Leeds United finding little details are a big problem in trying to bridge gap to Premier League elite - Yorkshire Post 14/11/22
Leeds United did a lot right against Tottenham Hotspur, as they have throughout part one of their Premier League season. The problem is, the things they are getting wrong are the really big ones.
By Stuart Rayner
It is why they beat Chelsea and triumphed at Anfield, why
they ought to have defeated Arsenal and should have taken something from Spurs,
yet will spend Christmas 15th in the Premier League after a thrilling but
soul-destroying 4-3 loss.
"We've encapsulated our 16-game season in one
match," said their coach Jesse Marsch, who walked off with a face like
thunder after seeing his players perform very well against one of Europe’s best
teams.
Poor finishing has often been their undoing but pepped-up by
the attacking youth of Crysencio Summerville and Willy Gnonto – who struggled
after an early knock on Saturday's full debut and was sacrificed at half-time –
they scored four against Bournemouth, three at Spurs. Rodrigo has five goals in
four league matches, Summerville four.
Defensive mistakes are another theme, and bubbled up again.
"To play 13 games in 43 days, it was impossible to work
on tactical aspects on the pitch,” complained Spurs’s Antonio Conte. Leeds only
had nine but their issues remain.
Seven days after a dramatic comeback to beat Bournemouth
4-3, they led 1-0, 2-1, 3-2 and still lost.
Luck played a part – a wrong VAR call on Harry Kane's goal,
a cruel deflection for 3-3 – but the things Leeds could control were more to
blame.
When it came to influence, they did not even have the best
Rodrigo, who was Rodrigo Bentancur.
The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is a reminder of how far ahead
some clubs are of the Elland Road side.
There is more to being a big club than a nice ground, but it
is sobering to think Spurs have not won a title since the 1961 glory, glory
days of Scarborian Bill Nicholson, or anything after 2008.
When even with the Premier League golden boot holder Son
Heung-min injured they can have Lucas Moura on the bench, they are an elite
club yet not the elite of the elite, so high is the bar.
Brenden Aaronson, outstanding in the 25 minutes between Ben
Davies's goal and Rodrigo's second, will be one of only three Leeds players at
the World Cup. Centre-backs Robin Koch and Diego Llorente could console
themselves that Mats Hummels and Sergio Ramos did not make their squads but
Koch was shown up for Saturday’s winner and is keeping Llorente out at club
level.
Brazilian Emerson Royal and Frenchman Clement Lenglet were
the only Spurs starters who missed their squads for Qatar; Dejan Kulusevski's
Sweden did not qualify.
In the first half, it was Tottenham's finishing that was
dodgy.
Kulusevski cut through at will down the inside-right channel
and at one point centre-back Ben Davies did the same down the left, playing a
one-two with Richarlison before teeing Emerson up to spoon over.
Their goal ought to have been disallowed, Lenglet stopping
Ilan Meslier getting an effective punch on a corner in an era where sneezing
within three feet of a goalkeeper is normally a foul. Kane volleyed in.
Leeds attacked less often and more effectively to score
either side of that.
Twice Aaronson played Summerville in, slotting in after ten
minutes, denied by Hugo Lloris’s legs in the 20th. At the end of the half
Aaronson nutmegged Eric Dier and won a corner. When Rasmus Kristensen headed it
back in, Rodrigo brilliantly volleyed the dropping ball.
Meslier was impeded again for Spurs’s second, but this time
by Kristensen. He ought to have been stronger with Davies's shot.
The 52nd-minute equaliser provoked Leeds's best spell,
helped by a lop-sided 4-3-3 which saw central midfielder Greenwood replace
right-winger Gnonto without Aaronson being dragged out of the hole.
But it took until the 76th minute for a reward, Marc Roca's
foul on Bentancur in the build-up overlooked, his pass to Rodrigo as good as
the calm finish.
Marsch played it safe, replacing Roca with Ayling and going
5-4-1. Leeds conceded twice.
Bentancur scored the first in acres of space Roca might have
filled with a deflection off Ayling beat Meslier.
Two minutes later Kulusevski beat Koch far too easily to the
byline. This time there was someone close to Bentancur but it was Matt Doherty,
not a Leeds player.
Tyler Adams's red card for following a brainless tackle on
Kulusevski with one on Yves Bissouma had no bearing on Saturday but could
impact Leeds's next game, against Manchester City on December 28, which he is
now suspended for.
The little details Leeds are getting wrong are very big ones
indeed.