Leeds United narrative bubbles to surface again — Graham Smyth's Blackburn Rovers Verdict — YEP 1/12/24

By Graham Smyth

The YEP verdict is in on Leeds United’s 1-0 defeat at Blackburn Rovers.

There are always potential narratives bubbling under the surface of any game, threads of storylines that threaten to become headlines.

The players can usually be relied upon for those.

At Ewood Park you had Leeds midfielder Joe Rothwell, back at the club where he enjoyed such regular football - 191 appearances to be precise - and blossomed as an attacking midfielder under the management of Tony Mowbray.

On the other side you had Todd Cantwell and his Norwich City relationship with Farke.

Whether you accept Cantwell's take on the 'barbaric' way he was treated by the Canaries or Farke's interpretation of the midfielder's mental and physical readiness for action, it's safe to say the bond soured.

Goals or major contributions from either man would lend themselves to clichéd 'coming back to haunt' narratives.

Then there's players returning to the line-up, like Junior Firpo and Daniel James.

Anything game-changing from them and they're 'back with a bang.'

You have the supporters, too, particularly those of a Leeds United persuasion because they have on so many occasions played a part in a game.

A change in the atmosphere, an injection of urgency, a refusal to turn on the team or a collective decision that it's time for change of the managerial or boardroom type.

At Ewood, as Leeds looked to reclaim top spot in the Championship and continue a purple patch that brought nine goals in three wins, the storylines and headlines were all negative ones.

There was John Eustace getting one over Farke for the third time in succession, by the same 1-0 scoreline.

There was the winner, coming from the boot of Cantwell thanks to a penalty conceded by Leeds' recent best performer Ao Tanaka.

There were a host of players giving Farke far less than he needed and delivering a poor account of themselves.

And Farke's full-time assertion that a slow start was to blame held up to scrutiny.

Leeds' early work was nowhere near as sharp or as tidy as it can be or indeed as it needed to be against a decent Blackburn outfit.

Heavy touches or incorrect passing choices led to dispossession and clumsiness or desperation in the resulting physical challenges led to free-kicks that had to be defended.

There was no real damage sustained but it was not a fleeting issue. Something set in. It threatened to become a theme.

Sloppiness and failure to look after the ball gave Rovers encouragement to attack and create. A cross swung to the right was volleyed into the area by Callum Brittain and Yuki Ohashi thumped a header off the crossbar. Owen Beck sent the rebound wide.

That let off seemed to jolt Leeds to life and they too finally started to threaten.

Willy Gnonto was at the heart of their first two chances, picking a pocket to nick the ball and shoot from the edge of the area.

A couple of minutes later he cut inside to shoot from inside the area. Aynsley Pears was equal to both efforts. It was pretty even stuff with neither side yet grabbing the game by the neck.

Rothwell was the centre of attention simply on the merit of his past association and the boos that greeted his every touch. No one had yet emerged as a potential star man.

But just as Gnonto was starting to build his case, Rovers' big players stepped in front of him.

Tyrhys Dolan's run took him into the box and across Tanaka, whose failure to avoid contact was only ever going to result in a penalty.

Cantwell had to wait a long time to take it but did so expertly, beating Illan Meslier's correct guess at the direction with power and precision.

Having worked hard to deserve the lead, Rovers did their very best to throw it away.

Danny Batth's back pass was dangerous and wayward, Joel Piroe was lurking but Pears showed more urgency and desire to win the challenge.

With Gnonto unable to do it all on his own, Leeds' attacking players needed to stand up and make themselves the headline act.

But Daniel James was not picking the right options, Aaronson was failing to stand up to physical pressure and Piroe was not involved in the right areas.

The start to the second half was at least a little better from Leeds, who got into good positions and delivered dangerous balls into the box.

Firpo, James and Rothwell, from a free-kick, all crossed well but only the latter saw his effort properly anticipated and attacked.

Pascal Struijk rose at the back post and headed goalward only for Pears to save again.

If nothing else, there was urgency from the visitors. Referee Lewis Smith could and probably should have taken centre stage when Dolan went into a high, late challenge on Firpo.

But even had he produced a red card, there was no guarantee that Leeds would have taken advantage, such was the disconnect between their attacking performance and what they have produced in the final third recently.

Farke sent on Manor Solomon, Largie Ramazani, Patrick Bamford and Mateo Joseph - four players all with potential headlines in their boots.

What he got from them was a goal chalked off for Bamford's offside and one shot from distance that went wide.

What Eustace got from his side on the counter was two golden opportunities to kill it, both of which fell to Cantwell, both of which he squandered.

At the other end poor first touches and a lack of quality meant the headlines written in the first half stood the test of 100 minutes of action.

Eustace celebrated, Farke argued with time-waster-in-chief Lewis Travis and a shambolic rail network added insult to injury for thousands of Leeds fans attempting to return home.

A bad day, no matter how you cut it, and one that allowed narratives that have been bubbling about Farke, Leeds and away performances to burst to the surface once again.