Mighty Leeds Weblog

Leeds United created another host of chances in Sunday's Premier League clash at home to arch rivals Manchester United yet ultimately fell to another defeat as the Red Devils left with a 2-0 victory. Lee Sobot The lively Crysencio Summerville had several good opportunities for the hosts but the Red Devils went ahead with ten minutes left when Marcus Rashford headed home a Luke Shaw cross. The visitors then added a second just five minutes later as Wout Weghorst played in Alejandro Garnacho who fired past Illan Meslier in off the post. Roared on by an incredible crowd, Leeds began brightly and the Whites squandered a fine chance to ahead in the fourth minute when Summerville fired over from close range after the Red Devils failed to properly clear a Max Wober cross from the left. Crunching tackles from Tyler Adams and Weston McKennie either side of the chance raised the noise levels even further and Summerville continually found plenty of space down the right flank. The fi...

Leeds 0-2 Manchester United: Late goals from Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho see Red Devils beat bitter rivals at the second attempt this week at Elland Road to cement top four spot Manchester United secured a 2-0 victory away to Leeds at the second attempt against their rivals this week Erik ten Hag's side had to be patient but Marcus Rashford scored and then Alejandro Garnacho netted Leeds, who are still without a permanent manager, put in a spirited display but couldn't take any points By OLIVER HOLT They had built a wall of sound at Elland Road and the volume had barely dropped, every minute full of fury, loathing, visceral roars and taunts. There were screams of approbation when tackles flew in and jeers of derision when a Manchester United player was hurt. The noise and intensity were relentless. For Erik ten Hag and his team this was football as a test of character. This was trial by hostility. Then, 10 minutes from the end, the noise, fury and hope ...

Leeds United and Michael Skubala sent a message to prospective candidates in the race to replace Jesse Marsch with their 2-2 draw at Manchester United, reports YEP chief football writer Graham Smyth. By Graham Smyth Who would be a manager, at Leeds United? Not so much taking a job as climbing willingly into a pressure cooker, whoever replaces Jesse Marsch will need to be made of stern stuff. Even if the Whites were not perched above the relegation zone on a cushion made only of one place and the magnificent point gained at Manchester United on Wednesday, this would not be a job for the faint hearted. Ask anyone who has walked through the doors of Elland Road and spent any time at all around the place, particularly on matchdays, and they will all trot out the same description. Massive club. As with all clubs boasting size, stature and history, those things breed expectations and thanks to their rise from the Championship back into the Premier League where they belong, Leeds quit...

EXPECTED REFFING Written by: Rob Conlon The best compliment you can pay a referee is not noticing them. At Elland Road on Sunday, Peter Bankes officiated with a different aim in mind. Counting how many free-kicks Bankes awarded, cards he brandished, or minutes he added on won’t do his performance justice. He transcended the whistle and notebook by becoming Brentford’s most impressive defensive midfielder. Bankes had as many touches as Brentford sub Yoane Wissa, completed twice as many passes, and made more interceptions than any other player on the pitch. This was an unexpected foiling of Jesse Marsch’s Red Bull handbook. Jesse’s quest for ‘minimum width’ had a big enough challenge playing through Brentford’s three lumbering centre-halves, and it depended on getting past Bankes’ industry in midfield first. Inspired by the tactical gravitas of The Athletic’s play by play breakdowns, I’m trying to bring some more highbrow analysis to TSB, exploring down what made Bankes so effe...

Tyler Adams has issued a defiant Leeds United message following Friday night's reverse at Aston Villa and expressed his view on boss Jesse Marsch's "complete performance" debrief. Lee Sobot Leeds fell to a ninth defeat of the Premier League season in Friday's clash at Villa Park but created a host of chances that left Whites boss Marsch beaming about the performance but not the result. United's American head coach described the display as United's most complete performance since his arrival at the club and Whites midfielder Adams said he completely concurred, believing luck was a big factor in not taking all three points. "Yeah, I definitely agree with that," said Adams to LUTV, asked about Marsch's assessment. "Frustration is probably the first word that comes to mind when describing the performance because for large parts of the game, I would say that we controlled them and it's never easy to come to an away ground like this ...

BEST YET Written by: Moxcowhite • Daniel Chapman In a pleasant but fruitless reversal of recent trends, Leeds United set up to play very well against Aston Villa, and did. Instead of turning in a forlorn half and having to change, they dominated and should and could have scored more and won. The flip was that, as United’s hopes grew into a goal, the changes for chasing the game eroded all the good stuff they’d been doing. Leeds didn’t play worse all night than in the last ten minutes, when they were trying to clinch a comeback draw. It had been chaotic all night, the good kind of chaotic, but by the end, nobody in a Stilton shirt knew where any of their cheesemates were playing, defenders were panicking about nothing at all, Illan Meslier was miles out of goal and slowly clotheslining Philippe Coutinho round his neck. With his thigh. Which was actually quite impressive. With more and more attackers on the pitch in something like a 2-1-7 formation, Leeds lost sight of their one re...

