Nine leads, but only two victories. That’s one of the most damning statistics of Leeds United’s challenging time since Jesse Marsch’s zenith against Chelsea.
Not only have the Whites failed to deliver three points from seven of those leads, but they have also given those advantages up in short order. It feeds into the topics Marsch has raised as causes for concern through this run of two wins in 11.
Of those seven leads which did not result in victories, on average it only took a fraction under nine minutes for the opposition to equalise. Even in the loss to Brentford, when Leeds pegged the match back to 3-2 through Marc Roca, they would fall back to 4-2 in just one minute after Bryan Mbeumo’s strike.
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In those leads which were converted into three points, the match-winning strikes were delivered so late (89th and 84th minutes) it was hard for the opposition to then respond before the final whistle. It’s a trend which cannot continue through the second half of this season if Leeds want to move away from the stresses and strains of the Premier League’s lower reaches.
Whether it’s set-piece weaknesses (Odsonne Edouard and Aleksandar Mitrovic), leaving attackers unmarked (Mohamed Salah, Marcus Tavernier and Ben Davies), lapses in concentration (most of them) or a combination of all three mixed in with poor game management, it’s made Leeds look naive at points. Marsch was sick of losing, but he’s still got to be sick of how quickly his team switches off after scoring goals.
At Crystal Palace, it took the hosts 14 minutes to equalise. Fulham only needed six minutes to head level. Liverpool waited 10 minutes before levelling. Against Bournemouth, it was four minutes. Then on Saturday, Tottenham Hotspur pegged back after 15, eight and five-minute intervals.
Only three teams (Bournemouth, Nottingham Forest and Southampton) have conceded more than Leeds this season and no team has conceded more in the last six. It’s fair to observe the finer margins too.
Fulham have also conceded 26 (having played one extra game) and only scored twice more, but are flying in ninth with the campaign of their lives. Brentford have only conceded one goal fewer and scored one more than Leeds, but prop up the top half of the table.
The Whites have scored more goals than Manchester United, Chelsea and Palace among many others, underlining the improvement at the other end of the pitch. Do those goals come at the expense of defensive instability? That’s an age-old question in football well told during Marcelo Bielsa’s reign in the top flight.
It’s abundantly clear what Marsch has to work on for the next six weeks. Leeds have to be harder to score against, show better game management and cut out these careless lapses causing concessions during the euphoria of their own strikes.
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