Three things we learned about Leeds in win v WBA
Leeds missed more big chances in their game against West Brom but held on to claim all three points.
But the 1-0 scoreline from Elland Road on Tuesday night didn’t tell the full story of an enthralling match.
Here are the big MOT talking points on a night when Leeds moved back to the top of the Championship.
1. Patrick Bamford was immense
All the talk before the game was how he wasn’t converting enough chances. And Bamford, 26, missed another sitter at Elland Road on Tuesday night, poking the ball at the keeper from a few yards out when it looked easier to score. But, despite blanking for the fifth game in a row, we think the result of the game would have been very different if he hadn’t have been on the pitch. Put simply, he was exactly what Leeds needed on a rare night where we looked second best in the second half. He worked tirelessly, held the ball up brilliantly when our backs were against the wall, and showed real guts. This is why he’s starting ahead of Eddie Nketiah and he was a big part of the 1-0 win. The history books will record this as another game where he failed to score, but that doesn’t tell the right story.
2. West Brom are good
This was a very rare night when Leeds didn’t dominate. In fact, for large periods of the second half West Brom were well on top. Leeds had just 47% of possession, the second least since Marcelo Bielsa took over, and made 328 passes, the least since Bielsa has been in charge. This was a very different type of game to the ones we’ve become accustomed to under Bielsa and West Brom were unlucky not to come out of it with a point. However, Leeds are still creating the big chances – two, according to SofaScore, compared to zero from West Brom. That’s testament to Ben White, Liam Cooper and Gaetano Berardi in the Leeds defence, the latter coming on for the stricken captain. It means Leeds have only conceded five goals in 10 games, which is promotion-winning form.
3. Bielsa showed real class again
Tyler Roberts wasn’t happy after being subbed on at half-time and then subbed off again 30 minutes later. Marcelo Bielsa tried to have words with him when he came off but Roberts didn’t seem interested in listening to him, and you can understand why. Getting subbed as a sub without a teammate getting sent off is embarrassing. But Roberts probably shouldn’t have come on in the first place. He didn’t play well and the game wasn’t looking for Leeds to have a more attack-minded player. Bielsa realised his mistake and rectified it, but he went out of his way to apologise to Roberts in his post-match interview. He said he was sorry on more than one occasion and said it wasn’t down to Roberts’ performance but the shape of the game. It was a classy gesture that shows Bielsa really cares about his players, not just about the result.
