Things change but 'getting away with it' is not for Leeds United - Graham Smyth's Norwich Verdict — YEP 25/1/24

Leeds United's 1-0 win over Norwich City served up yet more reminders of just how quickly things can change in football.

By Graham Smyth

Sometimes that changeability a good thing. Take Ilia Gruev, central to the victory thanks to his knack of being in the right place to break up attacks and the sensible decisions he made on the ball. Prior to January it was difficult to form an opinion on what kind of a player he was. Beyond late cameo appearances from the bench there were those two underwhelming starts in 1-0 away defeats, playing in the number 8 role. But all of a sudden an injury to Pascal Struijk and its domino effect on the team has thrust Gruev into his natural role and allowed him to flourish. So well has he settled in next to Glen Kamara that there has been no need to rush Struijk back, although of course it helps that Ethan Ampadu has been so good at centre-half.

Then there's Patrick Bamford, scorer of the goal that separated two possession-hungry sides at Elland Road on Wednesday night. From the doldrums of the missed penalty at Stoke and not having a sniff of a start for five long months to a starring, goalscoring return to the team sheet and Elland Road's affections. Football can be cruel, and for a couple of seasons it was for Bamford. It can be fickle too, though, and present you with an entirely different set of fortunes in the blink of an eye. Who, in early December, would have forecast Joel Piroe on the bench and Bamford up top, scoring four goals in five and lashing in the strike of his life in the midst of all that? Yet here we are and here Bamford basks in the afterglow of a perfectly-placed header against a former club.

The man who crossed it for Bamford, Daniel James, is another good example of the swift and dramatic transformational power of football. Derided for his lack of end product previously at Leeds, his pinpoint assist for Bamford was his seventh of the season, to go with the 10 goals he has. He has six goal contributions in the last five games.

And what about Junior Firpo, whose time at Leeds had, at least until recently, been summed up by a chant that goes: "You've seen Firpo now **** off home." Star attraction or freak show? Interpret the lyrics as you please but there's no two ways to judge him as a signing because injuries, illness and defensive frailty have stolen all the joy out of Leeds buying a real life Barcelona player. Had it ended between Firpo and Leeds in the summer, few outside of his circle would have shed many tears. Sam Byram's performances this season made it unlikely that we would see Firpo, yet here he is, starting, assisting goals and contributing to clean sheets. The attacking part was never expected to be much of a problem for him in the Championship, but even in the second tier there are plenty of sides who count their wingers as their very best players.

"He has chipped in with many assists already in the last games, today with defensive solidity against a player [Jonathan] Rowe who has, I think 12 goals already during the season so it was important that he was there with defensive steel as well and I'm pretty pleased that we have him back also on the way back to his best shape," said Daniel Farke, who has made a point of mentioning Firpo's defensive growth as this five-game winning streak has developed.

Against Norwich City, Firpo had to be solid in his own half because there was a spell, a long and energy-sapping spell in which the visitors were utterly dominant in terms of possession. Prior to that, though, Leeds hit the front having already come relatively close to doing so in the opening minutes. Firpo was key to the first good chance, getting to the byline and crossing to the middle where Bamford's overhead was spectacular but not quite executed as he would have wished. He needed just one more invitation and it was gold embossed. James crossed, perfectly, and Bamford hung in the air at the back stick to nod down, across Angus Gunn and into the net.

Both sides did a decent job of nullifying each other's threats for much of the first half, Leeds enjoying plenty of the ball but little in the way of clear-cut chances. Norwich, though, built a little momentum as the interval approached and then carved out a golden chance of their own, which Gabriel Sara fluffed.

James went off injured at the break, allowing Jaidon Anthony to make an entrance with style. He went past two players with ease in his first moments of involvement, but was then forced back into his own half as Leeds found themselves in an unusual position. It was a sudden and dramatic shift in the game's pattern, Norwich bossing possession and creeping forward into the Leeds half. They made the Whites run, using Farke's method of tiring an opponent against him and his players. Yet for all the time the Canaries spent on the ball, they never ever threatened Illan Meslier's goal. Leeds shifted left and right relentlessly to block the route to goal.

When Leeds finally broke the spell, they set about creating chance after chance to finish it off. Crysencio Summerville's tame effort, Anthony's blocked shot when through on goal and Bamford's wild finish could and probably should have made it at least 2-0. Rutter got on the ball on the left touchline, worked his way into the area and worked space for a shot with a couple of stepovers, Gunn saving that one with his feet.

Even when Norwich finally found Leeds out of shape, thanks to an Anthony slip and a lightning counter, Archie Gray was there to not only stop the attack and win the ball, but beat a man to escape pressure. Summerville and Firpo had further chances to kill it and then came another reminder that things can change so quickly. Off limped Gray, in some discomfort it has to be said, to join James in the treatment room. The early assessments gave Farke some cautious optimism, but so too did the initial checks on Pascal Struijk, who has now missed four league games and an FA Cup tie.

Previously an injury to Gray would have been ameliorated by the presence of Djed Spence and Luke Ayling, players who have now moved on. Leeds might get away with the James one, because Willy Gnonto is due back imminently and Anthony will have designs on his own change in fortunes, and they might get away with a short-term loss of Gray, too. There's Byram or Jamie Shackleton in reserve for the right-back slot. In truth they've got away with it a few times this season - Firpo and Byram have considerately tagged in and out when one or the other has been injured and the versatility of Ampadu has soothed the potential awkwardness at centre-half with Struijk injured.

But a 1-0 win that moved the Whites to within two points of second-placed Ipswich only reinforced belief that automatic promotion is still very much a possibility. Getting away with it might be okay for teams whose only realistic hope is a play-off berth, but making sure is what Leeds must surely try and do now, in the dying light of the January transfer window. This is when you can add your insurance, for the day when things change for the worse. This is when dominoes start to fall in the top tier and targets start to become available. This is when recruitment chiefs can show how quickly they can change things.