Well, that’s the first game of the season out of the way and put to bed. However, the manner of what Leeds fans saw may well give them sleepless nights before the visit to Fleetwood in the EFL Cup next week.
A largely ineffective first half was painful enough to witness, a first half where Leeds’ threat was largely impotent to the point of non-existence. Aside from the early excitement of a goal for the opposition, Leeds fans had to endure a constant stream of chances and near-misses from QPR with very little coming the other way. In fact, the action was so one-sided that if it had been a boxing match, then fans would have been looking at the referee anxiously expecting him to jump in and stop proceedings.
The second half was, on the whole, more promising even though Leeds conceded two more goals. It was more promising insofar as that it wasn’t as plodding and abject as the opening 45 minutes had been for the Whites. Leeds looked a bit more of a threat going forward, only a bit more mind but they did look more threatening. The danger United possessed, and threat they posed, looked more tangible – well it couldn’t look any worse.
At the end of proceedings, Leeds suffered the clichéd ‘game of two halves’ – neither of them very good. Looking back over the whole, sorry 96 minutes of action here’s three things that Leeds fans learned from the performance.
Three things Leeds fans learned from the QPR game
1. Defence is still our Achilles Heel
When put under pressure, Leeds United crumbled just like last season. Set pieces, a weakness last season was our undoing in the opening minutes of the game that set the tone for a sorry first half. A ball in from a corner, a flappy attempt at a clearance, ball drops to floor, frantic stabs at the ball and hey presto Leeds are one down.
It’s not as if everything was bad, it really isn’t and it was certainly was no Brighton from last season. But for Leeds fans it isn’t the calamity that’s worrying; it’s the feeling that it will happen again…soon…and with regularity. We are not talking ‘soon’ in a following game, but rather ‘soon’ as in the same game.
In short, Leeds fans have little to no confidence in the centre of the defensive line – in particular in club captain Sol Bamba who fans see as too erratic and not consistent enough. That’s the main reason fans are clamouring for a new centre-back to be brought in.
2, Matt Grimes is no #10 and the midfield don’t provide enough
Matt Grimes as a #10 didn’t work, not in the slightest. He looked off the pace and was largely absent in the 61 minutes that he was on the field against QPR. In total he only had 24 touches of the ball, attempted 18 passes where he completed 15 and failed to complete the only dribble he attempted. His only shot at goal was a free kick that was narrowly over, but with Alex Smithies having it covered all the way. I think it would be safe to say that Leeds fans are praying for the paperwork to be completed that gives Pablo Hernandez international clearance, and for it to be cleared post haste.
The midfield, another bugbear of Leeds United over the last couple of seasons. Take Stuart Dallas out of last year’s middle of the park unit and Leeds struggled to find anyone to provide assists – Alex Mowatt having four and Lewis Cook two. To put that into perspective, Souleymane Doukara had as many as Cook despite playing 2,374 minutes less. It was disjointed mess in there against QPR with only youngster Ronaldo Vieira coming out with anything approaching acclaim. But you cannot run a midfield from the efforts of one youngster.
3. Better bench than pitch
Forget about what was on the pitch, it appeared that there were better options on the bench for Leeds United. Leeds started with Gaetano Berardi, a surprise considering that he’d had gotten no on-field time under his belt in pre-season games. He lasted barely 20 minutes, just scraping by that mark before making way for youngster Lewie Coyle who put in a solid performance.
Then there’s Hadi Sacko, the man with the reported €60m release clause in his contract. He’s on the bench and gets around 15 minutes at the end of the game as a run out. In those 15 minutes, he completed all three dribbles he attempted and lashed the ball into the net. Admittedly he’d handled the ball in controlling it, but the shot was one of true venom and it found its mark. No doubt Kamar Roofe, who Sacko replaced, will come good over the course of the season, but it is reassuring that there is something solid on the bench to come in if needs be.
Alex Mowatt, poor Alex Mowatt. He must have sat there during the whole of Matt Grimes’ 61 minute performance thinking ‘Do you know what, I reckon I could do better at that…and that…and that.’ The thing is, he probably could too. He looked impressive in some of the pre-season games – many saying that he would be the #10 in Monk’s new set-up. That looks likely to be the job of new signing Pablo Hernandez once his international clearance papers come through, which should easily be in time for next week’s SkyBet Championship game against Birmingham City.
