The end of a key week for Leeds ended in disappointment, not just because of the Swansea result, but because of points we'd thrown away in the two games prior to it. Had Leeds capitalised and taken the three points they'd deserved against Norwich and Barnsley, there was no way that the second automatic spot would now be so far out of our reach, with a dozen or so games remaining. A week ago Leeds fans were following the results of Forest, Cardiff, Swansea, Norwich and even QPR to see where our rivals had slipped up. Now, Leicester are really the only team we should be concerned with as our fate, regards the second automatic spot, is well and truly out of our own hands. Leicester again slipped up, and Leeds again in this
regard at least were let off.
It would be a lie to say there is not a tinge of disappointment at this reality, but looking back on expectations pre-season, it has to be said that we've achieved more than anyone could have hoped and a chance of promotion in any form will be a good achievement. The fact is, after getting away so many times with throwing points away and a poor defensive record, it has cost us one too many times to realistically have remained in the automatic hunt - despite what Simon Grayson has said:
"There's 12 games to go and there's still an awful lot of points to play for,"
"If people want to write us off that's up them, but we've lost two in 21 and now we're challenging the players to maintain that."
It is good, at least, to see that in adversity Simon is trying to instill a desire in his squad and reiterate to everyone that this result does not constitute the end of Leeds' season. This is far from the case. We're on a fantastic run. It's just hard to remember that run with the amount of times we've shot ourselves in the foot.
We never once had a grasp on this game. Despite this, Davide Somma fluffed a one on one, and struck a free header against the bar. When you see him of all people missing guilt edged chances, you feel the game is lost. Simon Grayson said post match "what a good side Swansea are" but tried too much to pin a woeful performance on a refereeing howler (twice in two games for us from a Premier League referee), rather than focus on his and the team's shortfalls on the day:
"But we had two great opportunities at 1-0. Dave Somma had a header which hit the bar and we had a blatant penalty decision which I don't know why it wasn't given. That could have changed the game.
"In the end we didn't deserve anything and the result shows you what a good side Swansea are, but at 1-0, if you get the penalty or the ball goes in, we all know we have players who are capable of winning games and we would have had a platform."
No one who saw the highlights was in any doubt that it should have been a penalty but it would have far from changed a game that we were completely outclassed in, mirroring the Cardiff defeat at Elland Road earlier this season. We're showing an aversion to Welsh sides at the moment!
Not being the one in charge of motivating and encouraging our squad as Grayson is,
Eddie Gray spoke more realistically on the Swansea game and echoed the same thoughts.
Injury ravaged Doncaster visit Elland Road next, and this surely now becomes our most vital game this season if we are to embark on another run and as we aim to consolidate our play-off position, at least.
Formation and Selection
As soon as the lineup became clear I had an awful feeling about the following 90 minutes. I'd said in the
Match Preview that in a 4-4-2 we'd be over-run and too lightweight. Anybody who knows Kilkenny's style of play would be able to tell you that as part of a two man central midfield, the above eventuality would occur and I can't believe that Simon Grayson didn't feel like that would be the case as he decided to replace the integral Johnson
with Somma and opted for the formation change. Sure enough, within probably five minutes everyone could see this happening. We couldn't have dreamed of coping with Swansea's pace and incisiveness without our preferred formation and without anyone in front of the back four with the purpose of harrying and breaking down plays. This allowed Dobbie, Sinclair and Dyer freedom to run at our back line with a lack of personnel there to come across and support.
What surprised me more is Simon's unwillingness to revert to a 4-5-1 when we spent 40 painful first half minutes chasing the ball. The players were there to allow us to do something different and watching the game you can't fathom how Simon didn't feel a change was necessary. This is not a bash at Grayson, who I believe to be one of the best managers below the top division. It was just odd to think that what I and most Leeds fans saw happening either Grayson didn't see or didn't feel he could change. Snoddy could have played in behind Becchio and Sam or Watt out wide - with Kilkenny and Howson deep for example. There are many variations of the above that could have occurred and I feel, would have stemmed the flow in regards Swansea's dominance of the game in the absence of a ball winner in Bradley Johnson.
