Javi Gracia proud despite Chelsea defeat as he drops injury return hint - YEP 4/3/23
Leeds United boss Javi Gracia was proud of the attitude his players showed at Stamford Bridge despite their 1-0 defeat.
By Graham Smyth
The Whites recovered from a poor start to reach the break
level but conceded from a corner eight minutes into the second half, Wesley
Fofana evading the visitors’ marking to head over Illan Meslier and into the
net.
Leeds made it nervy for the hosts, who had won only once in
their previous 15 outings, and got into good positions without really troubling
Kepa in the Chelsea goal. They mustered just two efforts on target during the
90 minutes and one of those was a stoppage time header from Meslier who joined
the attack for a corner.
“I'm frustrated, I'm disappointed with the result but on the
other hand after watching the attitude my players had today I can only say I'm
proud of them,” said Gracia.
"Of course we need to improve many things but if we
analyse the game, in the first 30 minutes the opponent was better, they
dominated the game, the possession, they created two clear chances, [hitting]
the crossbar and the save from Illan but after that moment I think we grew with
the ball, with possession, creating as well some chances.
“The second half was something similar, they have their
moments, a goal came from a corner kick and we tried to the end, the team
showed character, attitude and that's it. It was the difference today, the
corner kick, I can't say anything else.”
Gracia was without the injured Patrick Bamford so went with
Georginio Rutter in the centre-forward role, Brenden Aaronson supporting the
Frenchman as a second striker. Goals and the absence of a natural number nine
are a concern for the head coach, but he has put the onus on his entire squad,
not just the strikers he has available – there is hope that both Rodrigo and
Bamford will return prior to the international break.
“We need goals like all teams, if you don't score you don't
win,” he said.
"We have many options, some players are injured [but]
in the next games I am sure we will have more options, strikers for example.
The goals are not only about the strikers, all the team has to be ready to
collaborate.
