Leeds United vs. Port Vale: Three Talking Points from the 4–1 win
The season’s first competitive game at Elland Road was an entertaining affair as Leeds showed quality in depth with a comfortable 4–1 win.
People underestimate the importance of the League Cup (I refuse to call it the Carabao Cup) to any team that is not a mid-table Premier League outfit. However, the Port Vale game on Wednesday night highlighted the importance a decent cup run can have for a side like Leeds United.
Regardless of the quality of the opposition, a win creates momentum that can become a mentality while testing and strengthening the depth of the squad. We have now won the first two games of the season and scored 7 goals in the process, using 20 different players in the two starting XI’s. Last season it took us seven games to reach that total.
Leeds dominated most of the play in this match with a cerebral style of football using both wings to great effect.
The game gave us a lot to ponder as we look ahead to Saturdays game against Preston.
Here are the three main talking points from the game on Wednesday night:
No need for more defensive cover
During Monday’s episode of NFS weekly, we discussed whether we needed further cover in the centre of defence. During the segment, I started to realise that in terms of numbers, we had lot of cover. However, it wasn’t until during the Port Vale game that I realised we actually have enough quality in the players we have.
The back four against Port Vale was Borthwick-Jackson, Ayling, Shaughnessy, and Anita. All four had a decent game. The wing back attributes and creative presence of Borthwick-Jackson added enough cover at left back to allow the moving of players like Ayling to centre half.
Thomas Christiansen’s way of attack looks to be to have the team come forward with the ball from deep: the centre half is often driving forward with the ball into the middle of the park. Ayling did this time after time on Wednesday evening and was the link between the attack and defence. I personally don’t believe we have a better ball-carrying defender than Luke Ayling, so he can easily play in the centre supported by Borthwick-Jackson and Anita and be just as effective as the other options.
Shaughnessy also showed his potential against Port Vale. After quite a rocky debut at the weekend, the young Irish player showed he has the talent to play an effective part in the squad. Port Vale implemented a very aggressive approach to the game, but Shaughnessy was able to deal with it and was always first to the ball. The thing that pleased me so much from his performance was his distribution. It wasn’t often we saw a direct longer ball approach from Leeds, but when we did, it seemed to be Shaughnessy who was the man providing the passes. The accuracy and calibre of Shaughnessy’s ball further underlined his potential.
The centre back partnership will be Jansson and Cooper/Pennington but with Ayling and Shaughnessy waiting when required, I think we will be OK.
Changes changed the game
Leeds dominated for the majority of the match, but we did start to lose the siege mentality after the first 25 minutes. I half expected extra time and penalties after Port Vale drew level, but then just before the hour mark, on came Alioski and Bridcutt and the whole dynamic of the game changed within a few minutes.
Alioski replaced the ineffective Hadi Sacko and instantly made an impact as his pace and skill blew away the Port Vale players and was the catalyst for the three goals that followed.
Ekuban’s goal showed the standard that Alioski is at in comparison to others. It was interesting to see him play on the right side of midfield and be more effective. He looked a lot more comfortable coming in onto his left foot than he did playing on the left on Sunday.
Bridcutt also made a difference. Klich had a good first half but clearly was not 100% match fit. Vieira had grown into the game, but we needed something extra, and Bridcutt give us that. He stopped Port Vale gaining any momentum in our half of the pitch and killed any threat of them causing an upset. Bridcutt’s ability to break up the play is something the rest of the midfield do not offer, so we might see more of Bridcutt than we might have expected.
Sensational Saiz
We have had a lot of ‘unknown’ players grace the squad over the last few years, most of which have failed miserably at the club. However, the current unknown entities have started well and none of them have started better than Samuel Saiz who scored a brilliant hat trick on Wednesday. All three goals were finished with composure and excellence.
The goals were not what I was most impressed with: it was his movement off and on the ball and strength that you do not normally see in players who previously plied their trade in Europe's other leagues.
Port Vale just could not handle Saiz and had to target him physically to try and stifle him. I felt he handled the aggressive approach from Port Vale well.
Michael Brown did accuse Saiz of spitting, and if he spat at the Port Vale defender, than he should be punished accordingly. However, I did not see anything and with no clear-cut evidence, we can assume Saiz is innocent and congratulate the young Spaniard on a dream debut.
I do think Hernandez will get the nod on Saturday, but Saiz played wonderfully. Hernandez adds a little more creativity at the 10, so I expect Thomas Christiansen will stick with Pablo.. for now.
The game overall highlighted the flexibility we have in the team. Last season, the performances were overall effective but occasionally rigid. The aim of this season is to progress into the playoff positions, and the key to that is flexibility throughout the squad. Early signs in the last few games suggest we now have that in abundance. MOT.