Another example of this was watching George McCartney failing to cope with Dyer for the majority of the game. By the time Simon deemed McCartney ineffective against the Swansea winger it was 3-0 and Parker came on in desperation. Again, how he didn't see this earlier and think it couldn't have been worse to give Parker a chance in his place, I do not know.
Rather than changing anything of note, we therefore spent the next 90 minutes chasing shadows and were in the end completely outplayed for only the second time this season.
The Game
Swansea started like a team possessed. As I said above, the first five minutes really set the tone for what would go on to happen through the rest of the game. We couldn't get a grasp on the ball and within minutes Swansea had hit the post. Dyer managed to pick out Dobbie after little resistance from McCartney and the Scot wriggled free to arrow a shot low against the upright before Leeds managed to scramble the ball away for a corner.
What followed was a continuation of Swansea pressure and this reaped a succession of corner kicks. Each one had me tearing my hair out. On two occasions, a Swansea runner from the edge of the box was not picked up by anybody and a low ball was allowed to find the man for a free effort on goal. It is this kind of defending that has cost us all season and I was surprised it didn't lead to an opener.
What struck me was Swansea's utter patience in the build up of an attack. The centre backs for example would stride forward and play a pass out wide. It was always a simple pass and they didn't need to offload the ball to someone like Kilkenny who comes deep to collect off of Bruce or O'Brien. I am certain both of our centre backs would be capable of this simplistic but effective method and really showed Kilkenny up, as our "best passer of the ball" came to collect of Bruce only to pass back to O'Brien or Schmeichel for the long punt up field. Just one of the reasons I felt Kilkenny might as well have given his place in the starting lineup to any of the traveling support as at least they'd have a little more effort about them.
On 13 minutes, their opener did come and for anyone watching it, it was undoubtedly a goal of some quality. Sinclair was played the ball in space, evading the attentions of Lichaj and Snodgrass who were caught napping higher up the pitch. He cut simply inside to play a one two with Luke Moore who held off the attentions of out centre back before back-heeling into the path of the untracked Sinclair, who bent the ball wonderfully into the corner of the net. Despite a despairing lunge by one of our players on the edge of the box, a succession of backing off allowed Swansea to waltz forward and dispatch despite a sea of blue shirts. Poor defending but well worked.
I would love to say: "and after this wake up call, Leeds pressured and put Swansea on the back foot." We didn't. It was Swansea again who pressured and Dyer made McCartney very look average at best as George showed a masterclass in backing off. His run took him past Gradel as well who had done most of McCartney's defending up until this point, and Dyer managed to get a shot away that Kasper bundled behind from the near post. From just about this point you could see it was going to be a long 90 minutes.
The next Swansea effort in an early barrage was a Dyer shot, unmarked from another Gower corner. As in earlier crossing opportunities we'd switched off completely and failed to deal with their livewire attacking players. Mercifully, the shot was blocked on the line.
It took us about twenty minutes to have an attempt at goal of our own, a relatively tame one that was pretty comfortable for De Vries from Robert Snodgrass, who perhaps should have looked to find another Leeds man after good solo work down the right.
Alex Bruce and the Leeds management were left flabbergasted when the Leeds defender found himself in the book for what looked like a good tackle on Dyer. Despite the Swansea player half turning, Bruce got the face of his boot to the ball and clearly diverted the ball away. Mr Dowd. had words with Grayson and would do little to impress the Leeds boss a few minutes later...
On 41 minutes, Snodgrass was one on one with the Swans left back for the first time in the game. He is a danger from these positions. He weaved in from the right flank after twisting past two men. Snoddy worked space for a shot and drove goalwards. Swansea skipper Tate leant into the ball with his arm, on the referee's blind side and got away with what replays showed to be a stone wall penalty, striking the centre back just above the elbow. Swansea's official match report turns a blind eye by stating it hit Tate on the "chest area" but pictures showed otherwise. The linesman bottled the chance to help the referee out and instead called Dowd over to book Kilkenny for protesting. Premier League standard officiating at its very best. I am still left wondering if this country does have any capable officiators at all. As I said above, in the grand scheme of things, I don't believe this would have had any effect on the outcome of the game, unless Simon had edited our lineup and formation.
