Leeds United ‘learning on the job’ says Liam Cooper

It has been a start of mixed emotions for the Whites, who have amassed 14 points from their opening 11 top-flight games after 16 years in the Football League wilderness. Leeds have delighted onlookers with their commitment to attacking play, and with so few changes to the first-team squad have taken the challenge amongst England’s elite in their stride.

United’s quick adjustment to the Premier League has been swift but after a 3-1 humbling at Stamford Bridge on Saturday night, Leeds’s club captain knows they’re still very much the new boys on the block, even if they were left rueing defeat against a star-studded Chelsea line-up.

“We’re learning every single week. We’ll do that again,” Cooper admitted post-match in the capital.

“We’ll go away for a couple of days and analyse it, look to improve and be better in the next game.

“They’re world-class players, I’ve said it in the past and I’ll say it again, we’re learning on the job.

“We’re an honest team who will run and run, go to the last second but sometimes these teams have that extra bit of quality and Chelsea certainly had that.

“We’ve got to improve, we’ve got to be better and we know that. We’re gutted to concede three goals and as a team it is disappointing. We’ll improve that and all we can do is work hard on the training ground.”

Chelsea were very good, fully deserving of their win and Leeds, in an ideal world, would have given themselves a better chance by taking better decisions in possession.

But as CEO Angus Kinnear recognised in midweek when discussing the return of fans to Tier 2 stadiums and the continued absence of Leeds fans from Elland Road, this is not an ideal world.

Lampard and Marcelo Bielsa, whose relationship has been a little complicated since early 2019, found common ground in a less than ideal first half.

It cannot have pleased Lampard to see his team unlocked so easily and so early, Kalvin Phillips’s perfect swing of his left boot putting Patrick Bamford clean through against his former club, the striker rounding Edouard Mendy to score a fourth minute opener.

In his pre-game press conference Bielsa had revealed that Diego Llorente was now healthy, but not quite yet competitively fit and expressed a hope that circumstance would not rush the Spaniard back into action.

Before the 10-minute mark that hope had been dashed, the increasingly influential figure of Robin Koch going down with injury, Llorente coming on for a full immersion baptism in lava.

Every team in the Premier League presents a level of difficulty for the Leeds defence, whether it’s the pace and counter attacking excellence of Leicester City and Crystal Palace or the movement and sheer skill of Liverpool and Manchester City.

Chelsea seemed to have it all. This fixture was once about how you could hurt your opponent with brute force, but the modern day Blues need only the football and a little room to work with. They break with intent, they cause problems with set-pieces and they press to pin you in.

Illan Meslier had already made a stop from Hakim Ziyech and Olivier Giroud had headed the resulting corner wide, before Bamford’s opener.

Another corner should have brought the scores level, Giroud’s goalbound header inexplicably clipped up and onto the crossbar by Timo Werner.

Leeds had to work hard to create chances but when they were undone at the other end, Chelsea made it look all too easy.

Kai Havertz freed himself of Phillips’s attention, fed Ziyech and his trademark dart to the middle dragged Alioski with him, leaving acres of space for Reece James to whip in a low cross, Giroud steering it past Meslier.

Chelsea began to make it harder and harder for Leeds to play out from the back, forcing errors including one dangerous giveaway from Llorente straight to the feet of Christian Pulisic, on for the injured Ziyech.

If it was an arm wrestle, Leeds were beginning to shake and Chelsea looked ominously composed.

But for all their attacking skill and attractive forward play, it was a set-piece that pushed Chelsea closer to victory.

Kurt Zouma headed home with little or nothing in the way of opposition to make it 2-1.

The introduction of Rodrigo did give Leeds more of a presence in attacking midfield, meaning they could at least begin to build attacks but there was always the risk that the Blue tide would simply roll over them in transition.

Chelsea deserved this win and wrapped it up in injury time through Pulisic, from a low Werner cross. United boss Bielsa believed that the key to defeat was his side’s failure to apply a high and consistent press.

“That’s something we will work on,” Cooper said.

“Chelsea have got very good players on the ball and sometimes it’s hard, they wait for you to come and drag you out then pop it off to the free man.

“We struggled with that and when we’re not getting there to anticipate the ball it’s always going to be difficult, because we put a lot into that, that’s a massive part of our game.

“Chelsea are a good team, they will be up there at the end of the season.”

Chelsea: Mendy, James, Zouma, Thiago Silva, Chilwell, Havertz (Kovacic 67), Kante, Mount, Ziyech (Pulisic 30), Giroud (Abraham 79), Werner. Unused substitutes: Arrizabalaga, Rudiger, Jorginho, Azpilicueta.

Leeds: Meslier, Ayling, Koch (Llorente 9), Cooper, Alioski (Rodrigo 69), Raphinha, Dallas, Phillips, Harrison (Poveda 57), Klich, Bamford. Unused substitutes: Roberts, Casilla, Helder Costa, Struijk.

Referee: Kevin Friend (Leicestershire).

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