Leeds United have made a decent start to the season, but their current form is dwindling as they have dropped three points against Charlton Atheltic. Even in the earlier games, the Whites could have secured all the points, but poor finishing and the lack of final product have cost them time and again.
United had 72 percent of the possession against the Addicks, but the opponents were comfortable without the ball for significant periods of the game. It wasn’t one of those games were the West Yorkshire outfit were unlucky as Charlton thoroughly deserved their three points. Watching Bielsa’s men must be becoming a painful affair for their fans as they conceded a sloppy goal, and for all the domination, they never look like scoring more than one.
Lack of Plan B costing United
Moreover, there have been no changes made by Bielsa, and he is still sticking with his game plan. The Argentine manager doesn’t have a plan B, and when United drop the points, it is because they run out ideas in the final third. We don’t think that there is a significant problem in the game plan as United tend to dominate most matches, but the issue has been their execution in the final third.
This problem isn’t a new one, and the Whites faced similar issues last season as well. Bielsa’s players aren’t good enough to play this brand of football effectively. United are always looking to turn over possession quickly, but they lack the players who can play at such fast tempo while being inventive with the ball. We often see them make plenty of poor decisions, sloppy touches, miscued shots from in and around the opposition box. The Whites usually score when they choose to walk the ball in the back of the net from close quarters.
What can Bielsa do?
Bielsa needs to realise that his current lot of players are not good enough to play his brand of football at such a high tempo. The manager needs to ask his players to take a bit more time in the final third to make that right decision instead of playing at 100 miles per hour.
The players are mostly at fault here, but they cannot be blamed for their lack of effort as most of them usually work their socks off. It’s the quality of the players, which is costing Leeds. Hence, having a plan B would have been a nice idea. Maybe having a targetman up top and taking a more direct approach towards goal might have made a difference. However, with United not having too many options, the team is stuck in this one mould which has been found out by other Championship teams. All the fans can now hope is that their team goes on to improve their finishing and decision making, otherwise this season could be a struggle for them.
