West Brom 0 Leeds United 0: YEP video verdict
Leeds United writer Lee Sobot with his verdict from The Hawthorns stands on a goalless draw as the wait for a first win continues.
Transcript
00:00Hello there, Lee Sobot at the Yorkshire Evening Post here from West Bromwich Albion, FC the
00:06Hawthorns where there's not much to report because there were no goals to report as the
00:10game ended in a goalless draw between the Baggies and the Whites. There is a bit more
00:14to report than that though really because there's quite an important aspect to report
00:19here which is how Leeds United are at the moment, which is basically on this evidence
00:24pretty solid in defence but just massively lacking in an attacking sphere in the final
00:28third and to be honest that is absolutely no surprise when you look at the players who
00:32have departed. You take out Gio Junior-Routier who was obviously on the verge of his Premier
00:36League move to Brighton and then you take out Kricenzio Somerville, obviously the league's
00:41best player, player of the year last season who has obviously already made his move to
00:44West Ham. You take those two out, bags of goals and assists between them last season
00:47and obviously if you don't replace them then you're going to have a problem and that's
00:50basically what was played out here to be quite truthful. I mean there were a few chances
00:56for both teams in the second half but in the end a goalless draw. The first half passed
01:01without a single shot on target from either team. Leeds did end the half slightly better
01:06and Pascal put in one wide, a deflected header that went just wide but I mean not much to
01:11write home about in the first half. The second half was a bit of a better spectacle, not
01:14exactly a classic game of the century though by any means but you've got to say West Brom
01:18probably had slightly better chances you would say. Leeds pretty lucky that one of the shots
01:23was fired straight at El Amelie who kept a clean sheet which is obviously going to
01:27do wonders for his confidence. But there were chances for Leeds as well. Peru had a couple,
01:32the decent break down the right-hand side started off for a bogey to Matteo Joseph across
01:36for Peru but he could only put that wide and he had a really disappointing afternoon. It
01:40was no surprise that he got subbed off. I mean in a way he was basically playing as
01:43Routier's replacement really in the number 10 role and just didn't look the answer in
01:47that role whatsoever and he's having a frustrating time with things at the moment. I mean put
01:51simply I think Leeds know this, obviously they need to get some players in, they need
01:54to get some attacking players in and they've now got two weeks to do that and quite simply
01:58I think they need to get replacements in for Routier and for Somerville. I mean you're
02:02not going to replace them like for like because they're too good of players really for this
02:05level but certainly get two people in to sort of cover that. A full-back also is something
02:10that Leeds and Daniel Farke are looking at and that seems sensible obviously to provide
02:13extra cover and competition in that area. And as well as a centre midfielder and a centre
02:17midfielder again sort of in keeping with the theme which we're saying here, a centre
02:21midfielder who can create because you had Ampadu and Groove in the middle again today.
02:26Both sort of solid shifts just getting stuck in, you know plenty of tackles and whatnot
02:29but just need like a little bit more of a creative spark and Joe Rothwell came on just
02:34after the hour mark and actually ended up playing at number 10 and you know he's obviously
02:37a bit more of a forward-thinking midfielder but again just couldn't you know give the
02:41spark that Leeds needed really and as I say in the end here it finished goalers. What
02:46we would say is a goalless draw here at West Brom, a West Brom side who obviously made
02:50the playoffs last season is you know in its own right probably quite a good result getting
02:54a clean sheet here. As it was put to me it's a better result than Leeds got last season
02:58obviously when they fell to a 1-0 defeat here over Christmas time so that's a step in the
03:02right direction and also I think if you do get a point here and you take three points
03:06in the opening game of the season against Portsmouth then suddenly you're looking at
03:09four points out of six and you're thinking that's a pretty decent return but alas as
03:12we know they only got one point against Portsmouth, the performance obviously merited three, they
03:16should have got three but they didn't so they're now on two points out of a possible
03:19six which you know is basically points return-wise a pretty slow start so obviously they've got
03:24to go to Sheffield Wednesday now, they're still seeking that first win of the season,
03:28Sheffield Wednesday away on Friday night at Hillsborough will be a very, very hard game
03:31obviously Yorkshire derby but not just that they're actually looking at an improved outfit
03:34now under Danny Rowland, that'll be a very, very hard game so the wait continues. I think
03:39obviously after conceding six in two games then the obvious plus point here is the defensive
03:44aspect of it. Pascal Stroik for me was the man of the match today, I thought he was excellent
03:47at the back, he probably should have scored, he had two headers that were sent wide but
03:51if he'd have put one of those in he's sort of talking an absolutely excellent display
03:53but he was very solid at the back next to Rodon but I mean just in a nutshell Leeds
03:57need some attackers, they need some more flair, they need to get you know some more stuff
04:00in the final third and the next two weeks are going to be crucial towards that and basically
04:04what they do in those two weeks will probably determine what they do this season. The wait
04:09continues for a win but it's sort of a step in the right direction as it finishes here,
04:12West Brom nil, Leeds United nil.