Leeds United's early play-off insight and Rutter argument - Graham Smyth's Middlesbrough Verdict — YEP 23/4/24

This is the stage of the season when teams at either end of the Championship table make their names and make memories, good or bad, that will last a lifetime.

By Graham Smyth

For three months we knew what this Leeds United team was. They were the form team. They were winners. They were, in the words of so many opposition managers, a team with Premier League players. But the right to call themselves a Premier League team is one not yet earned. That's what the last three games at Middlesbrough, Queens Park Rangers and at home to Southampton had to offer - so long as a result or two went their way elsewhere - automatic promotion, a chance to be known as a top flight club once again, an opportunity to be remembered forever as too good for the Championship.

The first of the last, at the Riverside, was a gateway. Win it and Leeds could bounce down to London on Friday night with confidence renewed and momentum back on their side. Lose it and you might as well start preparing for the play-offs now. The nerves were palpable among the players, said Daniel Farke, never mind the fans. As the majority of the Whites supporters filed into the away end, others were making their way into corporate boxes in the main stand and anxiety was peaking, but they had to be there.

What followed, what they were treated to was, in essence and action, a play-off game come early. One team with everything to gain simply had to win. The other with nothing at all to lose simply had no reason not to go for it. The result was a Championship classic, won 4-3 by Leeds. English footballing drama at its finest. Emotion everywhere you looked. The sights and sounds of sheer sporting ecstasy, hope, fear, despair and relief. It was one of those. You just had to be there.

Farke made some big calls, going back to Patrick Bamford up front and taking out Joel Piroe after an underwhelming experiment against Blackburn Rovers. And he went back to experience at right-back, too, putting Sam Byram in to replace the injured Connor Roberts, meaning Archie Gray could stay in midfield. Whether it's a time for the maturity of old heads or the fearlessness of youth, it's a time to be counted and a time for reliability.

Gray's first promising run at Boro, right through the middle, suggested this was not to be a game like the last three. With Boro setting out to pick up a win themselves, there would be space and there would be chances. The first fell to Ethan Ampadu, not from open play however but a Crysencio Summerville free-kick, and the captain failed to make his freedom in the area count with a wayward header. The punishment was almost immediate and it suggested this would indeed be just as difficult as any of the last three outings. Willy Gnonto was dispossessed on the touchline, Boro worked the ball inside and with Ampadu stepping out and watching in agony as a deflected pass put Emmanuel Latte Lath in on goal, Joe Rodon and Illan Meslier desperately challenged. The ball popped loose to Isaiah Jones and the worst possible start was hanging around Leeds' necks.

Their response was always going to speak loudly about who and what they are and the tumult in the away end told the story for them. Someone needed to step up and Georginio Rutter decided to be that man, picking up the ball wide left and heading for the box, taking Anfernee Dijksteel with him for company. When the challenge came, in the area, it was an illegal one. The penalty was a high stakes pressure moment, the biggest of the season. And Summerville was there, slamming the ball home to level. Four minutes later, Junior Firpo's perfect cross begged for a finish, any kind of finish, and Bamford was there, arriving with perfect timing, if not the perfect contact to put Leeds ahead against his former club.

The pantomime boos had just about died down when Rutter gave the ball away, Latte Lath teased Ampadu and unleashed a rocket. Meslier was deceived and beaten. It's behind you. Away from the Riverside frustration boiled at Rutter's carelessness. "We must not forget he's still like a young horse," said Farke earlier this season. "He's such a young player and plays sometimes wild and crazy, but he's one of those guys you come to see. When he loses his first five balls always going for the risky option you want to dig a hole and hide yourself. But you have to back him and support him because he can make a big difference. He has to grow up a bit in his decision making, when to go for the easy option but as long as he works for the team like this I'll always back him. We know we'll get the benefits from his crazy creativity."

The game was dangerously open, a far cry from the three cagey, stilted affairs Leeds trudged through to get to the Riverside. But open games suit the Whites because they have players who love space to run and play into. The third goal was a celebration of space, technical ability and poor officiating. Gray was there to win the ball, Rutter was there to play it forward into the feet of Summerville, Gray was there again to link up with the Dutchman and when Summerville touched the ball past the last man, Gnonto was there to sweep home a beautiful finish. He was offside, but the flag was not there and no one in white cared a jot. Gnonto is hitting top form at exactly the right time and should have added an assist to his goal, but when he played in Bamford and the striker opened his body to shoot for the far post, Seny Dieng was there to save.

So at 3-2 up going into the second half, Farke and Leeds were faced with a choice. Continue to go toe-to-toe or exert some control. The second half saw a different Leeds, one we don't see often, because they sat in, soaked up pressure and looked to hit the hosts on the break. Even that approach carried risks, with Meslier not always entirely comfortable under crosses, but the reward when it came was huge.

Leeds played quickly out of a tight spot in their own half, Bamford span and played a central pass that was a fraction too heavy but Firpo was there, forcing the ball away from two Boro men to find Rutter and sprinting on to take the return. The left-back paused, sent Summerville away and the league's best player did what he does. Describing the goal is pointless because you've seen it before. So often have Leeds needed him in that exact position, in crucial moments and that's why when Player of the Season was handed out at the EFL Awards, Summerville was there.

Farke kept Rutter on the pitch as long as he could, knowing that Leeds could benefit from his creativity, and though the Frenchman should have come off earlier in the eyes of many onlookers, he could have come off when he was eventually replaced with his 18th and 19th assists of the season. He played in Bamford with a peach of a pass and the striker found the net, only for the flag to go up this time in what was a marginal call. He played in substitute Daniel James and the winger had his finger on the trigger when Alex Bangura arrived on the 'H' of last ditch to slide in and challenge. When Leeds needed an out ball Rutter was there, letting it run through his legs and turning to skin his marker before drawing a foul and a yellow card from Jones. The argument for keeping him on was, in the end, just about justified.

But Boro kept Leeds honest to the very end. The problematic Latte Lath ran off Ampadu's shoulder and exposed Meslier's positioning with a headed lob from a long ball forward and the hosts piled on the pressure. In came crosses and shots but Joe Rodon, Meslier and Firpo were there, fighting to the end. We even saw Leeds wasting time, in added time, which is a good point on which to settle. Who is this Leeds team? What is this Leeds team? They’re good going forward, they’re able to dig in when they have to and in a play-off style shoot-out, which both of the last two games could easily be, they’re armed and dangerous. They're anything they need to be to get this job done in the final two games, because come May 4 the only place to be will be the top two. Leeds really have to be there.