This adversity seemed to be the spark for a Leeds spell of pressure as Swansea were forced to spend the final few minutes of the first half on the back foot. A good ball in from Kilkenny from a Leeds free kick found Somma in space and the lethal striker contrived to miss a good opportunity and headed the ball flush against the bar, when perhaps he should have done better. Had the ball fallen to Becchio's forhead the outcome may have been different.
I didn't have the feeling we'd turned the game but I got the impression that this spell had Simon believing, despite 40 minutes of, for want of a better phrase, having our arses handed to us. Reverting to the 4-5-1 would have been a better ploy to cope with Swansea's midfield dominance but that did not occur. We could have sneaked in level at half time and 1-0 most certainly flattered us.
Minutes into the second half McCartney was booked for a tackle on Dyer. He just couldn't cope with his direct style of play and when Gradel wasn't there to do his tackling for him, the result was defensive cowardice or inability as he backed off indefinitely and often into the heart of the box or fowled the tricky winger.
Dyer had a free header that fell into the arms of Schmeichel, and on the 53rd minute Swansea were awarded a penalty, rightly in my opinion despite some arguing post game by Grayson. McCartney again backed off and backed off (to the extent that he may as well have been sitting on the front row of the Leeds support) leaving Gradel to track the flying Dyer, when the winger cut inside Gradel was forced to do something and put a foot in, fouling Dyer on the cusp of the penalty box. First contact was probably outside but the contact that felled the winger was probably inside. McCartney's cowardly defending was just embarrassing and it was unfortunate that Gradel was the one that gave away the penalty, as he at least had the balls to make an effort to stop Dyer.
Sinclair easily stroked the ball home to Schmeichel's bottom right. 2-0 and easy, so it looked.
Leeds though almost struck within a few minutes. Somma timed his run beautifully to arc through on goal from a central position. The ball bounced awkwardly however and wouldn't sit right for a clean strike. Instead of cutting the ball to his right or left after a good first touch, he opted to try and lob De Vries who just stood still and stuck an arm up to tip the ball comfortably over the bar. Again, when Somma misses a chance like this, you know it isn't going to be Leeds' day.
On 61 minutes, Grayson finally deemed a change necessary. It was Sanchez Watt on for Becchio, who looked to me as if he was playing in behind Somma. Initially he looked lively and brought Swansea's first booking with a foul from Angel Rangel. Ironic cheers aplenty, as Swansea had escaped on a couple of occasions prior to this while Leeds had received a few cards for similar offences.
Schmeichel was forced into a wonderful save to prevent the game from completely escaping us, with a full stretch tip round the post from a Gower free kick. Again, this followed from a foul on Dyer who we just couldn't cope with all game. Any pace or trickery and Leeds struggle defensively. I was surprised Pratley didn't start or get a look in as his running would have been a further threat, although with Sinclair and Dyer they hardly needed more impetus.
A quickly taken free kick almost saw Somma latch onto a through ball, but De Vries beat him to it and immediately set Swansea off on the counterattack. Dyer was allowed to run the right flank for the umpteenth time in the game and played a ball into Moore who was back to goal on the edge of the box. Howson had tracked his runner but Kilkenny could be seen casually trotting back in the centre circle whilst Dyer had the ball. This meant that no one had picked up Dobbie 25 yards out who played a nice reverse pass back to Moore who'd burst into the box and beaten the offside trap. He slid comfortably past Schmeichel who go the faintest of touches to the ball. If Kilkenny had tracked the run of Dobbie, the goal wouldn't have occured. Simple as. Awful.
Too late in the day, the inept McCartney was replaced by Ben Parker and Paynter came on for Snodgrass. How Kilkenny had remained on the pitch I have no idea. I can't remember anything of note he did in the game and is failing to show any worth in this side since he came back from an Asia Cup tournament where he played about thirty minutes in total.
