Leeds United 'tribute act' given ruthless reminder — Graham Smyth's Wrexham pre-season Verdict — YEP 26/7/26

By Graham Smyth

Leeds fell to a 3-2 defeat in their first fixture on US soil, defensive lapses punished with impressive ruthlessness by their Championship opposition. The priority as always at the outset of summer is to get minutes into the legs and pictures into heads and this game served its purpose in both senses. Farke was able to give plenty of his squad a decent run out and some of them were given clear reminders of what not to do when the season proper kicks off.

Things got off to the worst possible start for Leeds. They pressed high from the kick-off, Wrexham played through it and as players sprinted to try and get back in the ball was slipped into the path of Kieffer Moore and he drilled past Alex Cairns for a 35-second lead.

Even taking into consideration the presence of three teens in the line-up and the absence of key performers like Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Jaka Bijol and Gabriel Gudmundsson, there was a marked sluggishness to Leeds' start. Willy Gnonto was unable to get a cross in from a good position on the right, then gave the ball away in his own half seconds later. Joel Piroe's first touch let him down twice before he squandered a golden chance to level the game. Dan James won a penalty, beating Arthur Okonkwo to the ball, and Piroe's spot-kick came back off the post.

With a quarter of an hour gone Wrexham came within a lick of paint of scoring a second. James Justin fouled Moore, Nathan Broadhead lined up the free-kick from 30 yards out and crashed it against Alex Cairns' woodwork. Moore headed the rebound over the top and Leeds survived the attack.

By the first hydration break the game had seen little in the way of cohesive possession from the Premier League outfit. Their best look had been the ball into the path of James to try and use his pace. But a bit more composure and patience on the ball in the immediate wake of the first half pause allowed Leeds to work the ball forward a couple of times before it went right and Sean Longstaff drove to the byline to cross for Piroe to flick home with a clever finish.

Considering Farke could have gone with a far stronger starting XI but elected to split his seniors up for the first and second halves, he could be pleased with how his men and boys assumed control as the first period progressed. There was a rawness to some of the play involving the youngest members of his side but no lack of willingness to get on the ball. And when the senior stars put themselves in dangerous positions where were opportunities to take the lead. Gnonto was twice played into the area and failed to take either chance. His first shot was blocked by a defender, his second was kept out by the only man he had left to beat after Longstaff's clever pass.

What won't have pleased Farke is how easily Wrexham retook the lead. Leeds-born Bailey Cadamarteri, son of former Whites forward Danny, skipped past last man Rodon and stayed clear of Jayden Lienou's desperate attempt to get back before rounding Alex Cairns and finding the far corner of the net. It was a moment of composure that shed an unkind light on Gnonto's second effort in particular.

But back came Leeds again. They probed for an opening until Callum Mills' shot was deflected and Longstaff took his time, letting the ball roll to his right before steering it calmly into the net. The midfielder's influence was a highlight of the first half, whether he was dropping in to try and get Leeds playing from the back or popping up on either side to keep attacks flowing.

Longstaff was one of six to depart at the break as Farke gave his team a more senior look and replaced his trio of teenagers. It was a first glance of new signing Harry Wilson in Leeds colours and his first act was to whip a beautiful ball into the path of Gnonto, who steered wide from another great position. Pre-season openers are not be to used as the basis of fully-formed opinion but the frustrating nature of Gnonto's showing was a continuation of a long-standing theme - what could be never quite materialising.

The superiority Leeds enjoyed with a side more closely resembling a Premier League one did not translate to chances and the eight changes made by Wrexham on the hour mark, along with the second hydration break, stunted any momentum or flow. Wilson was busy, getting on the ball as much as he could and linking up nicely with James and then Lucas Nmecha, albeit without hurting Wrexham. But Leeds were so much more controlled, containing the Championship side more easily than they had in the first half. Never really in danger but rarely dangerous themselves.

Leeds ended the game with teenagers on the pitch again, Rhys Chadwick and Ollie Pickles getting a run out. Neither youngster was to blame for what happened in the final five minutes. Ao Tanaka was guilty of a poor giveaway, Sam Smith was sent away, turned smartly to evade Rodon's clutches and fired past Lucas Perri to put Wrexham ahead for the third time. Very little in the second half had hinted that Leeds could do anything other than draw or even win this one, prior to the Wrexham winner. It was a reminder, right at the outset of the 2026/27 project, that mistakes can and will be punished.

Stoppage-time substitute Charlie Crew did what his elder team-mates had failed to do and delivered a dangerous ball into the area right at the death to briefly cause panic in the Wrexham defence, but Callum Burton in goal somehow survived the scare and Leeds were beaten 3-2.

The Leeds United touring the United States is not the Leeds United that will tackle the real stuff when it begins in August. There are new players yet unsigned, players who could yet make exits and young players who will not see anything like the same level of action in competitive games. Squad building takes place outside of pre-season and then things start to take shape as weeks progress. In a World Cup year, with late arrivals and mandatory three-week breaks, the squad will not look fully formed or finished for a while yet. Farke though holds high standards and will demand that the performances against Sunderland and Liverpool look more like a warm-up act for the main event than the tribute act seen against Wrexham.