Leeds United’s fans have had their say on Saturday’s defeat to Arsenal.
Leeds United suffered a second heavy defeat of the season to Arsenal as the Gunners bagged a 4-0 win at Elland Road - but what did the club’s fans think? Here is what our YEP Jury had to say on Saturday’s reverse at Elland Road including the main worries of the display and now a club hierarchy big decision as team needs are highlighted.
NEIL GREWER
A look at the team sheets well before kick-off set the scene for me – a massive gulf in value and quality of the starting teams and sub.
And, within half an hour of the game starting, the gulf was proved when Noni Madueke, a late change to the starting eleven following Bukayo Sako dropping out, crossed for Martin Zubimendi to head home.
Soon after, a Madueke corner caused confusion in the Leeds defence and Karl Darlow fumbled the ball into the net.
Leeds had started brightly and had short spells of possession throughout the 90 minutes but, overall, Arsenal were by far the better team. At two down, the crowd continued to encourage the team and the rendition of WACCOE was impressive, although ultimately fruitless.
Arsenal added another two goals, but the game had already been won.
Leeds were simply just not good enough but, given the difference in financial clout, this is not surprising. Arsenal are the best team in England, if not Europe, and it showed.
Leeds must not dwell on this result but move on to focus on winnable games.
Man of the match: Ethan Ampadu (a captain’s performance).
ANDY RHODES
As far as defeats go, this was one we probably all saw coming.
Arsenal are a high-quality side and the only team this season to really blow Leeds United away. The 5-0 defeat in August was before the Whites had got their full team together so there was at least some hope this time.
But, after a positive start, Leeds crumbled following the the opening goal. We all know Arsenal are difficult to handle at set-pieces, but there was a real defensive mix-up for the second goal.
One of the most disappointing things was that Leeds barely tested David Raya in the Arsenal goal. Some crunching tackles and the early Ethan Ampadu strike didn’t set the tone and the Gunners soon took control.
But these aren’t the games Leeds need to be winning. The next game against Nottingham Forest is vital and, if Daniel Farke’s side can win that, they’ll put the pressure on a West Ham side that missed a chance to close the gap again this weekend.
Man of the match: Pascal Struijk.
DAVID WATKINS
Let’s be honest, many of us thought Leeds would succumb to Arsenal, and many of us predicted it.
So, the fact we did lose is no surprise. The annoying thing, though, is that a case could be made that all four goals conceded were avoidable. To get anything from this game, we had to be 100 per cent secure, but we weren’t.
It might have been different had an early left-footer from Ethan Ampadu found the top corner, but it flew a yard too high, and that was as close as Leeds came to a goal all afternoon. Arsenal, by contrast, had seven big chances throughout.
Leeds looked solid for 27 minutes, but then Joe Rodon was trapped behind two Arsenal players, unable to get to Zubimendi, as he flicked home a clever header. Then, a right-wing corner to the near post had Karl Darlow jumping against two Leeds players to fumble the ball into his own net.
In the second half, Pascal Struijk failed to clear the ball, then failed to stop the resulting cross, and Jayden Bogle was outwitted in the six-yard box.
And, finally, Struijk was turned inside out, and Gabriel Jesus netted a fourth. All avoidable, Leeds are conceding too many soft goals.
Man of the match: Anton Stach.
KEITH INGHAM
Leeds were hammered 4-0 at Elland Road to give Arsenal a 9-0 aggregate score from the games against them this season and they did it in second gear and without Saka, one of their best players.
Leeds can take nothing from this game but fans must be worried that they only had one shot on target and, since his fantastic seven in six games, the goals seem to have dried up for DCL.
Daniel Farke brought back Gabriel Gudmundsson in place of Sebastiaan Bornauw and played James Justin in a back-three. Arsenal lost Saka pre game so he was replaced by Noni Madueke. The winger was a constant menace for Arsenal.
I’m not going to go through the goals, suffice to say that two came from set-pieces, one punched into his own net by Karl Darlow. The second two were gifted to Arsenal by pretty shambolic defending.
The heirachy has a big decision: late bids for players or sit on their hands and wheel out the old excuses after the transfer window slams shut. On this performance – I know it was against the league leaders – nothing stood out to give Leeds a little lift up front where I think they might need it.
An additional defender might also be a sensible idea.
Man of the match: Nobody stood out.
United's return match with Arsenal turned out to be another hard lesson.
The Whites were outgunned and outplayed by the Champions elect and the massive gulf in class between the Premier League new boys and their wealthy opponents could not have been clearer.
In a rare Leeds attack, Ethan Ampadu sent a fine shot just over the bar then, just before the half-hour, Martin Zubimendi put the Gunners ahead.
The Whites held out but the killer punch was soon to come.
Karl Darlow clutched at a near-post corner and managed to turn it into his own net. This knocked the stuffing out of the Whites and there were few supporters in the stadium who believed that a comeback was going to happen.
Victor Gyokeres and Gabriel Jesus added to Arsenal's tally in the second half and the rout was complete.
The positive news came from elsewhere as West Ham squandered a 2-0 lead to go down 3-2 at Chelsea. Next up: Nottingham Forest under the Elland Road lights.
Let us hope that normal service is resumed as soon as possible.
Man of the match: Joe Rodon.
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