Many of my posts were fearing hangovers, judging by yesterday's performance I'm happy to say "what hangover?" as Leeds went on to dominate against a Scunthorpe side depleted and lacking quality. Our 2011 "Wycombe" didn't occur and we managed to be workmanlike, professional and clinical (to a point) to coast to victory.
McCartney returned in place of Parker who was in need of rest after two 90 minutes within five days last week, but other than that the lineup was unchanged from the one that went to the Emirates on Saturday.
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| Somma signed and sealed the win in the 88th minute |
Scunthorpe managed to start fairly brightly, with a bit of possession before we got into our stride as well as getting in our faces and stifling us a little. But that didn't take long as on seventeen minutes Sanchez Watt impressively shrugged off a defender to smash home on his left from just outside the area. What followed this was a twelve minute destruction of Scunthorpe's early efforts. Gradel was sent clean through by Snodgrass and dropped the shoulder to dummy both the keeper and covering centre back, delightfully composed and showed us what a rich vein of confidence and form Mad Max finds himself in. Calls of "never was and never will be a footballer" from clueless corners of Leeds support are surely now silenced. The third was somewhat of a collectors item, a long range Johnson strike that found the target. Lovely stuff.
Done and dusted? No. For those who remembered the Preston game earlier in the season where we twice surrendered a three-goal lead. Yesterday however, the squad showed how far they'd come by keeping professional and keeping concentration, despite looking as if they were coasting. Scunthorpe were poor, seemingly lacking in any form of organisation in attacking movement or defensively (probably due to the personnel they had missing at the back). No matter how poor they were it was important we didn't give them hope and we accomplished that. Their only chances came on a break after Howson misplaced a pass - with Schmeichel expertly tipping round the post in front of the South Stand, which was somehow given as a goal kick. Their second chance came as the lively Forte, who started inexplicably from the bench, ran onto a long ball, flicking past one United defender and firing against Bruce - deflected with some luck onto the corner of post and bar with Kasper wrong footed.
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| Leeds were never in doubt. |
Breaking the performances down then, starting with the defence. We were solid - and in truth never looked like conceding with Schmeichel rarely tested although alert when needed. This back four is probably our most solid. Bruce was magnificent and commanding, throwing himself about, making blocking challenges and generally snuffing out any efforts Scunny had coming forward. He looks very happy alongside O'Brien who as we all know is similarly solid at this moment in time. All our back four are adept at playing the ball and running with it when necessary, at one point Bruce ran through three Scunny players only to get tripped on the edge of the Scunny box. Nice to see the odd time. O'Brien did this against Hull - running onto a cross after a move he set off with a burst from centre back.
McCartney added quality back in at left back, he is a touch of class at this level, despite lacking some legs. He didn't bomb on as much as he usually does but in all honesty it wasn't at all necessary for him to do so yesterday. Connolly was again impressive as well, showing aerial dominance and power and strength in the tackle. Solid.
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| Improving Watt bossed Scunthorpe... |
In midfield, the standout performance was from Watt. Preferred, correctly to McCormack who has been frustrated in front of goal thus far, Sanchez ran the midfield. He showed power, pace and persistence to score his goal, and most interestingly all game he was tough in the tackle. At several points during the game it was Watt chipping in with a beautifully timed slide. Starting out behind Becchio, he often joined up alongside Luciano and pushed on, as well as dropping to the right of midfield when Snoddy was replaced by McCormack.
Howson and Johnson were unspectacular but highly functional and effective sat slightly deeper and did what they needed. The other stars of midfield yesterday were Snoddy and Max Gradel. Scunthorpe simply didn't have the quality or nouse to live with them. They didn't particularly seem to double up when defending against either and even when they did were undone by a simple dummy or change of direction. This lead to us getting in behind on several occasions during the game. Max pulled back for Paynter, who saw a shot blocked on the line by what was technically Scunthorpe's most effective defender - Davide Somma. Gradel slid in Somma for our forth - where sometimes in the past you may have expected him to dribble into trouble, he picked the pass beautifully. Snoddy slid Gradel in for his goal, but on several occasions his passing was asking too much of Connolly on the linkup. His individual play was far better than his passing performance today, in my opinion, as he took Scunny men on with ease.
Up front, Luciano was ineffective if I'm honest. Which is odd, as there was no clear height advantage in regards their centre backs. Perhaps this was due to a slight niggle he went off with at half time in his lower back. I'm not sure whether this was a contact injury or a strain but either way Paynter replaced him at half time. He did hold the ball up well when played into feet but lacked his usual presence in the air.
Regarding Paynter, I feel the jury is still out. He has power and strength as well as a good aerial presence but so far he doesn't fill me with the confidence Becchio does when found in a goalscoring opportunity. He reminds me of the Becchio we saw earlier in his Leeds career. Paynter obviously has the ability to score copious amounts of goals, though, and I'm sure they'll come in time. He should have had one yesterday if it weren't for Davide.
McCormack is another player where the jury is still deliberating. He shows quality, vision and trickery with his passing and dribbling but as of this moment I'm not sure he fits into our playing style as an out and out poacher (lacking strength and electric pace - a right place right time striker). With one or two more yards of pace he'd be very effective in our current setup but currently is not. When slid in, he doesn't seem quick enough to turn and outrun a defence to get a chance away, as an effort showed where the centre back caught him up and toe-d the ball into his keepers hands in front of Ross.
If we are to play a right place right time striker however, it has to be Davide Somma. He is, I am certain, the best finisher we have at the club. Every time he gets the ball in a position like the one he scored from yesterday there's something in my mind telling me it's going in. He instills me with a confidence he'll produce. 8 goals in 10 starts is perhaps why. This is why fans are questioning Simon's persistence with McCormack in particular (Paynter's more a Becchio substitute currently). As well as his goal, Davide wandered in from a wide position, did two defenders, waltzed into the box at a stroll and had an age to pick a beautiful pass to Gradel - who had the goal-bound volley blocked. Davide has more strength, more pace, more aerial presence and currently more confidence in his finishing than McCormack or Paynter and I really want to see him getting more time on the pitch.
The only explanation I can think of as to why Somma seems down the order is that Grayson wants desperately for Paynter and McCormack to get off the mark and kick-start their Leeds careers as goals breed confidence for strikers. Yesterday was another great opportunity for both of them to produce against a lower standard of opposition and neither did (Paynter very unlucky) whilst Somma finished his only clear chance.
Lastly, at 3-0 up we looked confident but slightly complacent going forward (understandably) - we had a lot of opportunity to really put Scunny to the sword without really risking anything defensively. It's a shame we didn't smash them for six. We did play a lot of longer ball stuff when Paynter came on, which lacked effectiveness and I found we tried too many flicks and tricks instead of simply running at their makeshift defence. I don't really have an argument however, as we put four past them without needing to get out of 2nd gear.
The referee annoyed me. If we hadn't gone 3-0 up early we would have been up in arms. He constantly failed to give free-kicks for hands round Becchio's neck and arms constantly round Paynter and Max.
The Support
Kop and South Stand did well, the South looked like they were having a laugh. West and East very quiet. The team didn't require encouragement really as they strolled the game, but the fans chimed in with a good selection of tunes.
Man of the Match
Sanchez Watt/Max Gradel - I couldn't choose an individual so I've bottled it. Both were livewire, both scored, Sanchez bossed our attacks and helped in defence with power and pace, and Max was a constant threat to their fullbacks - also chipping in with an assist.
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