Garth Crooks praises 'disciplined' Leeds United side following Tottenham Hotspur defeat

Joe Gelhardt of Leeds United runs with the ball whilst under pressure from Ben Davies of Tottenham Hotspur during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Leeds United at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

Garth Crooks’ was quick to compliment Leeds United as he selected Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg in his team of the week on BBC Sport.

The Whites endured a narrow 2-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday and while it was the home side that took all three points, Leeds United put on an impressive display – particularly in the first half.

Crooks described Hojbjerg as a ‘serious, no-nonsense individual’ but first praised the Whites for their performance that initially put them 1-0 up.

In his piece for BBC Sport, Crooks wrote: “We were not that long into the game when it was becoming glaringly obvious to me that Spurs were out of their depth against a Leeds side who were far more disciplined and tactically aware.”

Marcelo Bielsa was forced to play a weakened side for their trip to the capital at the weekend with Joe Gelhardt being handed his first start, while the likes of Jack Jenkins and Stuart McKinstry made the bench.

While the Whites’ absent stars were missed, Leeds were unfortunate not to return to Yorkshire with anything other than their pride and were arguably the better side for most of the match.

The team will look to pick up where they left off when they take on Brighton & Hove Albion next week, with the Seagulls searching for their first win since September.

Despite the defeat, Daniel James will also have had his confidence after he picked up his first goal for the club that handed them the first half lead.

Bielsa refused to give a time-frame on the return of Luke Ayling and Patrick Bamford, however the Whites will be hoping their extremely long injury list may still have shortened elsewhere by the time they travel to the south coast.