Leeds United: Richard Keys rages at what he didn’t see in dramatic 2-2 draw with Newcastle at Elland Road
Richard Keys was furious after 100 minutes of game time in the 2-2 draw between Leeds United and Newcastle that less than half had the ball in play.
The dramatic game saw the Whites take an early advantage through Luke Ayling, before throwing it away with three penalties – one missed by Patrick Bamford and two scored by Callum Wilson – before rescuing a point late on via Rasmus Kristensen amid Junior Firpo’s self-destruction.
But in that time Keys was thoroughly unsatisfied by the amount of actual action contained in the elongated match and vented his feelings following the game.
Taking to Twitter after the final whistle Keys wrote: “Ball in play time at Elland Road – 43 mins 17 seconds. Not enough. Nowhere near enough from 100 minutes game time.”
Tense
The issue of how much actual football is on show for the fans is a valid one, and pointless time-wasting through faked injuries and the like is objectively frustrating.
But before the directive which saw huge amounts of added minutes become a feature of the Qatar World Cup this season there weren’t many actively complaining about it.
And when it works in a team’s favour, particularly when the pressure is on, it is largely seen as understandable if all avenues must be explored to eke out a crucial result.
It is unlikely that many Leeds United or Newcastle supporters came away from Elland Road on Saturday (13 May) complaining about the ball-in-play time after an event-filled game where one side was battling for survival and the other to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in years.
The fact that there were multiple VAR reviews largely pertaining to Firpo’s escapades, one of which Keys himself was absolutely outraged by the contents of, and three penalty awards was always going to take up a decent chunk of the clock.
And it is somewhat ironic that certain figures in football have decided to start using the value-for-money argument around the amount of a match where something actually happens when fans are often otherwise fleeced left, right and centre by ticket, TV subscription, and merchandise pricing.
In other Leeds United news, Lucy Ward was left exclaiming “you couldn’t make this up” during the game after what she saw from one Whites player.