There were no further guilt edged chances for the final fifteen minutes that Leeds fans provided a backdrop to. Swansea's exhibition passing and Leeds lack of interest was played out with the soundtrack of "we all love Leeds" as the fans showed their usual spirit despite nothing to cheer about on the pitch. Andy O'Brien today acknowledged this undying support "We've got a responsibility. People paid a lot of money to come down to Swansea and we should have done better." and that is something at least. Hopefully the rest of the players have his attitude and want to repay us for a costly trip to Wales in both a monetary sense and in an on the pitch sense as they look to be the current best bet to nick the second automatic spot. What I'd like to know is do George McCartney and Neil Kilkenny feel the same way as O'Brien? Scapegoating is dangerous but it was plain to see what was faulty in that performance.
The Players
Schmeichel did what he could and kept the score respectable with some good stops. He wasn't at fault for any of their goals. Defensively as a whole, the team suffered for the lack of athleticism in midfield and importantly the presence of Johnson to shield the back four. Bruce and O'Brien similarly did what they could, with Bruce making several key blocks and tackles. Lichaj was nondescript really but wasn't particularly culpable during the game.
As has happened several times in recent weeks, the left side of Leeds United's back four was targeted and George McCartney has to step up his game defensively as he's been directly at fault for at least three of Leeds' concessions in the past three games. His alarming tendency is to hide behind Gradel's willingness to track and hassle wingers, often tucking too far inside and sitting too close to Bruce. Dyer beat him at all but one opportunity and McCartney's invitation for the winger to blaze into the box at every opportunity was duly taken, and resulted directly in a penalty. I've never seen someone back off so much in one game, and I feel Andy Hughes may have been watching thinking "is that my replacement...?"
As I said in my post match thoughts, it was a "masterclass in defensive cowardice" and I think that phrase sums it up perfectly. If McCartney is going to continue to hide his Premier League quality, that at one point in his career gave him a value of £4.5M to Sunderland, then Ben Parker has to return - if no other reason than his desire as a Leeds boy.
I would struggle to say anything about the midfield unit other than it was not helped by the choice of a 4-4-2. It was overrun and spent the entire game chasing the ball. Gradel was the only man who came out with any credit as he never gave in the running and put in his all, no doubt feeling culpable for giving the penalty away - which I blame squarely on McCartney anyway.
Kilkenny Rant
As promised in my post match thoughts, I'll single out Neil Kilkenny. I've tried to be measured about him in the past three match reports as I've seen shortfalls in each and to be honest, this entire season he's just been annoying to watch, so here comes a rant. Leeds have had most success in a 4-5-1 which happened to mostly include Neil Kilkenny as part of that midfield. I don't believe Kilkenny had much at all to do with the success that we have had with that formation as he adds nothing of note to the side, and hasn't done since Beckford has left. He thrived on cutting through balls to Jermaine who was someone who appreciated the incisive passing from midfield to run onto, since he's left, Kilkenny has been ineffective at best and on more than this occasion, he might as well have not been on the pitch.
The reason the 4-5-1 has succeeded is because of the extra deep lying player, it could be anyone, allowing Howson to break free behind the striker and score and create goals himself. Kilkenny is nothing like instrumental in this formation and a midfielder who can only pass, in such an important area in front of the defence, is of little use and when he plays we are exposed by runners from midfield.
He is astronomically lazy/unfit, and is unwilling to track anybody, leaving all the work in this case to Howson. He cost us a goal, in Swansea's third, and caused us to be on the back foot several times by missing interceptions, tackles and failing to track back. It is awful to watch someone trotting around when there is a man in open space and posing a threat. Even with a five man midfield, the defensive work of Kilkenny is just none existent and I'm sick to death of it.
Another part of his game that annoys is his soaking up of Leeds counter-attacks. He'll recieve the ball with space to run into and runners ahead. Instead of picking a quick pass to break against the opposition who are short staffed at the back, he stands near stationary looking around for a ball, that has tended to end up as a simple on leaving you wondering why he took so long to pick it. His unwillingness to carry the ball, although possibly under orders from Grayson, further frustrates as it acts as a sponge for any counter-attacking play. If he won't run with it and keep an attacking momentum I wish he'd at least pick a pass quickly and play it with purpose to keep a move dangerous. Eight times out of ten, the opposition get players back and the chance is wasted.
