Leeds United’s woes continued as the Yorkshire giants were defeated by Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Sunday evening.
Marcelo Bielsa and his side were already sat just one place above the relegation zone, just two points adrift, but they were unrewarded in a game that they actually looked quite promising in.
The Argentine was without several key stars, with Raphinha (illness) and Rodrigo (injury) surprise absentees, on top of leading talisman Patrick Bamford and vice-captain Luke Ayling.
Spurs failed to even register a shot on target in the first half as the Whites went into the break one goal to the good after Dan James met Jack Harrison’s low-driven cross.
However, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and then Sergio Reguilon found the net for the home side to seal the come-from-behind victory.
Leeds had more possession and more attempts at goal than Spurs, yet a vast majority of these came from outside the area and it’s yet another cause for concern for Bielsa as his side looked hopeless in the final third.
His two wingers may have combined for their only goal – their 12th in as many games, to be precise – but neither pulled up any trees besides that one moment.
Particularly with Harrison as he looked rather lightweight on the left. He lost possession more times (24) than any other visiting player, meaning he handed possession back to Spurs once every 2.75 minutes across the whole game.
Furthermore, he failed with his six other crosses, managing an accuracy rate of just 14% and similarly, a passing accuracy of 78% was the second-worst of any outfield starter, as per SofaScore.
The former Man City graduate also appeared to be weak in his battles, winning just 27% of his 15 battles, which suggests that, more often than not, he struggled up against Emerson Royal and the home back-three.
On social media, it was 59th-minute substitute Junior Firpo that received plenty of flak from supporters, but given he was thrown on in difficult circumstances and was tasked with defensive duties, rather than forward ones, he cannot garner much of the blame.
Yes, Harrison got the assist for their opener but aside from that, he struggled to combat the Lilywhites’ physical threat and he was rather wasteful too.
The £60k-per-week dynamo could’ve made an even bigger impact had he replicated his actions in the 44th minute with more consistency throughout the game and as such, he will have disappointed Bielsa to not have delivered more.
AND in other news, Beren Cross drops John Swift transfer update…