Leeds United vs. Millwall FC: Three Talking Points from the 4–3 loss
Leeds show heart, but ultimately, the same problems cost the Whites three points.
The emotions of a Leeds United fan are often a rollercoaster ride, and on Saturday the ride was memorable… and in the end disappointing. So far, January has not been the best for the Whites and, with another loss and the same questions appearing, the Millwall game gave us numerous talking points. So let’s go through our three from the game…
Players looked lost when Millwall attacked
A big problem I noticed on Saturday was the player’s inability to set themselves correctly within the formation when Millwall was in possession. They seemed lost and unable to read the game, and this ultimately cost us at least two of the goals.
I was so frustrated when we conceded the first goal. We had been let off with the disallowed goal and instead of this taking the impetus away from Millwall, we lost our positional awareness and allowed them to capitalise in a goal which could have been avoided if Leeds were doing the basics right.
Cooper’s sending off
To be honest, all the talking about ill-discipline in the squad annoys me. Both O’Kane and Saiz lost their heads, but to brand the whole team that way, I feel this just creates a sense of fear in the team.
The Cooper sending off isn’t in the same bracket as the other red card instances. Whether the tackle is a red is very debatable. I personally believe the arguing on the touchline and the atmosphere on the pitch led the referee to make the wrong decision.
However, it was the fact that Cooper had no reason to make that sort of challenge in that area of the pitch at that stage of the game that I took from the game. It’s not ill-discipline, but a lack of judgement on Cooper’s part which hindered us, and we now have lost key players for key games in the next few weeks, which will be hindered further by the mistake.
Deserved at least a point
Regardless of how the game finished, the heart of the players in the second half meant we deserved something from the game. I was impressed with the team’s ability to counter-attack and find so much space with only 10 men.
Lasogga showed us that he can score goals, and I still think we need a striker, but I have been pleased with the German’s contribution and struggle to see how much more the guy could do.
I think we would have won the game if Thomas Christiansen had kept the likes of Roofe and Lasogga on the pitch. It’s a confusing situation when the players controlling the game are taken off at such a key stage in the fixture.
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