It’s looking messy for Jesse
Leeds drop into bottom three after EIGHT games without a win
IF FULHAM defender Bobby Decordova-Reid was not quite the smallest player on the field at Elland Road, at 5ft 7in he would have been in the shake-up.
But when you are left unmarked at the near post following a corner, things like that don’t tend to matter.
Leeds do this quite a lot. They concede bad goals, the kind that make supporters angry and lead to coaches losing their jobs.
The anger is now well established at Elland Road. Leeds are in the bottom three and have not won in the Premier League since August. Whether Jesse Marsch pays for this with his job is now the burning question.
Leeds were as they often are here against a Fulham team that now sit in the European places. They were committed and well in the game for long periods. They created opportunities.
But the problem is that Marsch’s team are pretty feckless at either end of the field and that will always get you in the end.
Decordova-Reid’s goal was a case in point. With the game poised at 1-1 with a quarter of an hour left, Leeds had enjoyed a spell of dominance but when their big chance came, they missed it. Patrick Bamford was put clear but a heavy touch ruined everything.
And so to the other end. Fulham took a corner and when it was recycled back to Andreas Pereira, he delivered the ball to the near post where Decordova-Reid was standing in two yards of space to direct it across Leeds goalkeeper Illan Meslier and into the corner.
It was the kind of goal that prompts questions of just what teams do on the training field.
Fulham were to score another before Leeds substitute Crysencio Summerville grabbed a consolation in added time but it was the Decordova-Reid goal that essentially decided the game.
Leeds had been warned, too. Not long before, Aleksandar Mitrovic had eased into space to head over from a free-kick. Indeed, when Mitrovic equalised Rodrigo’s firsthalf goal, there had been a whiff of simplicity about it also. A corner to the near post, a step away from his marker Luke Ayling and a header that passed straight through the hands of Meslier.
Mitrovic is a handful, finally establishing himself as a player of Premier League quality. It’s good to see as the Serbian has worked hard for it. But these are not goals that top-flight players expect to score. They are supposed to be more difficult than that.
With Leeds having lost twice in five days preceding this game, the equaliser already felt like a big moment. Confidence is brittle among Marsch’s players and they led for only six minutes.
The home team had started well enough. They survived a scare in the 14th minute when Marc Roca somehow got a Harrison Reed shot off the line and were ahead not long after that. Left back Antonee Robinson had been progressive for Fulham but was involved in a more unfortunate way, slipping as a pass from Brenden Aaronson headed his way. Jack Harrison was in space behind and only had the goalkeeper to beat.
He took too long and that allowed Tim Ream to block. But when the ball looped up off the Fulham captain, Rodrigo jumped highest to head in from six yards.
Leeds deserved their lead. They had been on the front foot. But as Marsch himself recognised after the game, they are not currently a strong enough group to move forwards and take a game away from an opponent even when things do threaten to go their way.
It was a good game to watch. There was a cut and thrust about it. Fulham have recruited well for this season. Pereira is flourishing
away from Manchester United while the Portuguese holding player Palhinha is a steadying influence. The Brazilian Willian, meanwhile, can look like a luxury but here he was effective.
Pereira should have scored when set clear by Willian on the half hour but telegraphed his shot for Meslier to parry. Then, in the early stages of the second half, Leeds had one of those periods that Marsch will cling to as he looks for chinks of light.
Leeds dominated for 20 minutes and created half-decent chances. But when they didn’t take one — Bamford’s being the best — Fulham rediscovered a foothold to kill them off in the final stages. Willian’s goal in the 84th minute was set up for him by Reed. But before that Leeds captain Liam Cooper had nudged the ball into his opponent’s path inside his own penalty area. More self-harm.
So now, the Leeds board face a choice. Long before Marcelo Bielsa left last season the club had identified Marsch as his replacement. In terms of succession planning, it was thorough.
But Leeds have taken two points from a dismal eight-game sequence and other teams near the bottom have sacked managers already, with varying degrees of benefit.
Marsch’s relentless positivity is now sounding hollow to many and some in the stands at Elland Road have made their mind up already. As Marsch led his team off at the end, there was a simple question asked by a section of the support.
‘What the f****** hell was that?’, they sang. It was a fair question.