Analysis: Leeds United's Tottenham Hotspur draw showed a squad needing to catch up with new realities — Yorkshire Post 13/5/26
By Stuart Rayner
Even in a "dead" game, there should always be
important information to glean. Leeds United's 1-1 draw at Tottenham Hotspur
showed their squad is not fit for its new purpose.
November's game at Manchester City was a turning point not
just in their season, but their whole course.
Daniel James and Willy Gnonto were substituted at half-time
as the Whites changed from 4-3-3 to 3-5-2. The team has not looked back since,
but both have found themselves without a job to do.
Two injuries, to Gabriel Gudmundsson and Jayden Bogle, left
them scraping the barrel in a match which was only a different result or two
out of 35 from being crucial.
James and Gnonto are wingers at a club which no longer does
wingers. Both have played for their countries at centre-forward, but manager
Daniel Farke is not keen on either there.
Gnonto started Farke's first Leeds game as a No 9, never to
return. James has not played there for him.
James is a good player now at the wrong club.
Unsurprisingly, he looked ill-at-ease at right wing-back when, just as
predictably, Spurs targeted him.
Left winger Mathys Tel was Spurs' best player and scorer.
Richarlison should have been on the scoresheet too, when played onside by
James. It was hard to be too critical.
James was substituted in the second half for Gnonto to give
a better fist of the role he played well in the FA Cup at Championship Derby
County, but Leeds needed someone more suited to the role. With left-back Jayden
Lienou on the bench and right-footed James Justin at left wing-back would such
a low-risk game for the visitors have not been a good time to look at the
18-year-old?
Last summer, Leeds built their squad around a 4-3-3
formation, having solidly stuck to 4-2-3-1 for two Championship seasons. But
November’s rethink demands something different and when just two hamstring
injuries struck, they did not have it.
The spirit Leeds have shown all season – even when fighting
from a goal down on Monday in a game they could afford to lose but West Ham
United needed them not to – has justified a tight squad, but limited the
eventualities it can cover.
"(On Sunday) Jayden Bogle was ready to travel with us
but he injured himself somehow," said Farke. "I've never experienced
someone who has a hamstring strain by doing (gym work).
"James Justin, a right-footed full-back, had to play as
a left wing-back because simply I didn't have any other left wing-back
available.
"Daniel James had to play, for the first time in his
career at club level, as a wing-back – keeping in mind that he hasn't played
many minutes – simply due to the fact that I didn't have any other wing-back
options.
"I wanted to go offensive instead of putting a
centre-back into this position. Sebastiaan Bornauw perhaps could have played
there, but I wanted to attack this game."
The reality of Leeds has changed, and now their squad needs
to change with it, with more wing-backs and left-footed defensive options.
They have been fortunate with injuries in 2025-26, but they
cannot push their luck.
