14th December, 2024, EFL Championship.
I predicted a 1 – 1 score in the piece I do for the YEP ahead of this game, the rest of the Jury going for a Leeds win of various scores. I mention this not to blow my own trumpet but to explain why I didn’t follow logic in that prediction.
Most of the logic suggested Leeds should win this game. We were fresh from seeing off Middlesbrough in midweek where we’d played really well, dominating a decent Boro side, and we were in decent form. Preston had a good-looking 2-0 win at Cardiff in the week but, before that, had gone 10 games without a win, albeit drawing seven of them. Perhaps the one clue to the scale of our challenge was that two of those recent draws were against West Brom and Sunderland, top teams. But the key factor that we have learned over the years about the Leeds United psyche is that, time after time, when we go into a game that all logic says we should win, and particularly when that game is played in front of a huge Leeds away following, for some reason we are unable to function at our best. Is that the weight of the Leeds United shirt? Is it just coincidence? I’m not sure.
Once again in that exact scenario today, Leeds failed themselves. Preston didn’t do enough to get a point off Leeds today; Leeds did that to themselves. Our failure, in my humble opinion, comes down to a lack of composure at crucial moments in the game. Why we lacked that composure, again, I’m not sure.
One of those moments has caused us an issue all season; our finishing. Yet again today we had at least two golden opportunities to put the ball in the net, big chances, yet at those crucial moments, we didn’t have the composure to finish the job. Brenden Aaronson in the first half, ballooned the ball over the bar from ten yards out and under no pressure when it looked easier to score. And yes, I know the ball took a bobble, but hellfire, ten yards out! Brenden has had too many of these moments and I’m convinced it’s a lack of composure; he panics. Patrick Bamford perhaps has more of an excuse with his clever attempted back heel in the second half, the man clearly has no confidence and little recent playing time to build any. Still, how many times have we seen lesser players than Paddy perform that party trick with a positive outcome?
It wasn’t just our finishing though was it? The Preston goal, quick as they broke, should not have happened. Pascal Struijk had a poor game today and he was turned far too easily in midfield to set the move off. Then he was left trailing, showing his lack of pace in those situations. But then we watched as Joe Rodon ushered the ball past him. Was he not aware of the danger lurking at the back post? Jayden Bogle clearly wasn’t as he let his man get free with no challenge. And then, to cap it all, Illan Meslier effectively shovelled the ball into the net having got two hands to it! "Whatmough" can I say? (Sorry!) Is all that a lack of composure? Or is it a lack of quality? I’m not sure. But there were other moments too; most set piece deliveries were poor today and too many final balls went astray spoiling otherwise good work in the build-up. There were a few players who fell short of the quality we need and expect too; Jayden Bogle was poor, Pascal was poor and Brenden, though in the game a lot, was poor.
Leeds played reasonably well most of the time today, we dominated the game as we’ve dominated every game, with 65% of the ball. We fashioned 18 goal attempts to only 5 from Preston and we delivered 8 corners to two for the home side. We dominated it, and yet, at crucial moments, Preston outshone us. They are a limited team but they kept the game simple and they did those simple things largely without error. They capitalised on their early goal too with the usual array of time-wasting and gamesmanship that we always face in this Championship of limited quality but plentiful nous and guile. Another poor referee didn’t help either, he was weak in dealing with the time-wasting, he added on nowhere near enough time to cover all the stoppages in either half and he bottled a decision to give a second yellow card when Ben Whiteman took out Jayden Bogle having already been booked in the first half. I’m not even sure he was convinced it was a foul until he heard the roar of disapproval from the Leeds fans.
It was infuriating to watch Leeds defeat themselves today but, credit to Preston, they were well-drilled and largely error free playing a simple game. Leeds only have themselves to blame though for allowing this one to get away.
Still, this time last year, having thrashed Ipswich only days earlier, we went down at Deepdale in even worse circumstances! I guess that’s progress folks!
Sky Bet Championship
Preston North End 1 (Potts 23)
Leeds United 1 (Whatmough (og) 90+3)
Preston: Woodman, Whiteman (Thordarson 46), Lindsay, Keane (Riis 62), McCann, Frokjaer (Whatmough 83), Brady (Holmes 62), Storey, Osmajic (Ledson 75), Kesler-Hayden, Potts. Subs not used: Cornell, Okkels, Bauer, Bowler.
Leeds: Meslier, Bogle (Joseph 82), Rodon, Struijk, Byram (Ampadu 82), Tanaka, Rothwell (Solomon 77), James, Gnonto (Bamford 65), Aaronson (Ramazani 65), Piroe. Subs not used: Darlow, Guilavogui, Schmidt, Wober.
Booked: Whiteman, Osmajic, Lindsay (Preston), James (Leeds)
Referee: J. Busby
Venue: Deepdale