Mighty Leeds Weblog

After all the criticism Jesse Marsch took for desperately trying to put positive spins on points dropped, it would be churlish not to acknowledge that Leeds United failed to beat Manchester United at Old Trafford on Wednesday night. By Stuart Rayner But as 2-2 draws go, it was a massively encouraging one. "We're Leeds and we're proud of it," the away end sang at full-time, a refreshing change from Sunday's calls for a change in the dugout. Yes, Leeds took a 2-0 lead and were unable to keep it but the history books and form books both tell what a treat a point was. And it could easily have been three, with Brenden Aaronson hitting the base of the post from a free-kick at 2-1. It is 13 years since Leeds last won at Old Trafford, 21 since they beat the Red Devils in a Premier League match and 42 since their previous league victory at the home of their bitterest rivals. Whereas Leeds had won two of their last 17 matches, Manchester United had not lost at h...

For a team Jesse Marsch insists until he is blue in the face is making good progress and achieving greater clarity, Leeds United's best XI is far from obvious. By Stuart Rayner Perhaps that is because this is 2023, when many clubs no longer have an identifiable strongest team. The addition of Georginio Rutter, the emergence of Crysencio Summerville and Willy Gnonto, and the reinvigoration of Patrick Bamford means the Whites have plenty of options up front. Rodrigo is their top scorer, Luis Sinisterra is fit again, and Jack Harrison and Brenden Aaronson are in the mix too. But it is in defence where Leeds most need to get their act together to avoid the sort of nerve-shredding relegation battle they put supporters through last season. Marsch was brought in precisely because Leeds had become an embarrassingly soft touch defensively at the end of Marcelo Bielsa's reign. Losing 3-0, 4-2, 6-0 and 4-0 was no way for one of the great figures in the club's history to si...

Leeds United and Jesse Marsch left the Elland Road pitch to applause after a draw with Brentford, because they played well. By Graham Smyth Not well enough to win, as the 0-0 scoreline showed, but well enough to be applauded. Well enough to avoid boos or calls for the manager's head. Those were last heard at Villa Park, where they also played well, but the crucial difference against the Bees was that they did not lose and they did not concede a silly goal, or two. Having controlled large parts of the game against Brentford and drawn the best of goalkeeper David Raya at least a couple of times, Marsch's men were disappointed to take just a point. He, though, saw it as a continuation of the momentum he's been talking about since the 'most complete' performance at Villa. "For me, it's clear, it's very, very clear that we're moving in the right direction," he said. "The group is coming together, there's momentum, and I know it do...

Before Leeds United's game against Brentford, Jesse March talked the talk about substitutes but when his team needed them, he dithered. By Stuart Rayner The Whites coach says he wants to get to the stage where results can be taken out of the equation but the fact is, his team are a long way from that. So Sunday's 0-0 represented a missed opportunity more than the reason to be cheerful it might have looked like in isolation. Leeds were better than the Bees throughout the second half at Elland Road but when they needed that extra nudge to turn possession into goals, Marsch demurred. In the 79th minute he not unreasonably opted for someone in Patrick Bamford with three goals in his last two appearances over the possibility of handing a debut to Georginio Rutter, who had spent a lot of the afternoon under a blanket. Rutter and Joe Gelhardt never got on. For those that did, it was too little too late. Brentford have been so good since joining the Premier League that a ...

HUMAN ERROR Written by: Moxcowhite • Daniel Chapman There was something diabolical about Kevin De Bruyne as he moved over halfway to create Manchester City’s opening goal. For 45 minutes Leeds United had been compact, tight, as difficult as they could be to play through, but in first half stoppage time they’d seen a gap and decided to attack it. When that fizzled inevitably in favour of the red and black shirts, De Bruyne looped the loop into space out wide, and as the ball went to him, so did the television director’s camera, broadcasting the moment when De Bruyne, the ball rolling in his feet, scanned the empty field ahead of him. He almost smiled, indistinguishable from a frown, like a devil. He knew his team could score now. I knew they would score now. Everyone knew that, for Manchester City against Leeds, scoring would be winning. A handful of well-designed passes later and Rodri had the ball in the net. The last kick of the half decided the game, and De Bruyne could relax. ...

