Leeds United drew 0-0 with Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday, their third consecutive home game ending in a draw.
Goals. When Leeds United supporters arrived at Elland Road on Saturday afternoon, that is what they expected from their team.
With their first victory of the year, Daniel Farke’s players appeared to be clicking after the high of last week’s seven-goal thriller at Ipswich Town. The anticipation was that an attacking juggernaut in West Yorkshire would easily defeat bottom-of-the-table Sheffield Wednesday because Joel Piroe, Georginio Rutter, Wilfried Gnonto, and Crysencio Summerville looked the part.
However, Xisco Munoz’s group had other plans and succeeded in proving to be a difficult nut to crack. The freshly promoted team sat deep, stayed compact, maintained their low block, and held the Whites to a 0-0 stalemate, which turned out to be too tough for Leeds to crack.
Leeds had its moments and actually produced opportunities that ought to have been taken advantage of. After an incredibly dismal performance, Georginio Rutter may have had a few words with himself as he left the field.
However, they were heavily defeated by a tenacious Yorkshire adversary who went out to win a point and succeeded. When it comes to Wednesday’s ambition, there is absolutely no shame involved at all, and they won’t be the last team to use such strategies in an effort to win at Elland Road this year.
In fact, we already witnessed it twice in the past month when Cardiff City hardly made it out of their own half in an effort to stop Leeds’ potent onslaught. Despite being one of the largest fish in the Championship’s little pond, West Bromwich Albion put up a defensive performance comparable to that at Elland Road.
As a result, even if Farke’s roster for the upcoming campaign was only finalized this week with four acquisitions in only three days, it’s obvious that Leeds must improve their ability to handle such frustrating tactics if they are to gain traction in the second tier and push towards the top of the league.
Although Leeds controlled play and often advanced at will against the Owls, they lacked the skill and finesse in the final third to trick the defense and open up the spaces that would have made their dominance matter. When players like Gnonto, Jamie Shackleton, Summerville, and Luke Ayling did manage to get the ball into the box, Rutter and Piroe were frequently pushed out by Wednesday’s defense, which at times resembled a back six to counter Leeds’ breadth.
While a more clinical performance and a more natural number 10 would have undoubtedly made a difference, Farke’s team will be focusing their efforts on how to avoid low blocks, create overloads in the attacking third, and allow their key players to shine. He has two weeks on the practice field, which is fortunate because the international break is approaching. While some players will depart to meet up with their different countries, the majority will remain to perfect their skills and collaborate closely with the German.
As last week’s game against Ipswich demonstrated, it is evident that while playing away from home, Leeds will typically be given more room to exploit because clubs want to play aggressively and in front of their own supporters. On September 17, Leeds’ next game, Millwall will want to do just that. Meanwhile, Hull City, who are in good form, are unlikely to play poorly when Manchester United travel down the M62 a few days later, which could well play into Farke’s hands.
But as of right now, Sheffield Wednesday, Cardiff, and West Brom have offered a guide for how to leave Elland Road with something to show for their labors. The first few months of Leeds’ campaign cannot be shaped by this issue.
