Leeds United vs Swansea – 5 Whites takeaways from the game

It was an enthralling encounter last night at the Liberty Stadium as Leeds United and Swansea fought out an entertaining 2-2 draw – a fair result for both sides.

Leeds had run rampant through their opening three fixtures, turning sides over to such a degree that their football, at times, bordered on the arrogant. Arrogant is probably a term that will cause some fans to rail against that sentiment, so I will clarify. By ‘arrogant’ I mean football of such quality that it disregards whatever the opponents brought to the table.

There were little glimpses of that last night as Swansea turned Leeds’ strengths against the visiting Whites. However, the tactics employed by the Swans negated much of Leeds’ game, causing them untold difficulties. Whilst Marcelo Bielsa might be a master tactician, Graham Potter showed that he has the nous to counter other sides’ threats.

It wasn’t a bad game from Leeds’ point of view, and it wasn’t a great game. Here’s five takeaways from last night from a Leeds United perspective.

Leeds United – 5 takeaway points

Bielsa changes: under last season’s head coaches, Thomas Christiansen and Paul Heckingbottom, Leeds United were often accused of lacking a Plan B. They were also accused of being inflexible when it came to changes on the sidelines. Both of those were corrected last night by Marcelo Bielsa. The first two substitutions were tactical, Kalvin Phillips making way for Lewis Baker (27’) and Jack Harrison replacing Gjanni Alioski for the second-half. Even replacing Kemar Roofe with Patrick Bamford proved a masterstroke.

Kemar Roofe: Roofe is really coming into himself as a player over the start of this season. Last season he was sporadic and frustratingly inconsistent. This season he is firing on all cylinders and finding that form from then League Two side Oxford United that saw Leeds United pay around £3million for his services. His well-taken goal last night was his fourth of the season already – he’s really profiting from the style of football that Bielsa has instilled at Elland Road. His goalscoring is one aspect that’s improved, but so has his all-round movement and off-ball play. That was all evident last night against Swansea.

Resilience: Swansea matched Leeds United by playing the Whites at their own high-press, high-intensity game. In a way, Leeds United were found out by Swansea. It was similar to the Millwall game last season when Leeds’ sparkling unbeaten run was abruptly halted by the Lions who ran rampant through them. After going behind to Oli McBurnie’s 24th minute goal, last season’s Leeds United would have crumbled like they did against teams like Wolves and Cardiff City. However, they didn’t against Swansea. It’s as if they pulled their socks up and thought ‘Right, let’s go again.’ Twice they went behind to McBurnie goals, but Leeds United wouldn’t accept defeat last night and twice they came back.

Makeshift yet working: Last night Leeds United were hit with Liam Cooper’s late withdrawal after he injured himself in the pre-match warm-up. That meant a late reshuffle and reordering of personnel in the Leeds United defence. With Cooper out injured, Luke Ayling moved in from right-back, youngster Jamie Shackleton replacing him at right-back and Spanish youngster Oriel Rey coming on to the bench. Leeds’ back four last night consisted of three full-backs, two playing out of position, and a young midfielder playing at right-back. However, against a solid Swansea side with Premier League quality players, they held their own more-or-less.

Moments of magic: Leeds were beaten back time after time after time by Swansea last night, but there were definite magic moments from Leeds United. Jamie Shackleton’s drive into the area to set up Kemar Roofe’s goal was one, some of the through balls the likes of Lewis Baker, Samu Saiz and Jack Harrison were playing were others. The best magic moment combination thought was Patrick Bamford’s sideline shimmy and go, his cut-back into the area and Pablo Hernandez appearing at pace to place the ball into the back of the Swansea goal – it was one sweeping moment of magic

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