Leeds United: Closing the gap & creating chances
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00:00 Leeds have certainly made a positive start to the season, they sit in third place, only
00:05 about seven or eight points away from the top two in Leicester and Ipswich. Firstly,
00:12 how successful would you rate their start to the season, how good is it being? But also,
00:17 how big are their chances of capturing the top two? But is there anything, or any other
00:22 teams perhaps, below them who could also catch Leeds?
00:26 This is the danger, isn't it? I think everybody automatically thinks so. We're talking a three-horse
00:30 race here, but all of a sudden you look at the table, if you do, and obviously you've
00:33 got Southampton are only one point below and there's teams below that even, the likes of
00:36 West Brom. So, it is far from a three-horse race, but they are very much the three teams
00:41 at the forefront of the betting at the moment by quite some distance. At the moment, it
00:46 would be looking that way, although Southampton in particular, I think, might emerge as a
00:49 big threat. But yeah, Leeds United start to the season, I think very good, really. I mean,
00:53 obviously not perfect, but I don't think anybody expected it to be perfect, especially, you
00:57 know, given the ins and outs of the summer, the uncertainty, you know, you didn't know
01:00 who was coming and going. Daniel Farker said himself when he came in, there would be a
01:04 bit of a bumpy start and, you know, that he expected Leeds to be better as they went on.
01:08 And that's obviously proven the case. And you look at it now, I mean, six wins out of
01:11 the last seven, I mean, that is promotion form. It's as simple as that. The only defeat
01:15 obviously coming at Stoke. And I think quite simply, if they keep that sort of form up,
01:19 then they'd have a very, very good chance of, you know, going up automatic. You'd have
01:23 to think so. I mean, obviously, because there is that gap, a lot does depend on what happens
01:28 with Leicester and Ipswich. But I mean, that gap's already been cut. Obviously, now it's
01:31 down to eight points. And you've got to remember the fact is, is that Leicester and Ipswich
01:35 still have to play each other twice. So obviously, they're not both going to pick up maximum
01:39 points in those two games. Leeds obviously have also played both of those two teams away
01:44 from home. And have obviously picked up three points at both of those games. So they've
01:47 got both of them to play at Ellen Road, where you would definitely fancy them. But I mean,
01:52 that's like talking about it almost as if it's like a shootout at the end of the season.
01:54 There are obviously still 30 games to go. And, you know, obviously all three of those
01:58 sides and Southampton and West Brom will drop other points, you know, here, there and everywhere.
02:03 But even so, I think it will be a very, very exacting standard. I don't think you'll be
02:06 allowed to get away with many slip-ups. But yeah, I think the way that Leeds are going
02:10 so far, ticking along nicely. There are obviously areas that can improve on. I mean, the finishing
02:14 chances is the main one, obviously, because I mean, games like the Plymouth game, you
02:17 should have been out of sight. And 2-1 at the end, it could have, you know, all it takes
02:21 is a set piece or anything and all of a sudden you're leaving with a draw. But yeah, it's
02:25 been a very good start to the season. It's interesting now because obviously the betting
02:27 has changed, obviously, you know, over the summer Leeds were straight away second favourites
02:31 and whatnot and then they drifted out after the poor start they had. But it's now getting
02:35 very, very close between Leeds and Ipswich, but you know, second in the betting, I think
02:38 4-1 and 9-2. So it almost suggests to me that probably one more slip-up from Ipswich and
02:43 another win for Leeds and they'd probably be second favourites. But, you know, it's not
02:46 always about the betting, it's about the points. But yeah, as I say, on that sort of hall at
02:50 the moment, six wins out of the last seven. If they can keep up something similar to that,
02:54 then it'd be very hard not to see them going up automatic. But there's an awful lot of
02:57 work to do and the bottom line is you've just got to stay consistent. But yeah, it has been
03:01 a good start to the season, I don't think there's any doubt about that and Daniel Farke
03:04 has done a fantastic job so far.
03:06 You mentioned there that against Plymouth at the weekend, Leeds probably should have
03:09 been out of sight in that game. 2-1, it's still a victory, it's still the three points,
03:14 but it could have perhaps been more comfortable. Is this a bit of a recurring issue that Leeds
03:19 are creating a lot of chances but not scoring perhaps as many as they should be?
03:23 Yeah, I think so. And to be honest, as long as I've been doing these videos here, it's
03:27 been a sort of theme at Leeds. It was a massive theme under Marcelo Bielsa. The difference
03:32 under Marcelo Bielsa was that they created so many chances that, I mean, even if they
03:35 were sort of a bit perfidious in front of goal, you know, they'd almost always, especially
03:39 in the Championship, score enough goals to get the job done. But it's funny because you
03:43 sort of think about that Plymouth game and you're right, they should have been out of
03:46 sight. I mean, they were 2-0 up very early on and it was almost starting to sort of threaten
03:49 towards, get towards Huddersfield sort of extremes where it was totally done by half-time.
03:54 But obviously, it didn't add any more to the tally. And sort of watching it, the feeling
03:58 was there should be more ahead of this. But when you actually look back on it, I mean,
04:00 they did have lots of chances. I mean, in terms of shots on goal, 14 attempts and six
04:06 on target, which is a decent amount. But it sort of felt like it was more than that at
04:10 the time. But as you say, they did enough to get the job done. It's just, you know,
04:14 if they are going to miss chances like that, then it makes it even more important, obviously,
04:17 than they're going to keep clean sheets at the other end. They've got a lot of clean
04:20 sheets this season already. Obviously, Melies has been very, very solid between the sticks.
04:24 But I think if you're looking at areas that Leeds need to improve on, it is the obvious
04:27 one, you know, just be a bit more clinical in front of goal. And as I say, it's something
04:31 we talked about before. It's, you know, what do you do about it? I mean, I don't think
04:34 there'd be any temptation to change things up. I think Routier and Pirro, that works
04:39 very nicely up front. The wing slots as well. I mean, obviously, Somerville Player of the
04:42 Month for me, and he starts as simple as that. Dan James is starting to add more of an end
04:46 product towards games. So, I don't think there's any great temptation to sort of change things
04:49 up. There are other options there, obviously. You know, your likes of Bamford and Nonto
04:53 and Jadon Nance and everything. But I think it's just, you know, I suppose the idea is,
04:58 you know, just continue to create as many chances as possible. The more chances you
05:01 create, the more goals you're likely to score. And obviously, just work on it in training.
05:04 You know, it is an area they need to improve on. But they're creating chances, which is
05:09 the main thing. And the bottom line is, as you say, they've got the job done and you
05:13 just look at them results. You know, six wins out of the last seven and it shows they're
05:16 doing something right. So, yeah, all good at the moment. But obviously, there's always
05:19 areas you can improve on.