According to Sunday’s match statistics, Leeds United carved out more shooting opportunities than Fulham did at Elland Road. The Whites managed to get 14 shots off in the 3-2 loss to the Cottagers, of which five were on target, with Bernd Leno picking the ball out of his own net twice.
Fulham, on the other hand, mustered just 11 shots on their way to picking up maximum points and piling more misery on Jesse Marsch’s men. It’s clear the shooting stats don’t tell the full story of this one, with Leeds struggling to create openings and trouble Fulham for large periods.
United got off to the best start possible against Marco Silva’s side as Rodrigo, back in the starting XI after being dropped in the midweek, nodded home Jack Harrison’s deflected shot. It was a goal that saw the tension within Elland Road lift and set Leeds on the right path in a game they knew they had to win in order to avoid the relegation zone.
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However, the Whites struggled to build on it until stoppage time at the end of the second half when Crysencio Summerville bagged what was ultimately nothing more than a consolation by that point. Marsch’s side were disjointed and lacklustre in their attempts to move the ball forward and they struggled to find the space needed to ask questions of the Fulham back line.
When Leeds did look to push the Londoners, more often than not the attack came through Luis Sinisterra, who seemed to be the only man capable of finding and using open field effectively. The Whites were perhaps overly reliant on the Colombia international to make things happen and when he couldn’t do that, they lacked attacking nous, movement and confidence.
The likes of Harrison and Brenden Aaronson struggled to get involved for much of the game, while Rodrigo was flat-footed and marked out of the contest for large periods. Bamford was introduced in the second half, replacing the Spain international in the 64th minute, but once again, he looked short of confidence as the wait for his first goal of the campaign goes on.
Leeds’ best chance of the game fell to him after being slipped through the line by Aaronson a minute or two after entering the field. Leno was more than a match for the out of sorts Bamford, though, and he got down well.
That was the closest Leeds came to scoring until Summerville poked home his first senior goal for the club when the result looked beyond doubt.
“I felt that in the first half, how we start to organise our ball possession that we initially had good phases,” Marsch explained in his post-match press conference. “Then we wanted to quickly play the killer pass or the most threatening pass when sometimes it wasn't necessary and we could find more build up and start to unbalance them and pin them in a little bit more.
“Then second half, Luis got a little bit tired. He put in a big shift the whole week and so he wasn't as active and we weren't as active to get him the ball.
“That led to us not being able to break down the opponent as much and there were some times where it was a little bit stagnant and not enough interchanges and connections and in combinations to break the opponent down.”
It’s not the first time Leeds have struggled going forward, either, in fact, since they returned from the last international break, they’ve failed to pose enough of a threat in games. Leeds drew a blank in a dismal performance at Leicester City on Thursday night and despite being the better side for large periods against Arsenal, the Gunners still left Elland Road with a clean sheet.
Marsch’s side failed to trouble Crystal Palace for large periods of the game the week before, too, despite starting strongly, and they drew another blank with 10-men against Aston Villa. As such, they now find themselves facing up to the possibility of spending the World Cup break inside the bottom three.
When it comes to their current attacking struggles, it’s hard to look beyond their shortcomings in the summer transfer window. The Whites knew they needed an attacker and pursued a number of targets.
Charles De Ketelaere was the man they wanted but he chose AC Milan before the club made late pushes to bag Bamba Dieng, Cody Gakpo and Hwang Hee-chan. Ultimately, Wilfried Gnonto arrived in the hours that followed the transfer deadline, but the Italy international is still waiting to make his senior debut for the Whites.
Leeds have every right to be pleased with a majority of the business they completed in the window, but their failure to get an attacker over the line looks to be hurting them at this stage of the season. Asked about that very point after the loss to Fulham, Marsch said: “We worked hard together to put together a good transfer window and in a lot of ways we did great on it.
“I'm not going to start playing hindsight and I'm certainly not going to put throw anyone under the bus. I'm looking directly at myself. I'm trying to do my job in this club the best that I can and that's to coach this team and make them better.”
Of course, there is a degree of risk attached to every piece of recruitment, but it’s fair that another offensive signing in the summer window would have significantly bolstered the club’s output in front of goal. There’s a close correlation between goals and points in the Premier League and Leeds need more of both if they are to beat the drop.
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