Leeds United 2-0 Norwich City: Surprisingly predictable — Square Ball 23/1/25

Good lads

Written by: Rob Conlon

“Sometimes I have to surprise you guys and be a bit predictable,” Daniel Farke joked after being asked in his post-match presser about sticking with the same team that beat Sheffield Wednesday despite doubts over Manor Solomon and Brenden Aaronson’s fitness. It was an endearing moment of self-awareness from Farke, bringing to mind Marcelo Bielsa’s quip after being told by a Leeds supporter to stop revealing his starting XI in pre-match press conference: “But between you and me it’s going to be the same team.”

It was also a fitting summary for Farke’s reign at Leeds to date. A 2-0 win over the latest visitors to Elland Road was as routine as the victory over Sheffield Wednesday on Sunday, and as routine as most of the 49 wins Leeds have unfussily ticked off under Farke. With Leeds having now won their last seventy Championship games after scoring first, the result was as good as confirmed within 32 seconds, when Solomon slammed in Dan James’ cross for the opening goal against Norwich. But it’s a credit to Farke that the inevitability of another Leeds United win no longer surprises anyone.

It gets too easily forgotten that Leeds were anything but predictable in the two years prior to Farke’s appointment. Under the umbrella of an increasingly erratic ownership, what was one of the most well-oiled teams in Europe created by Marcelo Bielsa imploded; with Jesse Marsch in charge and United jittering from too much Red Bull, Leeds discovered new ways to punch themselves in the face every week; Javi Gracia rocked up as an oasis of calm then disappeared two months later a nervous wreck. The desperation of Sam Allardyce went exactly as we all expected, I guess, but nobody could have predicted after finishing 9th in 2021 that two years later we’d be sinking without a trace under a coaching team plucked from Soccer Aid.

Farke may have admitted afterwards that it was “not our most exciting game [or] most shining performance”, but if Leeds still won 2-0 in spite of that then that’s fine by me, especially during a week when all our promotion rivals won too. I’ve seen enough Leeds teams fuck these things up to know it shouldn’t be taken for granted.

And there was enough in that opening goal to send me evangelical. Mainly Brenden Aaronson getting the ball twice and quickly releasing it to a teammate in space. Look, Brenden! You can do it! And look what happens when you do! Jayden Bogle and Dan James’ build-up was equally slick, and where Leeds’ attackers can be so often guilty of standing on the penalty spot waiting for a cut-back, Manor Solomon’s drive to the near post spooked Norwich ‘keeper Angus Gunn into diving out of the way of his shot. Leeds have been linked with Gunn on a number of occasions, dating back to the summer of Bielsa’s arrival in 2018, and judging by our recent history of goalkeeping recruitment it really shows: he’s rubbish.

Much like the Sheffield Wednesday game, from then it just became a waiting game to see how long it would take Leeds to score the next goal. Unlike the Sheffield Wednesday game, Norwich were unable to offer any sense of threat or nervousness. They failed to test Illan Meslier all game, and Leeds’ defence made sure they didn’t have a single shot in the second half.

While Leeds’ attack wasn’t at its sharpest, Ao Tanaka still provided the pass of the night shortly before the break, picking out Bogle (excellent again) at the back post to volley towards goal. Gunn did make a decent save at his near post from Joel Piroe early into the second half, but even then it was Norwich’s lousy playing out from the back that gifted Leeds the chance. The visitors’ only hope was for referee Matthew Donohue to give Tanaka a second yellow card for a mistimed yet innocuous tackle that Emiliano Marcondes pretended was a leg-breaker, but after a flurry of bookings in the opening fifteen minutes, Donohue by then had decided he was going to keep his cards in his pocket. Good lad. Even Norwich’s latest hipster manager, whoever he is, couldn’t be arsed arguing too much. “The last thing I should make it sound like is that because of that decision we lost the game,” he said. “Leeds were the better side and they fully deserved their win.” Again: good lad.

Farke responded to the brief worry by swapping Tanaka and Sam Byram, both on bookings, with Ilia Gruev and Junior Firpo. We can always rely on Gruev to be sensible, but Firpo? Maybe things really have changed. Junior was immediately instrumental in Leeds scoring their second to kill the game off, beckoning for teammates to show for a simple pass then deciding to dribble past two defenders and play Solomon into space down the left himself instead. Rather than let the ball drop out of play after Aaronson’s subsequent shot looped into the air, Norwich headed it back to Solomon, who picked out James at the back post with a lovely cross, allowing James to find the far corner with a lovely finish.

Largie Ramazani came off the bench and almost added a third with what is becoming a trademark snapshot from distance, but Leeds were content to conserve their energy and wait and see whether Norwich were daft enough to give us another goal. They weren’t, the spoilsports, and so it’s on to Burnley next Monday for the biggest game of the campaign so far. United were excellent in similar fixtures against Leicester and Ipswich last season, and a repeat of those performances will be another pleasant surprise from Farke’s Leeds.