Tottenham Hotspur at home and Arsenal away stand out as the two occasions which really rammed home the threat of relegation for Leeds United last season. Going 3-0 down inside half an hour in the former would spell the end for Marcelo Bielsa on a day United’s freefall had devastating consequences.
The latter came far later in the season under Jesse Marsch. It was the penultimate away trip of the season on the first weekend in May at a time when every result across the league seemed so final in its impact on the table.
A critical five-match unbeaten run had been brought to a shuddering halt one week earlier by Manchester City at Elland Road with the Gunners and then Chelsea ahead for the struggling Whites. The capitulation of the opening half an hour in the capital had the hallmarks of every relegated team you have seen down the years.
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With the situation Leeds were in at that point, everything called for a tight opening 20 minutes at least. This was an Arsenal team high on the confidence of three consecutive wins and thriving in front of their own crowd.
Playing out from the back and taking the risks the defence, mainly Illan Meslier, took in the opening five minutes were not what the doctor ordered. That early opener, coupled with Everton’s progress at Leicester City, was a sickener for the Whites.
To then continue in failing to keep it tight at the back with percentage football, was almost unforgivable as Eddie Nketiah steamed in for a 10th-minute second. Luke Ayling’s headloss in the 27th minute with that atrocious tackle only compounded what looked like the afternoon Leeds really were set for the second tier.
Saturday takes Leeds, and Ayling, back to Emirates Stadium for the first time since that day. The circumstances are similar with the Whites fighting for their lives again, but with far more time on their hands to escape and a far better league position to defend.
There is also a different head coach. Everything we have seen and heard from Javi Gracia up to now would suggest he is not in the business of first-half meltdowns.
Balance and pragmatism, at the expense of some attacking freedom, has been the order of the day. Against Southampton, Gracia was happy for his team to wait for the right moment in a fractious encounter.
At Chelsea, Gracia was content to keep his side compact and allow the hosts the flanks with an invitation to break down their low block. Against Brighton & Hove Albion, there was the insistence his attackers do not engage visiting defenders in the final third for fear of being cut to ribbons.
Episodes like Meslier’s with Nketiah can happen at any moment without any influence from a head coach, but there is a sense the Spaniard will not ask his defenders to make risky passes like that in their own third when the heat’s on. More than tactical instruction, Gracia’s manner lends itself to resisting those rushes of blood to the head too.
Ayling’s horror tackle, for example. Based on what the likes of Junior Firpo have told us about training, Gracia is a calm coach, who does not take on the drill sergeant routine or look to get his players brimming with the pressure of the dogfight in his press conferences.
Perhaps this approach can keep some calmer heads when the heat is on at the home of the champions-elect.
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