But, and it’s a BIG but. Anybody who witnessed last night’s debacle will realise that Leeds United, as a club, have failed to address the issues that almost saw us throw promotion away last season. I assumed that now the shackles and pressures of a promotion run-in are long since gone, we would have witnessed a controlled and quality performance against a decent League Two outfit.
Unfortunately, we were a yard off the pace for the entire 90 minutes and could easily have been one down within 30 seconds. Bury looked sharper, calmer and more comfortable and will feel aggrieved that it wasn’t more than four. Our midfield quartet were literally non-existent, Johnson contributed nothing as usual, Kilkenney and Howson are still too lightweight, repeatedly giving the ball away and Snodgrass looked like he was playing with chains around his ankles.
I’ m not usually one to over react to situations like this, but I can assure you, based on last nights performance, we should all be very worried… Our back five are probably suffering from having never played together before and that’ll take time but the only positive I can draw from them is Kasper Schmeichel’s kicking ability.
It wasn’t individual performances that concerned me most, it was the apparent lack of ideas. Without the option and outlet of a ball over the top, we looked very average and seemingly clueless about how to get beyond a League 2 defence. I hope the likes of Paynter, Sam and any additional signings we may or may not make can breath some life into Leeds United, as the only player who looked capable of performing at Championship level last night was Max Gradel.
So over to you Messrs Grayson and Bates, we need a leader and some deranged lunatic in central midfield, Oh and a 20-goal striker. Without these we are in for a very, very long season…
Oh, and Bury Football Club, charging £9.30 for 2 packaged pies and 2 Diet Cokes at a pre-season friendly is an outrage!
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