Written by Matt Stevenson
I managed to make this one but was in the corner almost unable to see one of the corner flags. The interesting thing for me is that whilst I knew we were under pressure, I hadn’t realised how few chances we’d created in the second half. The game started badly with Senesi giving away a penalty, although unlike other weeks this wasn’t contentious. Rodrigo made it 1-0 (rated 4 in 5). We quickly equalise with our first attempt, Billing’s cross towards Moore was flicked on by a defender and Tavernier side-footed home (rated 37%). The first half belonged to AFCB, with Leeds not mustering much, and Bournemouth having chances. Lerma had a header cleared off the line well (18%) before Billing hit a rocket (1 in 20) to put us 2-1 up. We also had a big chance with Moore receiving the ball unmarked near the penalty spot from a Billing flick but he didn’t connect cleanly (1 in 2). Before this, Meslier had made a last-ditch sliding tackle on Lerma when we broke 2 vs 1, which doesn’t show up on xG as there wasn’t a shot. The half-time xG was Leeds 0.91 (0.8 of which was the penalty) and AFCB 1.43. We started the second half brightly and went 3-1, Solanke with a clever flick (that xG doesn’t consider, so rated this as 1 in 3). This spurred on the Leeds crowd who became their noisiest and it was a case if AFCB could see out the storm. Unfortunately, we didn’t although we were restricting Leeds to small chances. Their second goal had some fortune about it, Mepham blocking a shot that Travers had to dive for, and fell to Greenwood, who placed it neatly in the corner before Travers could get back up and dive across (rated 1 in 33). Eight minutes later we were level. A corner swung in saw Cooper jumping against Smith (who didn’t get off the ground) and heading in (1 in 10). The momentum was with Leeds although we had another chance, Billing cleverly leaving Lerma’s pass to set Stacey free (who’d come on for Fredericks) with his shot just whistling past the post. From my position, it looked like it may have been going in (1 in 25). The winner in the 84th minute was our own downfall, although our third came directly from a Leeds corner. With the centre-backs (who aren’t the quickest) forward, Cook under hit a dangerous free kick, leaving Leeds to break at speed three against three. Senesi should have taken one for the team and clipped Gnonto’s heels, but he slipped a through ball to Summerville inside the box, one-on-one with Travers and finished well (64%). Leeds ran down the clock well and there were no further real
chances.
The average positional map shows we had more aggressive intent down the right and that Lerma played deeper than in recent games. Stanislas and Rothwell came on too late to be included in the diagram.
Four players attempted three tackles each (Billing, Cook, Smith and Tavernier). AFCB won 15 out of 16 tackles.
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Your say…
Red_till_im_ded wrote…
I think it’s difficult to blame the players Saturday although there were mistakes. Travers could’ve done better for their 3rd goal. Greenwood could’ve been closed down quicker for their 2nd. I thought the first half was a fantastic effort and how we didn’t go in 4-1 up is head-shakingly frustrating. The issue for me was the lack of game management from the bench and the players. At 3-1 we didn’t calm the frenetic pace of the game. We dropped deeper to a point where we were having 8 or 9 players in our penalty box leaving space on the edge of the box and time for the ball to keep coming back. GO’s timing of the subs was again reactive rather than proactive although to be fair the quality on the bench is poor and options limited. Other clubs in our situation are now employing managers yet we are still silent about any future recruitment. I would t be surprised if there is even a name being talked about behind closed doors. The sale of the club has stalled our progress and I’d guess there are those at a high-level positions at the club who are thinking about their own future rather than that of the club. Why it is taking so long for the FA to sanction the sale is mind-boggling, especially when a country like Saudi Arabia can buy a club and receive quick acceptance from the FA. We need to change quickly both in the manager position and in the playing staff or we will go down. – To join the conversation, click here.