The ill-defined limbo that exists between Christmas and New Year was perhaps a fitting time for Leeds United to return to action. By Graham Smyth Bank Holidays, unusual working patterns, spiking blood sugar levels and the awkwardness of exchanges that should neither begin with 'Happy Christmas' or 'Happy New Year' combine to make that handful of days after the Yuletide festivities and before the Hogmanay celebrations a weird period. It can be difficult to know how to feel and what to think. And so welcome to Leeds United's world. A club finding itself in a limbo between an ownership era quite evidently coming towards its end and the obviously quite imminent beginning of another, is a difficult one to define or pin down. That World Cup break was a weird time for everyone in the Premier League, bringing with it such uncertainty and unknown effects for player form, fitness and team cohesion. Then there's the January transfer window, just around the corner...

SEEING a glut of goals at Leeds United's Yuletide matches had been becoming a bit of a Christmas ‘tradition’ alongside roast turkey and all the trimmings, mince pies and mulled wine. By Leon Wobschall Last December, United let in seven to Wednesday's feted visitors alongside four against Arsenal. In the previous festive season in 2020, they conceded six at Manchester United, but did counterbalance things with five of their own against Newcastle and West Brom respectively. This was a night when Manchester City scored a mere three times, although it probably should have been several more. Before the decorations went up this year, the numbers were ominous in truth regarding the defensive concessions of Leeds, who have now eclipsed their worst Premier League tally of 70 in a calendar year set in 2003. Leeds shipped a combined total of seven goals in chaotic games with Spurs and Bournemouth ahead of the World Cup hiatus before even bumping into someone special in the opp...

To the soundtrack of Leeds United's 'Best of Christmas' album over the stadium PA, there was a nervousness which enveloped Elland Road ahead of kick-off on Wednesday night Joe Donnohue For the Whites' final mid-season friendly, Ligue 1 outfit AS Monaco arrived, late, as Jesse Marsch made four changes to the side which saw off Real Sociedad 2-1 last Friday. Replacing Joel Robles, Mateusz Klich, Rodrigo Moreno and Liam Cooper were Kristoffer Klaesson, Sam Greenwood, Joe Gelhardt and Robin Koch, but news of the starting line-up only served to spotlight the volume of absentees - and their importance to Marsch's strongest theoretical XI. Klich, Rodrigo and Cooper joined Jack Harrison, Tyler Adams, Illan Meslier, Crysencio Summerville, Patrick Bamford and Luis Sinisterra on the sidelines, bringing Leeds' list of missing first-team players to ten, including long-term absentee Stuart Dallas. Youngsters Sonny Perkins and Archie Gray playing no part either made an e...

A disastrous nine-minute spell early in the second half cost Leeds United dear as Jesse Marsch's depleted Whites fell to a 4-2 defeat at home to AS Monaco in Wednesday night's final mid-season break friendly. Lee Sobot Leeds were missing ten first team players but were quickly on the front foot and almost went ahead in the ninth minute when a fine pass from Rasmus Kristensen released Sam Greenwood who sent in a low cross which Joe Gelhardt sent narrowly wide on the stretch. But the Whites were dominating and went ahead in the 13th minute when a Marc Roca corner was met by Robin Koch who headed home a neat finish at the near post. Monaco offered very little but equalised in the 25th minute when a cross from the right flank was headed back across goal and met by Breel Embolo to smash home. Leeds continued to impress and a brilliant crossfield pass from Brenden Aaronson played in Kristensen whose shot back across goal was cleared near the line. After a fine ball from Roca,...

Leeds United unveiled a new look for the Christmas party season at Elland Road on Wednesday night. By Stuart Rayner If their lop-sided 4-3-1-2 had Manchester City in mind, was a response to no Jack Harrison, Crysencio Summerville, Rodrigo, Patrick Bamford or Luis Sinisterra, or the plan for part two of the season was unclear. On first glance, when the home side were being a bit forward, it was quite attractive. On closer inspection, they were all fur coat. Leeds were too easy to attack, and the net result was 4-2 to Monaco. The result did not matter, of course, but some of what could loosely be called the defending did. The forward line consisted of Joe Gelhardt at centre-forward, Willy Gnonto wide on the left and Brenden Aaronson going where he liked – to good effect in the hole behind. When Leeds had the ball, Rasmus Kristensen bombed on to leave a back three of Luke Ayling, Robin Koch and Pascal Struijk, and otherwise it was down to Gelhardt and Sam Greenwood, from the...

