Where Leeds United responsibility lies after two unaffordable issues at Burnley — Graham Smyth's Verdict — YEP 19/10/25

By Graham Smyth

The verdict from Leeds United’s 2-0 defeat at Burnley from YEP chief football writer Graham Smyth.

Leeds United were guilty of the two things they cannot afford if they wish to remain a Premier League club and everyone including Daniel Farke must take responsibility.

Being competitive was objective number one as Leeds built this squad and presented it to Farke in the summer. That's exactly what they've been in all of their games barring the Arsenal rout. That's what they were at Burnley too, though there cannot be much credit for giving a game to your direct relegation rivals and the team you pipped on goal difference last season. Staying in games is the foundation of survival but to build a successful case for 17th place or better you have to add goals on top. And you have to avoid silly mistakes and cheap concessions.

The story of the season so far has been a team giving themselves a chance but struggling to reward their commendable efforts. But being plucky losers against Fulham and Spurs is one thing, a different expectation exists when you take on Burnley. These are the teams you have to beat because if not them, then who?

And even if the performance at Turf Moor was far from sparkling, even if the Clarets were comfortable in much of their defensive work, Leeds still created enough chances to get something from the game. They just failed to take them. What is equally galling is that their defending made life so much harder for them and so much easier for their opponents.

Neither team showed much in the way of Premier League quality early on. There was possession in advanced areas for both, an early corner apiece and a pair of attempts at goal - Florentino sending his wide and Jayden Bogle failing to trouble Martin Dubravka.

When the first touch of class arrived, so too did the first goal. But what happened before and after Kyle Walker's pinpoint whipped cross was entirely avoidable for Leeds. Karl Darlow needlessly played the ball straight out of play, gifting Burnley an attacking throw. They pushed men forward, took advantage of the two-v-one Leeds gave them, Walker crossed the ball brilliantly and Anton Stach allowed Lesley Ugochukwu to drift in alone and head into the net. Someone at some stage in that entire phase of play needed to take the necessary level of responsibility and stop things from getting worse.

Leeds, as they tend to do this season, went right back to work and tried to progress the ball forward. But for all the earnest endeavour of Brenden Aaronson and Jack Harrison, the lack of one-v-one ability hampered them. Walker got out to Harrison quickly and forced the winger backwards or sideways. Aaronson did a boat load of defensive work but beyond a cross that Dominic Calvert-Lewin acrobatically sent off target, the American's offensive output was minimal. Burnley looked comfortable enough on both flanks.

What it took to present Leeds with their first big chance was a Burnley error. Jaidon Anthony temporarily lost the run of himself, passed the ball straight to Harrison and the winger drew two defenders towards him and then played Aaronson clean through on goal. A first-time shot forced Dubravka into action and the keeper did just enough to turn it onto the post. Of all the opportunities that presented themselves throughout the afternoon this was the one that just had to go in.

Leeds United’s attacking struggles laid bare vs Burnley

Barring that it was a toothless attacking performance from Leeds in the first half. Possession and territory are all well and good but if you lack creativity then there's little point being camped in the opposition half. Gabriel Gudmundsson was the only bright spark going forward, supplying a couple of crosses and winning a free-kick that Stach used to test Dubravka.

The second half continued in a similar vein. Quality was severely lacking from both sides, though one had the comfort of a 1-0 lead and one could ill afford to be so poor in possession. One particular sequence of play just before the hour mark would not have looked out of place in the lower reaches of the football pyramid.

Against a team and manager who have successfully shut Farke's Leeds out in previous encounters, the visitors simply could not concede another and with the ball in their possession there was no need for that to happen. Yet Pascal Struijk contrived to pass the ball straight to Walker and was left for dead by the veteran, who took play high up the pitch. The ball went to Loum Tchaouna 25 yards out and he unleashed a rocket that swerved over the hand of Darlow and made the result all but safe.

For the final 27 regulation and added on minutes, Leeds' best chance of making something happen continued to be Gudmundsson, who had the beating of Anthony and put crosses into the area. But Leeds did not profit from his work. And nor did they take any of the chances that came their way. Bogle missed one at the back stick after Calvert-Lewin's knock down. Harrison sent a pair of shots over the bar, both from terrific positions and in acres of space. Farke threw on Dan James, Lukas Nmecha, Joel Piroe and Ao Tanaka but the one thing that needed to change, the scoreline, did not. No one took sufficient responsibility, produced the necessary quality or even grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck. Gudmundsson was the only one to shine yet could not come up with end product.

Even if creativity and joined-up thinking was lacking in the final third, Farke could reasonably claim that his side did create enough to have made more of their trip to Lancashire. However his claim that his central defenders were blameless for both goals was less credible, given Struijk's sloppy pass that presented Burnley with the ball in the first place. And there is the beginning of a question mark over the Dutchman's form. Passing the ball to Walker was far more obvious a mistake than anything seen in the games against Bournemouth and Spurs yet he has wobbled ever so slightly in certain moments. The presence on the bench of Jaka Bijol, a player signed to start in the Premier League, is looming ever larger.

Farke was blameless for the first goal because players on the pitch let him and themselves down with their slackness. He was blameless for the second because the quality of the strike was so good and there was nothing in his tactics that made Struijk give the ball away in the build up. But if it was to continue to happen, for a team that is currently without one-v-one quality out wide and struggling to be as efficient as they need to be, then it would present the manager with an obligation to take remedial action through his selection. There really isn't much he can do in the wing positions when Noah Okafor and Willy Gnonto are injured, and James is working his way back to full fitness. Calvert-Lewin is the undisputed starting striker. Ao Tanaka's travel time and late return maybe ruled him out of a start in the middle. But Stach's contribution and Struijk's consistency are now under the microscope.

After a result that doesn't go your way 'everyone is crying for change,' said Farke. This was a result and a performance that might not cry out for change but it certainly asks the question.