Leeds United left Villa Park empty handed on Friday night following their 2-1 loss to Aston Villa, but Jesse Marsch was clutching positives. By Graham Smyth The boss saw an impressive display that warranted far more than it got, but not everyone of a Whites persuasion in the ground agreed. Here's the YEP take and some things you may have missed. Good day Tyler Adams Brought so much energy, intensity and physicality to the midfield. Crunched into tackles, won possession at times when it looked all-but impossible. A difficult man to play against. Willy Gnonto Another who is really difficult to deal with. Defenders face a choice of fouling him or watching him sail by, so he earned Leeds plenty of free-kicks. He put Bamford's goal on a plate and might have had one himself. Leeds have got to keep him fit. Patrick Bamford Back on the pitch, back among the goals at long last. The result will not have felt good but Bamford will be champing at the bit to get out there ...

Leeds United left 2022 in their rear view mirror clutching a hard-fought point at Newcastle United. By Graham Smyth It was a pig of a day and the performance wasn’t pretty, but it did the job and secured an important clean sheet for Jesse Marsch. Here’s the YEP take on who stood out and moments you might have missed. Good day Illan Meslier There have rarely been questions over Illan Meslier's shot stopping ability and his one-v-one track record is pretty sensational, but the compliments have not flown so freely over his command of set-pieces. At Newcastle, against a team of gargantuan brutes, he was assured and aggressive. The big saves he made were matched for importance by the punches and catches from free-kicks and corners. Quel joueur. Tyler Adams Mateusz Klich is the master of nuisance and the dark arts at Leeds, but in Adams he has an apprentice who looks more than ready to take the torch if the Pole departs. Adams produced his customary shift in midfield but as...

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. ...

Tyler Adams has issued a message to Leeds United's fan base following a "pleasant surprise" upon joining the Whites. Lee Sobot Leeds spent £20m to sign Adams from RB Leipzig last summer and the USA international midfielder has since excelled for both club and country. Adams played every minute of all four US games as his side reached the round of 16 at the Qatar World Cup – where the midfielder says he was full of appreciation for the support of Leeds fans around the globe. United's fellow summer signing Brenden Aaronson was also part of the States World Cup squad and Adams has issued a message about the support that both he and United's fellow recent arrivals have received from the Leeds fan base so far. "It was really, really cool," Adams told the YEP, asked about the Whites support for him in Qatar. "That support has been here since I arrived at the club which has been amazing to see – how much the fans appreciate myself and Brenden and a...

Leeds United are finally closing in on a return to Premier League action and Whites boss Jesse Marsch held his pre-match press conference today ahead of next week’s hosting of Manchester City. Lee Sobot Leeds signed off for the World Cup break with a 4-3 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur way back on Saturday, November 12. Forty-six days later, the Whites will return to action next Wednesday evening with the visit of Pep Guardiola’s defending champions and odds-on title favourites City. City are in EFL Cup action this evening at home to Liverpool in their first game back after the World Cup at which they had 16 players representing the club. Leeds had three players in action in Qatar in USA international duo Tyler Adams and Brenden Aaronson plus Rasmus Kristensen with Denmark. As part of the six-and-a-half week pause to the season, Marsch’s side took in a week-long training camp in Spain where they recorded a 2-1 victory against Elche on the back of a win against Preston North End in ...

LEEDS UNITED midfielder Tyler Adams has provided a positive update regarding his fitness and says he will be '100 per cent ready’ for the club's final Premier League fixture of 2022 at Newcastle United on New Year's Eve. By Leon Wobschall The USA captain, an impressive constant for his country in their run to the knock-out stages of the recent World Cup - where he played every single minute - suffered a calf strain in the last-16 loss to the Netherlands. The 23-year-old was already suspended for United's return to top-flight action against champions Manchester City next Wednesday. But he has revealed he is on target to be available for the trip to Tyneside on December 31. He said: "I just had a little bit of a knock in the last game against Netherlands, just in my calf so I'm just coming back from that a little bit. "But it's not bothering me any more. I feel good, I feel sharp. "I played every minute of all four games at the World C...

Leeds United’s Tyler Adams admits the concession of too many chances proved the difference in Saturday’s World Cup exit for the USA but looked ahead to an exciting future building up to 2026. Lee Sobot Whites midfielder Adams captained the States to progression out of the competition’s group stages, sealing a clash against Louis van Gaal’s Netherlands side in the last 16. Fellow Leeds star Brenden Aaronson also featured in all three group stage games as a second-half substitute but the US reached the end of the road in Saturday’s clash against the Netherlands who sealed a 3-1 victory through strikes from Memphis Depay, Daley Blind and Denzel Dumfries. Adams admitted his side ultimately gave van Gaal’s quality side too many opportunities to score but declared his excitement for the future and the 2026 World Cup which his nation will co-host alongside Canada and Mexico. "A game like that, it comes down to the margins obviously,” said Adams to post match media. "When you p...