Leeds United need to be more ruthless to build on Watford win

The performance that brought a much-needed first Premier League win of the season had all the hallmarks of the previous three campaigns under coach Marcelo Bielsa.

There was an intensity about them from the off, sliding into tackles on a sodden surface, pressing with a ravenous hunger and defending at times as if they were scared of running into an angry Argentinian in the dressing room afterwards if they did not. When they attacked, they did so at speed, the tempo helped by the fact Dan James is finding his feet as a Leeds player and throughout there was a pleasing emphasis on proper wing-play, with Raphinha not far behind his new team-mate in the quality of his display.

If you are a bit pushed for time, Watford manager Xisco summed the match up neatly: “They had more intensity than us, they shot more times than us, they were more aggressive than us and they wanted to win the game more than us.”

This Leeds team are great entertainers yet they can frustrate the hell out of those who support them because they always give their opponents a chance. Despite outplaying Watford as comprehensively as Xisco repeatedly acknowledged in what turned out to be his last press conference before being sacked, there was an audible outpouring of relief at the final whistle from the terraces. The relief Bielsa admitted to at the end was magnified by the unnecessary jeopardy of the 90 minutes.

It was a four or five-nil performance and a 1-0 win. Leeds are still not ruthless enough to be the team they ought to be.

They had 20 shots on Saturday, yet only hit the target with three. One of them was cleared off the line by Juraj Kucka and Tyler Roberts’s second attempt was only marginally off, smacking the crossbar. That does not excuse the other 16. The only centre-forward’s finish they produced all day came from injury-prone centre-back Diego Llorente.

Watford had only one effort on target all day, but that does not count the one they put in the net – or rather Leeds did for them. You could hardly say they played so badly their manager got sacked, because at Vicarage Road P45s are handed out like confetti.

When Watford won a corner after 72 minutes, Illan Meslier, whose save brought it about, dropped the wet ball and Liam Cooper fell onto it, bundling it in. The reason Cooper was falling was the full-on wrestling he and Christian Kabasele were engaging in. As to who was most at fault, you pays your money, you take your choice.

On another day, Simon Hooper and his video assistant Lee Mason could have decided the two wrongs cancelled themselves out and given the goal, but perhaps they owed Leeds one after not awarding James a first-half penalty when William Ekong wrapped his arm around him in the area. After James started to fall, the defender collapsed in a heap on top of him, making it look worse at first glance but even at second and third, it was a fortunate escape.

Anything other than a Leeds win would have been outrageously unfair but they left themselves open to dropping more points and when you tempt fate, it often finds it hard to resist.

What matters, though, is they did win, and their performance fully merited it.

“We didn’t make errors, we didn’t allow counter-attacks, we didn’t let their forwards stand out,” reflected Bielsa. “In the first hour of play we created a lot of danger, in the last 30 minutes a little bit less. It was a deserved win and the difference could have been bigger.”

Maybe a few Leeds forwards ought to be asking Llorente for some finishing tips, although the way he converted his second goal for the club pointed less to technique, more to instincts too few of his more attacking team-mates have enough of.

Rodrigo, deputising for the injured Patrick Bamford, won a corner in the 19th minute and when Raphinha played it in, it bounced off the bonce of a stooping Kucka as much as actually being headed. Llorente’s eyes lit up at a loose ball, he thrust out a leg and diverted it inside the post.

It was a good day for the Spaniard, who came back from injury and finished his shift not only with a goal but Leeds’s first Premier League clean sheet of the season as well as their first win. He thundered into a tackle on Kiko Femenia early on but with Watford’s threat so notional, it was his long passing which most caught the eye when he was not impersonating centre-forwards.

The actual centre-forward, Rodrigo, played well, showing good movement off the ball especially when Raphinha looked for him, but his main contributions were creative, playing Stuart Dallas through to force an early Ben Foster save, and Raphinha to take the ball around the goalkeeper but find the angle too tight.

If Leeds looked like Leeds, Raphinha looked like Raphinha, which is only ever a good thing, happy to come inside for a pass or a shot, or go outside and cause mayhem.

Some of his finishes were a bit wild, but perhaps he was just trying to fit in.

He did nearly score direct from a corner on the hour, Foster clawing it from under his crossbar.

Roberts came on and added something, forcing Ekong to do well to cut out a Raphinha-bound cross and twice coming close to punishing a drop of Foster’s.

It was an extremely enjoyable Leeds performance. It was just a pity they did not allow any Leeds fans to enjoy it until the final whistle.