It was a sobering night for Leeds United at Millwall. A reminder that this Leeds side will have to do the ugly side, as well as the pretty football Daniel Farke has installed if he is to guide Leeds to promotion.
Leeds suffered a 1-0 loss with Japhet Tanganga scoring the only goal of the game, despite the Lions having less than 30% possession on the night. Leeds controlled the ball, Millwall controlled the game.
Farke’s men had chances but Brenden Aaronson, Wilfried Gnonto and Joel Piroe missed opportunities to put Leeds 1-0 up. Piroe had a goal disallowed.
But Millwall took the lead from a set-piece, something that was easily foreseeable as Leeds struggled to cope with the physicality of Neil Harris’ men. The stats prove as much, Leeds failing to cope with Millwall.
Two Leeds players lost 10 duels on Wednesday, one is a surprise
While playmaker Aaronson has shown good form in a Leeds shirt, his lack of physicality is still a problem. He remains the Championship’s most-dispossessed player, losing the ball on 73 different occasions.
The USA star has 29 unsuccessful touches and has been knocked off the ball a further 44 times. He does have four goals and he will obviously lose the ball trying to create, but his skinny frame remains an issue.
On Wednesday night, Aaronson lost 10 of his 15 duels – something that has become a norm since the American has been first choice. He was not the only one to lose 10 duels, the other being Pascal Struijk.
Pascal Struijk cannot lose 10 duels as a Championship centre-back
As aforementioned, Leeds need to be able to do the ugly side as well as the pretty side if Farke is going to win his third career promotion from the Championship. Wednesday showed they’ll struggle with that.
Like Aaronson, Struijk lost 10 of his 15 duels and as a centre-back, that is simply not good enough. It is by far the most duels Struijk has lost all season, with Jayden Bogle the next-worst losing nine of his 11 duels.
Leeds need to be stronger, more physical and more commanding at the back if they are going to get the better of teams like Millwall. The Lions won’t be the last team to try and out-strength Leeds, it is an issue.
Read more at;https://sportupdates.co.uk
Leave a Reply