Leeds United have a raft of players entering the final six or 18 months of their Elland Road contracts at the turn of the year and Victor Orta needs to shape how this club's next phase looks Transfers are only going to dominate the Leeds United agenda more and more from here on out. With more than four weeks until a return to action and then only two matches until the January window opens, it’s easy to see why attention is on the chance to strengthen this squad. However, Victor Orta’s eyes will also be on the players he already has in the building at Elland Road. With the arrival of 2023 comes not only another window, but the final six or 18 months in several contracts at Leeds. Traditionally, clubs like to ensure nobody they are interested in keeping enters the final year of their deal. With a number of players entering their 30s, it’s an intriguing time as Orta plots the transition of this squad. Joel Robles signed his one-year deal in the summer, so a decision will surel...

ARM ROUND THE SHOULDER Written by: Moxcowhite • Daniel Chapman A sodden morning of murk barely allowing afternoon to happen was not kind to those Leeds fans, not inclined to give up their tickets, who trudged through puddles outside and inside Elland Road for a grim Sunday of duty instead of pleasure. Leeds United are playing, so we have to go. With no domestic television coverage, no glamorous opponent, no razzle and no dazzle, this was the Premier League showing its arse, hardly distinguishable from the Championship we longed for so long to escape. At one point Fulham hit a long ball up to Aleksandar Mitrovic and Liam Cooper headed it back over halfway, and amid the damp muttering crowd the Champo vibes were strong. This could have been any game, anywhere, at any time, the only difference from 2017 that Leeds are bereft and clueless at the bottom end of a different table. The more time passes since Marcelo Bielsa was fired, the more Faustian that pact looks. Maybe that did secure...

Leeds United and Jesse Marsch looked to be on a collision course with inevitability even before a defeat to Fulham that can only have shortened the time to impact. By Graham Smyth Eight games that have yielded two points and a place in the relegation zone have also cranked up the pressure on a head coach struggling to find solutions to problems at both ends of the pitch. At Leicester City on Thursday night Marsch could hear and feel the fans slipping away from him and at Elland Road on Sunday they separated entirely in the wake of Fulham's second and third goals. He still believes he will hold onto his job thanks to board backing he indicated had been reaffirmed between full-time and his post-match press conference, yet his grasp can only have been weakened by yet another defeat. On Friday, the board's stance was clear - Marsch is under no significant pressure and there are no plans for immediate change. CEO Angus Kinnear's match programme notes insisted that the cl...

Jesse Marsch took full responsibility for Leeds United’s woeful form after a 3-2 defeat by Fulham, but believes he and the board remain united on his future at the club. By Graham Smyth Just as 3,000 away fans at Leicester City made clear their anger at the way the team is performing under Marsch, Elland Road turned on him and the board during a defeat that extended Leeds’ winless streak to eight games. Defeat left them in the Premier League relegation zone, two points from safety and those left inside the stadium at full-time left Marsch and the club’s decision makers in no doubt about their unhappiness. The head coach has no issue with the response. "I understand the frustration from the fans and we are equally frustrated and more so,” he said. "We are doing everything we can and we are together, we are unified. The players have been great, and I know it hasn't been easy for them or us but we believe in them. We believe in them and I have to find ways to hel...

A lame Leeds United suffered a bitterly disappointing defeat at home to Fulham. By Stuart Rayner Few players emerged with much credit as the Whites were beaten 3-2. Illan Meslier – made a big one-on-one save but only after conceding a soft goal 6 Luke Ayling – like Meslier, he made some good interventions, but was partly at fault for two goals 5 Robin Koch – an outstanding goal-line clearance. Had a couple of moments where he was looking for a pass and nothing was on 7 Liam Cooper – defended stoutly 6 Pascal Struijk – worked hard but made Leeds look more solid for his return 6 Marc Roca – did brilliantly to deny Harrison Reed a goal but little influence on the ball 5 Sam Greenwood – after a bright start, he was unable to impact the game 5 Jack Harrison – very quiet on the right 5 Brenden Aaronson – one lovely pass to send Patrick Bamford through but Leeds needed more 6 Luis Sinisterra – Leeds' chief attacking threat until taking a knock late in the first hal...