Stephen Warnock rages at ‘criminal’ Leeds United footage in 5-1 Premier League defeat v Crystal Palace
Stephen Warnock was left fuming at Leeds United when analysing the Whites’ 5-1 defeat against Crystal Palace on BBC’s Match of the Day.
Javi Gracia’s side produced a spectacular collapse in the second half to give Roy Hodgson’s men a vital three points in their bid to avoid relegation.
Warnock was less than impressed with the passage of play in the lead-up to Palace’s fourth goal, with Leeds wide open at the back.
“This is the 69th minute in the game and Leeds have made three changes but look how committed they are,” said Warnock (BBC Match of the Day 2, 40m 15s, 9 April).
“Look how gung-ho they are, putting too many players forward at home and now they’re in a four v two situation, it’s just criminal defending from Leeds.
“You don’t have to go and chase the game that early. This made it 4-1 and it was too easy to cut through them.”
Chalk and cheese
It’s really hard to work out how that went so badly wrong for Leeds in the second half, particularly after they were so dominant in the first period. Palace do deserve credit.
They punished the Whites on the counterattack with a clinical performance to pull themselves into a healthy league position. There were signs against Nottingham Forest that being caught on the break could well be a weakness.
Now the onus is on Gracia to get a tune out of these players and ensure they’re far more rigid defensively when Liverpool make the trip to West Yorkshire on Monday (17 April).
Jurgen Klopp’s men are known for their ability to hurt teams on the counterattack so the Spaniard would be wise to potentially adopt a more defensive and conservative approach.
The manner of the loss on Sunday has certainly brought everyone back to earth with a bang. It felt like a corner had been turned after the win over Forest. The upcoming fixtures against Fulham, Leicester and Bournemouth are now looking like make or break for Leeds in the fight to avoid relegation.
In other Leeds United news, a teenager now looks closer than ever after what he did at Thorp Arch during the international break with Javi Gracia taking note.
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