Leeds United at Newport County: Three Talking Points from the 2–1 loss
Leeds are out of the FA Cup early after a dismal performance against League Two Newport.
It is difficult to figure out what effect Sunday’s FA Cup defeat to Newport County will have on the rest of Leeds United’s season. On face value, a cup run can be a hindrance to the chase for promotion, and therefore the defeat feels like less of a issue.
However, the manner of the defeat is where the problem lies. We have known the lack of depth in the squad, and we have been able to ignore it because of the fact that we still sit sixth in the Championship. But yesterday’s defeat exposed our lack of talent to a point where we can longer brush it under the carpet.
People have already made comparisons to the Sutton loss last season, but I felt we played worse yesterday than we did against Sutton. We need to try and move on quickly from it.
Our three talking points from a game we all want to forget…
1) Change in defensive approach cost us
As we often do in cup ties, we saw major changes throughout the Leeds team against Newport, including three changes to the back line. For me, these players’ inability to cope with Newport’s League-Two-quality attacking threat was the major factor in the result.
Whatever players are on the pitch, the fundamentals of the team should be adhered to. Unfortunately, this did not happen as the defenders were unable to set themselves up correctly and allowed the Newport attackers the chance to capitalise with the ball in our penalty area.
We have become accustomed to our defenders getting the ball away from danger in the first instance, but the Whites’ inability to react to the first ball and stop balls into the box put us on the back foot and cost us our confidence and ultimately the result.
2) The attack is once again an issue
As I mentioned earlier, the lack of depth in the squad has finally come to a head after yesterday. Both Jay-Roy Grot and Pierre-Michel Lasogga highlighted our lack of quality options in this key area.
Grot has been given numerous chances in the first team and has never shown even a glimpse he has the footballing facilities to be a success at this level yet. I do think it is wrong to overly criticise the Dutch striker, but with players in the under 23 squad looking to break through, it is to idiotic to play a striker who is clearly not ready for competitive English football.
I spoke with a friend of mine about Grot, and he highlighted the need for him to learn how to utilise his strength correctly. If given time away from the heavy criticism, he can be allowed to tweak and learn and maybe come back the big and powerful striker we expected when he signed him. It can only be a positive for everyone involved.
The situation with Lasogga meanwhile has divided the fanbase. Some are calling for him to be sent back to Hamburg and have highlighted his lack of work rate as a major concern.
I, on the other hand, do think that Lasogga can be a useful member of the squad. He has struggled since his return from injury, but you can see that he has a natural striker’s presence to his game. I do think we need further investment up front because none of the current striking options have consistently shown they can lead the line on a permanent basis, but I do also think Lasogga still has important role within the squad.
3) Blame Samu Saiz, not Thomas Christiansen
I love Saiz for everything he has added to the team this season. However, his actions at the end of Sunday’s game are simply unforgivable. He let us all down and now, at a pivotal period of the season against difficult teams, we will be without our best attacking player.
He has issued an apology and took responsibility for his actions.
Some fans were quick to blame Thomas Christiansen for what Saiz did, for including him in a cup tie against a League Two squad, and that did confuse me somewhat. Samual Saiz is a Leeds player and, as our manager, it is Christiansen prerogative who he thinks should play.
I personally wanted Saiz to start the game as these games often see the underdogs have a real go. If we had the creative quality of Saiz from the beginning, I do think the day would have panned out differently.
Thomas Christiansen will be fully aware of the things he got wrong, but Saiz deciding to spit on an opposition player is not Christiansen’s fault. It was a fitting conclusion to a terrible performance from Leeds (no, I didn’t even get to mention Berardi’s goal, the biggest shame of them all).
Overall, the game was a complete disaster, but I think we can still utilise the defeat. In a way, we can use the disappointment as a springboard to push on, to improve in the January window, and to not repeat the mistakes made for the rest of the Championship season.
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