham and Leicester, two
other sides out of form, provide some hope but equally, it is not difficult to
imagine two teams with fast transitions provoking more trauma for Bielsa.
Leeds, of course, have experienced lows before under Bielsa,
whether that be the defeat that crushed automatic promotion hopes at Brentford
in his first season, or the subsequent play-off defeat against Derby County. We
should remember, too, there was also a run of two wins in 11 games in the
middle of the Championship title-winning season. Bielsa, therefore, has faced
down adversity before and revived his players.
Leeds fans can only hope that his reservoirs of energy and
wisdom are sufficient to extract the club from its latest predicament.
