Leeds United
Keith Andrews. Credit: Imago
Leeds United were held to a goalless draw by Brentford at Elland Road, picking up a point in their bid to stay in the Premier League.
It wasn’t the win they wanted on home turf, and it means their league winless run now stands at six games. Still, they managed to avoid defeat and add to their tally.
Most Read on The Leeds Press
West Ham’s defeat at Aston Villa meant Leeds remain four points clear of the relegation zone with seven games left in the season. However, they need to get a win under their belt soon to ease some of the pressure.
The Leeds-Brentford game has been deemed ‘hard to watch’ by several pundits. However, journalist Henry Winter was not impressed with some of the tactics by the away side.
Brentford get slammed for ‘cheating’ tactics against Leeds
Winter is growing increasingly tired of goalkeepers going down to allow his teammates to get a fresh set of instructions from the manager in the middle of the game.
Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher did the same on Saturday, and Leeds faced a similar problem against Manchester City earlier in the season at the Etihad.
The journalist urged the authorities to clamp down on such instances, and feels there needs to be new rules to ensure that these things do not become a common occurrence during games.
Winter wrote on X: “Tactical time-outs are an increasing problem in football. A few PL clubs do it. Even England have done it.
“Caoimhin Kelleher may have genuinely been injured – he was able to play on – but Leeds United’s frustration at the disruption was understandable. They were building, had brought on subs and then the game paused.
“Daniel Farke already raised concerns earlier this season. Gianluigi Donnarumma went down, and Manchester City players went to the touchline for instructions. Farke asked the fourth official if he was going to do something. Officials’ hands are tied at the moment. Teams [are] getting around the rule for outfield players to go off for 30 seconds after treatment. Now, goalkeepers are used for tactical timeouts.
“IFAB has discussed a nominated outfield player going off for 30 seconds if a keeper has treatment. But concern that a keeper could genuinely have been injured. A possible solution is for players to be stopped from going to the touchline during stoppages or ordered to stay in the centre circle.
“Be interesting to see whether World Cup refs clamp down. It’s seeking an advantage by breaking up the opposition’s flow, by giving the manager an opportunity for instructions, and also it’s time-wasting, and there’s enough of that spoiling games.”
The Whites have had some tough luck with referees
Farke’s side have every reason to feel aggrieved, with a string of questionable refereeing decisions impacting them in the last few games.
Leeds will feel that with fairer officiating, they might have avoided defeats at home to Manchester City and Sunderland earlier this month.
Gudmundsson’s red card against Crystal Palace didn’t help matters either, making it much harder for them to push for a win after the break, and in the end, they were grateful to come away with a point.
With the relegation fight heating up, Farke will be hoping things finally start to swing in Leeds’ favour during the run-in.
The battle for survival is only getting tighter, and Leeds can’t afford to keep dropping points due to refereeing decisions at this stage of the season.