Leeds United stubbornness versus scandalous timing and lady luck - Graham Smyth's West Brom Verdict - YEP 19/8/23

As Leeds United Daniel Farke got up to leave his pre-game press conference on Wednesday he responded to a journalist's good luck wishes with a wry grin and the words 'we'll need it.'

By Graham Smyth

Lady luck had other ideas, smiling instead upon West Bromwich Albion in Friday night's Elland Road encounter. As if the deflection for their goal in the 1-1 draw was not enough, a handball from an offside player rubbed salt into the wound.

Before and after that moment West Brom survived attacks thanks to the woodwork, goalkeeper Alex Palmer and Leeds' wasteful finishing.

Perhaps, given the circumstances the Whites find themselves in, the footballing Gods took pity and decided against a complete travesty of a result, but sympathy is the last thing Farke wants right now and there was nothing gifted to them en route to Luke Ayling's fine headed equaliser or the point that it earned. This was the very least Leeds deserved from a game in which they worked tirelessly to carve out openings at one end and deny them at the other.

And even if the performance did not receive the result that it merited, it was refreshing for the football to pull focus, if even for a while because right now it is taking a back seat to other matters.

As Farke was preparing to name his starting XI and a bench with just seven men on it, Willy Gnonto was putting in a written transfer request and Tyler Adams was closing in on his move to Bournemouth. Farke told staff at Leeds not to come to him with transfer related issues on Friday, so keen was he to focus solely on the game itself, so although the timing of the actions of Gnonto's camp was nothing short of scandalous, the manager was blissfully unaware.

There's a stubbornness to the German that goes far beyond words in press conferences. His actions, that at such a time could look somewhat self-defeating, back up his talk.

Leeds United player ratings v West Brom. #lufc https://t.co/6AKoqUXBmj

— Leeds United News (@LeedsUnitedYEP) August 18, 2023

Somehow, despite the return to fitness of Sam Greenwood, Farke had fewer substitutes to count on than he did at Birmingham City. Ian Poveda sat out with a minor groin issue and Leo Hjelde has a fresh concussion to deal with. But Farke has made public his preference for a smaller squad of entirely focused, committed players. Want-aways like Gnonto won't get near the team, not even in training, until they are prepared to prove to him they are here to fight, and anyone not quite hitting the manager's standards during the week won't get near the bench. So although his attacking options are seriously depleted, Farke was happy for Sonny Perkins to go with the Under 21s at Manchester United and content to name a bench without a striker.

The eventual return of Patrick Bamford, Mateo Joseph and Crysencio Summerville would ease what ails Leeds most - their lack of killer instinct - but even if both Gnonto and Luis Sinisterra are somehow retained and reintegrated into Farke's plans, a striker and a number 10 are sorely needed. That and a little bit of luck felt like the only things missing on Friday night.

The first blast of referee Matthew Donohue's whistle was the signal for the Elland Road crowd to deliver its verdict on Gnonto and his actions and then the football mostly dictated the atmosphere.

Leeds fashioned the first chance, their patient possession giving way to direct running once Joe Gelhardt turned the ball around the corner for Daniel James. Sam Byram got involved in the area, spun on a sixpence and curled wide of the far post.

When Gelhardt and James attempted to repeat their trick after Joe Rodon's little adventure into midfield, Darnell Furlong blocked James' path and picked up the first booking. Carlos Corberan rued this very moment because it handed Leeds an advantage on that flank, one they would eventually turn into a goal.

Leeds had the better of the early exchanges and came close again when Archie Gray nipped in to win the ball in the middle and strode forward to start a counter that ended with James' low shot being pushed away by Alex Palmer.

The visitors had a little spell of their own, albeit a brief one devoid of real chances, before Leeds were back on the front foot, Jamie Shackleton's deflected effort coming back off the inside of the post. The midfielder's pressing brought another attack that produced another chance, Ayling volleying a James cross to Gelhardt, who put it wide.

Farke's men were defensively solid - Illan Meslier was untroubled in the first half - and largely in control, yet still went in at the break goalless.

Control, however, could not not be maintained early in the second half and Meslier kept it 0-0 with a sublime stop from a clever Jed Wallace effort inside the area, palming the ball onto the post. The Baggies kept the pressure up and got a large slice of what Leeds had been missing, Jayson Molumby's shot deflecting past Meslier off Brandon Thomas-Asante's hand.

There was no one to blame at the other end when Ayling's dangerous cross was helped on by Rutter and James, four yards out, couldn't hit the target. At least when the winger's next golden chance arrived, with a clever curling effort, he forced Palmer into a wonderful flying save.

There was no one to save the Baggies when James got on his bike yet again and swung in a deep cross that invited Ayling to rise and head home. The winger put it on a plate and the captain levelled with precision.

Elland Road's response was such that a second could easily have followed, the momentum all with Leeds. Gelhardt stung Palmer's hand as West Ham wobbled amid the din.

It wasn't until the final action of seven added minutes that the moment felt like it had finally arrived and when it did, Georginio Rutter couldn't quite take it, shuffling his feet to make space and blasting a wicked long-ranger wide of the post.

Farke joked later that he was preparing for a pitch invasion in celebration, had Rutter found the net. Instead the final whistle sent him onto the playing surface to discuss a tactical issue with Pascal Struijk and Ethan Ampadu while it was fresh in his mind.

He rightly praised the performance, bemoaned the cruelty of the sport but once again refused sympathy. The Adams and Gnonto situations aside, there are still things that the manager can control and the way his team took the fight to West Brom and carved out opportunities should encourage a concerned fanbase.

Despite a late start to his tenure and the unfinished look of his squad, Farke has got them playing some good stuff and with the right additions he could make them not only attractive to watch but competitive too. But for some rotten luck they would have won this one. Farke's focus and everyone else's will return now to transfers, until Leeds play again. The market is where you make your own luck through good decision making and Leeds will need it.