Good Morning. It's Monday 8th April, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road...
Ipswich falter but Leeds bottle it
Leeds slipped to their first (league) loss of 2024 with a pitiful performance against play off hopefuls Coventry City on Saturday afternoon. Expectations were high, after Ipswich faltered at the hands of bitter rivals Norwich City just hours earlier, but Leeds could not capitalise! Instead of returning to the top of the pile, they found themselves out of the automatic promotion places, and must now rely on either Leicester City or Ipswich Town slipping up!
Leeds were punished on 9 minutes, after failing to clear a corner, which eventually got bundled over the line off the head of Ellis Simms. The quality of the goal (both defensively and attacking wise) had all the trademarks of a Sunday morning at Hackney Marsh, but it didn't matter to a sold out Ricoh Arena, such was the significance of the match. They doubled their account early in the second half. Eccles (who had been given the freedom of midfield all afternoon) sliced the Leeds defence wide open with a deep diagonal ball to Hadji Wright deep within the Leeds penalty area, claiming his seventeenth of the season.
Leeds tried to rally. Summerville went close a couple of times, before Piroe finally got one back with fifteen minutes left on the clock, but it was too little too late. The hard work put in by the players over the first quarter of 2024, has been undone by three inept performances, and now it's out of our hands.
Summerville's one man crusade
Summerville went on a one man crusade in the second half in search of goals. The fact he didn't want to relinquish the ball to any of his team mates speaks volumes about his trust in the players. Three or four times the young Dutchman had opportunities to lay the ball off to a teammate in a better position, but decided to go it alone. He forced several fine saves by Collins, as well as a goal line clearance. Whilst we all share his frustrations, should we assume that all is not well inside the Leeds Utd dressing room?
Changes must be made on Tuesday night
Daniel Farke has some important selection decisions to make ahead of the Sunderland game on Tuesday evening! Leeds are not playing well, and games are running out! Unfortunately for the gaffer, so many of his players are in the middle of a slump, that it's difficult to know where to start! With many players already having played over 4000 minutes this season (for club and Country), it's not surprising that they are starting to fade, especially as they're being forced to play whilst injured (with painkilling injections) or taking the field whilst ill!
Leeds blasé approach to the loan market is finally catching up with them, at a time when it matters most (the business end of the season)! I can guarantee that clubs like Everton are already forming an orderly queue outside Elland Road to rob Leeds of every talent at the club, not to mention drain the contracts from the players out on loan (many of whom we don't even get a loan fee for). Albert Einstein once claimed that the 'definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results', so it will be interesting to see what changes are made to the line-up against Sunderland on Tuesday evening!
