Are Leeds United and Aston Villa rivals? Graham Smyth's Verdict on State of Origin tribute act - YEP 18/7/22

Rivalries don’t necessarily need history to take on meaning – after all, Leeds United’s great red enemy of the 1960 and 70s was not Manchester United, but Liverpool.

By Graham Smyth

So even if the dislike fostered between Aston Villa and Leeds is a fairly recent phenomenon, it stands up to scrutiny, despite this modern-day trend of accusing fanbases of manufacturing rivalries.

Any resentment felt in 2022 almost certainly stems from that wild day in April 2019 when Villa’s players stopped playing, Tyler Roberts and Mateusz Klich didn’t and the Whites scored a goal that sparked anarchy.

Even after Marcelo Bielsa instructed his side to grant Villa an uncontested leveller, animosity lingered – John Terry continuing the argument in the moments that followed Albert Adomah being allowed to find an unguarded net.

The brawl on the pitch, Patrick Bamford’s play acting, the touchline bickering, Pontus Jansson getting the ‘give a goal’ memo and attempting to deposit it in File 13 – it was a game that will live long in the memory and still fresh after three years.

Besides the madness of that day at Elland Road, a pair of Villa attempts to land Kalvin Phillips, only the first of which ever stood any kind of chance, increased the irritation and chagrin felt by Whites.

Today, however, Phillips is not a Leeds player and many of the main protagonists from April 2019 have also moved on. Gone are Bielsa, Dean Smith, Terry, Jansson and Adomah.

Jesse Marsch and Steven Gerrard have replaced the men in charge of both clubs, bringing with them their staff and signing new players.

Leeds consider themselves to have a good relationship with Villa at executive level. Marsch and Gerrard have spoken of their mutual respect and admiration, and got together for a touchline chat ahead of the warm-ups at Suncorp Stadium.

But make no mistake, the managers, staff, players and fans of both sides wanted to win this one, friendly game or not. And it wasn’t particularly friendly.

From the outset there were tackles that, had this been a Premier League sanctioned game rather than one on foreign shores involving two Premier League clubs, would have resulted in cards.

Pre-season always has a bit of that about it. Players haven’t got their timing down yet, there’s rustiness in technique and fitness levels are not where they will be, so a little lateness is to be expected. What wasn’t expected was a contest that paid somewhat of a tribute to the State of Origin battle hosted by the same venue just days earlier.

Marsch asks for an intensity from his players out of possession and contact is guaranteed when you play Leeds, yet the early physicality was mostly brought by Gerrard’s men, who found themselves on the back foot.

Leeds got the ball forward, quickly, from wide areas into the centre, as Rasmus Kristensen featured heavily at right-back and helped keep Villa pinned in.

The ‘visitors’ had to wait eight minutes for their first real spell of possession and they found Leeds hard to play through, a disciplined adherence to their shape ensuring that when the ball was lost, Villa had little chance of hurting them on transition.

Whether building from the back or counter attacking, Marsch’s idea was clear, even if the execution wasn’t quite right, Patrick Bamford, Daniel James and Marc Roca all guilty of passes that were well intentioned but inaccurate.

The first time it really worked, Leif Davis sending Jack Harrison away on the left before a cut-back came to James, it took a superb save from Robin Olsen to keep the scores level. James’ snap volley was heading in until Olsen sprang across his goal to palm it wide.

Illan Meslier didn’t have long to wait to match and then better the Villa keeper’s effort. A baffling penalty award, against Tyler Adams for a phantom handball, gave Philippe Coutinho a golden chance from the spot but he was denied not once but twice by the Frenchman.

Seconds later he was at it again, flashing out a glove to send the clean-through Ollie Watkins’ shot over the bar, Robin Koch’s errant touch having been pounced upon by Coutinho.

There were chances at both ends as it opened up, Aaronson playing in Bamford who produced a good stop from Olsen before James put the loose ball wide. Koch had to slide in with aggression and delicacy to halt Watkins on the penalty spot.

Leeds were winning the ball back in good areas, allowing them to get into promising positions but the final third was where the necessary composure and precision was lacking.

There was no lack of commitment, though, Roca among those steaming into challenges, a couple of which were later than anyone would have liked. For Villa, Tyrone Mings looked desperate for a yellow card.

Referee Adam Kersey kept his cards in his pocket, though, and was made to regret that after the break.

Villa changed nine of their outfield players and started better, putting the ball in the net with Aaronson down injured. The irony overload was negated by an offside flag.

Even against a much-changed side looking to settle into a rhythm, Leeds lacked control, giving the ball away too cheaply.

The niggle increased. Bamford was left on the deck by Diego Carlos, then got his payback before departing as Marsch made his changes – six in all, initially, and then a seventh with Kristensen replaced by Cody Drameh.

Before that swap took place, Villa took the lead through a Danny Ings penalty. Leif Davis was pinged for handball after raising his arms to protect his face in the area and Meslier could not repeat his heroics.

The sting had not left the game and Archie Gray’s first tackle wasn’t a good one, leaving Emiliano Buendia in a heap. That brought the game’s first yellow and sent the Argentine in search of some retribution. It took him two attempts to fell Leo Hjelde, yet Kersey again kept his cards to himself and perhaps wished he hadn’t when John McGinn’s tackle left Gray in need of a stretcher.

The yellow card that ensued felt every bit as late as some of the challenges Kersey penalised with mere free-kicks.

Another Olsen save, this time from Hjelde, was the only other moment of note before the whistle sounded on a game played, by both sides, like rivals. Like it or not, these two teams do have a rivalry. They’re competing, like other top flight clubs, to stay up and to lay claim to a spot in midtable, if not slightly better. They compete for air time and column inches and will fish in the same ponds for young players at home and internationals abroad. The two sets of fans, as the post-game discussion clearly showed, do not see eye to eye on almost any topic.

Regardless of the origin of the feeling between these two teams and fanbases, this friendly did little to bring them closer.

They will meet again in October and there might be fireworks, or there might not, but there will be no love lost.