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Usually, when Championship teams are promoted to the Premier League, they spend their first season trying to grind out wins over established teams with a nervy, defensive approach. Not so with Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United side. The Whites have refused to change their philosophy since promotion, playing expansively and throwing bodies forward in attack even against the European sides at the top of the table.
The results have surely secured another season of top-flight football, and entertained neutrals across the country on the way to a place safely in midtable. Smart punters who browse the odds and bet on football have often backed Leeds to pick up results this season, and the Whites are fancied a loose 15/8 to sneak into the top half. But for all the confidence it instils in the bookmakers, their marauding attacking style has come at the cost of being one of the leakiest defences in the division.
Leeds occupies an unenviable space with only relegation contenders Sheffield United, West Brom, Newcastle, and a Southampton side that suffered a nine-goal defeat below them in terms of goals conceded. However, among those teams – and plenty of others – Leeds have been the brightest going forward, with only Liverpool, Spurs, Leicester, and the Manchester clubs scoring more this season.
Devastating going forward but fragile at the back, Leeds games have featured more goals this season than any other side. Starting the season with a seven-goal thriller at Anfield, Bielsa’s side continued in the same vein over the course of the year. Meanwhile, wingers Jack Harrison and Raphinha both contributed six goals, and Patrick Bamford had fourteen goals heading into the Premier League run-in.
Leeds this season have been rightly rewarded for their ambitious attacking play, which emphasises quick passing triangles on the wings and pushing the full-backs to create overloads on the flanks. Pundits and fans have become used to a sight very familiar to supporters of Championship teams; Leeds sprinting forward to join the counter-attack late into injury time with a chance to put the game to bed.
Kalvin Phillips especially has thrived since Bielsa’s arrival in 2018, with the Leeds academy product roaming the space between midfield and the backline. The admiral of the Bielsa armada, he is crucial to their high-intensity pressing game off the ball. This style of play has seen Leeds make more tackles in all three zones of the field than any other Premier League team this year. They also rank second for interceptions, led by Phillips whose tireless work rate earned him a first England call-up in September.
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But for all their bright attacking play, this is a Leeds side which still has glaring weaknesses at the back, and none more destructive than their vulnerability at set-pieces. Several times this season they’ve been undone by lacklustre defending at corners and free-kicks, conceding more goals from set-plays than any other team. A lack of aggression from the centre-backs and young goalkeeper Illan Meslier has made Leeds a dream to play against for tall defenders up and down the league. Until Bielsa finds a fix for this Achilles’ heel, surely there is a ceiling to the Whites’ ambitions as they prepare for big things next season.
