Inside Elland Road: Defensive solidity is vital for Leeds Utd
Leeds United captain Ethan Ampadu gave his verdict on Sunday's defeat at the City Ground.
Club captain Ethan Ampadu insists Leeds United will ‘go again’ after the international break with lessons learned from another chastening defeat at Nottingham Forest .
Leeds lost 3-1 at the City Ground on Sunday as goals from Ibrahim Sangare, Morgan Gibbs-White and Elliot Anderson rendered Lukas Nmecha’s early opener meaningless. Daniel Farke’s side were blunt in attack and worryingly open at the back, conceding three for a second away game running.
Gibbs-White became the latest midfielder to enter the Leeds box completely unmarked and head home, having seen West Ham’s Mateus Fernandes and Lesley Ugochukwu of Burnley enjoy similar success in recent weeks. Anderson then scored from the spot after Jack Harrison, brought on at left-back, brought down Omari Hutchinson after getting done for pace.
Speaking after full-time, Farke said his side were punished for switching off in small moments despite working on tracking runners all week, a sentiment Ampadu echoed in his own post-match comments. And the Leeds skipper insists himself and others are learning from these difficult moments.
“We go again,” Ampadu told LUTV following Sunday’s defeat at the City Ground. “I said in the previous interview, whether we had won today or lost today, that is what we do. We stick by each other throughout.
“It is a long way to go. We don’t have to keep saying this. We know we have got to be a little bit sharper, a little bit brighter in some moments as a collective, and we are going to work on that.
“I know I have said it over the last few weeks that we are learning a lot and lessons are being learned. We are confident that we are able to show that. The fans are always amazing and we need them as much as they need us.”
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What’s next for Daniel Farke and Leeds United after Nottingham Forest defeat?
Ampadu is among a handful of first-team players set to spend the next week or so on international duty, joining the Wales camp with Karl Darlow, Joe Rodon and Dan James for two crucial World Cup qualifiers. Jaka Bijol, Gabriel Gudmundsson and Ilia Gruev also have qualifying games to play for Slovenia, Sweden and Bulgaria respectively.
Brenden Aaronson (USA) and Ao Tanaka (Japan) will play friendlies over the next week, meaning Farke is without a large group of core players as he looks to arrest Leeds’ recent slide during the break. The Whites boss has two weeks to prepare for the visit of in-form Aston Villa to Elland Road, the first of four straight difficult games.
Leeds head to title contenders Manchester City after hosting Villa before back-to-back home games against Chelsea and Liverpool, both of whom have been inconsistent but boast incredible quality. Farke will need to improve his side defensively and going forward if they are to take anything from those four games and avoid dropping into the relegation zone.
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