Javi Gracia has claimed that the "inflexion point" of Leeds United's poor form and his eventual sacking came against Crystal Palace during the 5-1 defeat, but the Spaniard refused to blame the second-half collapse on any incident inside the dressing room during the break.
The second-half implosion at Elland Road against the Eagles would see Leeds go on to pick up a solitary point across five games in the build-up to Gracia's dismissal. A 4-1 defeat to Bournemouth would ultimately cause the board to take action, but many have pointed to the Palace defeat as the catalyst for the club's downfall of late.
More specifically, many have questioned what happened at half-time that saw Leeds transition from a dominant team to suddenly conceding four goals without reply at home to fellow relegation rivals. Gracia refuses to pin anything specific on the 15-minute turnaround between halves, as he instead pointed to his disbelief that the two sides headed down the tunnel level at 1-1.
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“I would not centre this on the half-time interval,” Gracia told the Athletic. “It is more about the minutes before half-time when we conceded a goal from a set piece. That first half against Palace, both in my opinion and also in the view of many people around the club, was really, really good.
"We dominated the match and we created chances. It was incredible to me that we went in at half-time drawing. We were balanced in our play. Then the situation that followed was hard to understand. The second half was very tough to take.”
A 6-1 defeat to Liverpool would follow, with Gracia adding: “These moments were difficult for everybody. Nobody likes losing like that.”
The former Watford boss also highlighted the injury concerns his side were facing when he took charge, saying: “When we arrived [Gracia and his coaching staff], we were 19th in the table. In my first training session, we had 11 players injured and we trained with 10 healthy outfield senior players.
"This was not easy. It was only because of the will of the players and exceptional hard work by the medical team, everyone pulling in the same direction. Then we went and beat Southampton. Bit by bit, we got some players back and the team grew. But the inflexion point was against Palace.
“The dynamic had felt really positive and, even recently, we did start some of these games in a very positive and concentrated manner. But maybe we did not have that bit of fortune for a ball to drop our way or a decision to go our way.
"In the last game against Bournemouth, we had a call where it looked like a penalty but was right on the edge of the area. I felt we had started the game well and then we conceded two goals quickly.
“I had the feeling that the players felt a little like a boxer who had been hit, who is down for a few moments and wants to get up but is not able to. It transmitted something negative that did not correspond with what I believe my players really are."
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