Exhilarating Leeds United deserve chance to finish promotion job - season so far

Just as it seemed the Whites had allayed the fears they might again fall over with the finishing line in sight, along comes coronavirus to muddy the waters.

Leeds know that over the first 37 matches of the season, they were the Championship’s best team. They do not know whether or when they will get the chance they want to prove it over 46 games, and if they will be rewarded with promotion if not.

With the Whites throwing most of their resources at keeping Marcelo Bielsa and his staff, the summer investment was not promising, and the pre-season tour of Australia underscored there would be no easing up in the physical demands some felt played a part in the 2018-19 disappointment. But Bielsa continues to improve players, which is why the postponement of England’s March friendlies might have cost midfielder Kalvin Phillips an international debut.

Losing Kemar Roofe’s goals to Anderlecht with the season underway was always going to be damaging. Relying almost exclusively on Patrick Bamford has at times been costly.

Bielsa places huge importance on Bamford’s build-up play, less on the simpler to measure metric of goals. It would be easier to justify had the midfield contributed more from Bamford’s lay-offs and flick-ons, but while Stuart Dallas and Jack Harrison’s goals-per-games ratios are marginally up – in keeping with their all-round improvements – Pablo Hernandez and Mateusz Klich’s are down by more.

What has not helped is Bielsa’s apparently lukewarm attitude towards the strikers loaned to provide competition. Eddie Nketiah only made two league starts before returning to Arsenal, where he kicked off the last three before the break, and Jean-Kevin Augustin is yet to make his full debut. Nketiah was injured just as he was about to get his chance, Augustin was not yet up to Bielsa’s demanding standards after spending a lot of the first half of the season on Monaco’s bench.

Had Tyler Roberts been available more often, it might not have been such an issue, but the Welshman’s two goals at Hull City were a reminder of what Leeds have been missing between Bamford’s goalscoring streaks.

Winger Helder Costa, loaned from Wolverhampton Wanderers with an obligation to buy at the end of the season, has only shown glimpses of what he is capable of. On the opposite flank, Harrison has been much better – and more consistent than wingers usually are – but it has not been reflected in five Championship goals and seven assists. If Leeds go up, making his loan from Manchester City permanent looks a priority.

With the team playing consistently good football but their finishing rarely reflecting it, Leeds’s results have therefore mainly been decided defensively.

After the loss of centre-back Pontus Jansson to Brentford, that was a concern too, but Ben White has not only provided the same solidity, but added more in possession. On loan from Brighton and Hove Albion, White looks Premier League-ready, given the rugged targetmen who have troubled him the most are less of a factor there. If anything, the worry will be he has played too well, and Brighton could want him back.

Goalkeeper Kiko Casilla was a factor in the 2018-19 slide, and his up-and-down 2019-20 has mirrored Leeds’s.

He was outstanding as he conceded only 10 goals in their first 21 league games.

A possible suspension for alleged racist language towards Charlton Athletic’s Jonathan Leko hung over him from late September, but it took until late February to receive an eight-match ban. Casilla still denies the allegations, but was found guilty on the balance of probability.

By then he was just recovering the form that so badly deserted him and his team. A crazy half-hour in December was key.

With 60 minutes gone, Leeds were putting on an exhibition, 3-0 up at home to Cardiff City and on course for a fifth consecutive clean sheet. Instead they conceded three late goals. It started a run of 12 games with only one clean sheet and two wins where they lacked their usual control, outshooting Birmingham City 5-4 and thrillingly coming from 2-0 down to beat Millwall 3-2.

The longer the run went on, the more decisive errors Casilla was making, and the stronger Bielsa’s resolution not to drop him seemed to be. The massive cushion to third was thrown away (West Bromwich Albion were wobbling too), and Fulham drew level on points. It turned out to be a cruel rope-a-dope.
“After the Nottingham Forest game (a 2-0 away defeat) we said, ‘This is enough,’” revealed Klich recently and, just like that, it happened.

Leeds recovered from another Casilla howler to draw 1-1 with Brentford, then won their next five without conceding. Casilla played in the first three, before handing over seamlessly to Illan Meslier – impressive on his debut at Arsenal in the FA Cup – once banned. Had Leeds continued, it is hard to imagine they would not have got promoted.

The televised tie at the Emirates Stadium typified Leeds and Bielsa, a brilliant performance which had pundits drooling, but which ultimately ended without success.

There has been much to be proud of this season, not only the football. Some of the exhilarating counter-attacking in the final away game, at Hull, made being deprived the chance to watch more even crueller, and the players’ rapid acceptance of wage deferrals to protect their “family” was in refreshing contrast to squabbles elsewhere.

If Leeds do get the chance to finish the job, ruthlessness will be more important than aesthetics, though Bielsa will inevitably want both. If “Bielsa burn-out” exists – he insists not – it will be out of the equation.

The plaudits the Argentinian specialises in earning are already guaranteed this season. If it goes into extra-time, the prizes he finds harder to come by are essential.

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