Leeds United dressing room has zeroed in on key problem killing their away form — Leeds Live 19/12/24
They have discussed what the issue is
Scoring first and protecting that first-half clean sheet is
critical to Leeds United improving their away form, according to Joe Rodon and
Daniel James. The Whites have won one of their last seven away trips and
conceded first in six of those too, all in the first half.
United’s form under Daniel Farke when they score first is
sensational. In the 34 games they have drawn first blood, they have gone on to
win 31 times and drawn the other three. They are unbeaten when they hit the
front first.
Speaking to BBC Radio Leeds, Rodon said conceding in the
first half on the road has been a problem they have identified which they need
to solve.
“Being at home, in front of our fans, is always going to be
difficult for most teams, but it's just all about consistency,” he said. “We
don't look too much into it.
“We go into every game and we want to win every game, but,
in this league, every team offers a different challenge. Going to different
places, we're going to come up against challenges.
“It's just about more being consistent and being together as
a team and making more chances and being more ruthless and clinical. In the
last couple of away games, we conceded in the first half.
“That's something we've looked at and something we want to
try and change and limit and just overall be very consistent, as we are at home
and turning that into away games.”
James also discussed the away form, but said it was wrong to
suggest their results weren’t as good because there are fewer Leeds fans on the
road. The winger pointed to the immense following at Ewood Park recently and
the insipid performance played out in front of them.
“There have been occasions where teams have gone from a four
to a five [at Elland Road] and we've got to prepare for both really,” he said.
“We just try and break teams down, however they set up really.
“We go into every game the same, whether it's home or away.
Our away form hasn’t been as good as home. You could say the fans, the 12th
man, plays a big part of that, but we lost to Blackburn [Rovers] away and we
had 6,000 or 7,000 fans.
“You can't really say we didn't have that (12th man) either.
Scoring the first goal is always so important and when teams have sat back,
Derby [County] was a tough game at home, Plymouth [Argyle] set up with quite a
lot at the back, and it's just about getting that first goal.