He is apparently in the side for this "passing ability" but again, it just isn't there. Granted he got an assist against Barnsley but it wasn't a piece of genius or inspired Xavi-style passing, it was a deep cross, that McCartney, Johnson and in fact I could probably have pulled off. It didn't take vision or an unbelievable amount of skill and doesn't make him special and exempt from running or doing defensive work.
Coming to fetch the ball from a centre back usually results in the ball being played back to the other centre back, Schmeichel or perhaps Howson - he linked up the play well last time out for about thirty minutes and then drifted into obscurity, but again it isn't passing that I couldn't see someone like Nunez doing, who although an attacking midfielder, would be more use than Kilkenny in the deep lying role due to him having a bit of willingness to move and being physically up to it with a bit of stamina and pace.
I'll get stick for this criticism, I know it, but I can't believe the praise he's got all season as for me, he's been poor at best. TheScratchingShed called him a "luxury". That implies that he is of use, he brings some benefit, but isn't necessary. I don't think he can even be classed as that. Currently the rest of the midfield just have to carry him through a game and cover for his shortfalls and he is bringing little to nothing. How Jonny Howson has got more stick for going "in and out of games" or being "anonymous" I really don't know, as Howson at least puts himself about, even if he isn't having the best of days.
Playing Kilkenny as part of a midfield two was suicide, I thought it would be and it was. It is obvious how inadequate the midfield would have been with only one player effectively able to run with any conviction and stamina. It is as basic as that for me, he isn't physically up to it. Too small, too slow, too weak, too easily tired. His benefits to the team are far outweighed by his shortfalls.
Rant over.
The strikers did their best with very little service and Somma should have perhaps scored at least one, either way the game was lost in my opinion so it's probably irrelevant to bother.
To Sum Up
The game was lost when the teamsheet was clear. Tactically wrong, light in the midfield and worryingly, it showed how exposed we are without Johnson in the side. I know it was against a quality side, but we managed to beat them earlier in the season, and we could have achieved better had we done things differently.
It is a different feeling to that of the dominating defeat by Cardiff. I believe man for man, we're no worse than Swansea. Gradel and Snoddy could match up to Dyer and Sinclair in their effectiveness, Becchio is far better than Moore and Beattie, Schmeichel is a match for De Vries, O'Brien and Bruce for their centre backs etc. Cardiff have better players in several positions, so this hurts more and I believe has to do more with our set up and desire during the 90 than our lack of quality and being beaten "by the better side" although, on the day Swansea were surely that.
Lastly, we did indeed seem to lack desire and willingness. Swansea closed expertly, and we allowed them time and space due to an anemic midfield and their creativity.
Where now from here?
We need to pick ourselves up and start again against Donny, as a win there is now vital to remain in a good run that has seen us lose two in twenty one outings, and stake our claim for the play-offs. Hopefully a loan midfielder at least will arrive this week to bolster our charge as we are worryingly short if one of them is suspended or injured or the midfield needs freshening up during a game, as we saw in Johnson's absence on Saturday.
Grayson
"We couldn't play the 4-3-3 wanted and I felt Davide deserved his opportunity,"
"Systems can be looked at too deeply at times because it doesn't stop you from getting close to people, making challenges, and passing well. Max Gradel can hold his head up high, but I'm not sure many more could."
"We're capable of going on a run. Just because we've lost we can't be ruled out - if people want to so be it - but we have a great opportunity.
"The players are capable of going on a run and we can get the results to secure a top-six place at the least."
"From the way we started there were no complaints,"
"We started poor, we didn't put them under pressure and when we had the ball we gave it away too easy."
The Support
Swansea were loud and proud, obviously due to their prowess on the field. Leeds fans were supportive until the last despite an awful on field performance. The last fifteen minutes of the game was played out with "we all love Leeds" from the typically steadfast supporters. We deserved better.
Man of the Match
Pretty embarrassing finding one for Leeds. Gradel if only for his unwilting effort. For Swansea it has to be Dyer for me, despite Sinclair's two goals, most of their attacks started with or came through him.
