Goalscoring efficiency, Pepe's VAR debate, Rodrigo's impact and boost for defence - Leeds United Talking Points

Goalscoring efficiency

United’s dominance in Sunday’s clash against Arsenal was clear even when the Gunners had 11 men.

Come the half-time whistle, Leeds had mustered 13 attempts at goal, the most from any side in any first half of any Premier League game this term.

By the end of the second half, over 40 minutes of which came against ten men, 13 attempts had risen to 25 with three of those hitting the frame of the goal.

Yet Leeds will only get the rewards their brilliant football deserves by making the most of such chances and Sunday’s display again highlighted an issue that has often raised its head over the last two seasons in terms of efficiency in front of goal.

It is something that proved a big factor in Leeds not getting promoted at the first time of asking under head coach Marcelo Bielsa and missed chances also prevented the Whites from winning last season’s Championship by more than ten points.

Leeds were that good and that superior to their rivals that the gap back to the chasing pack really should have been bigger, not that it mattered by the season’s conclusion.

Ironically, the Whites were then ruthlessly clinical in their first two games back in the Premier League when scoring three times from six attempts in an opening day 4-3 loss at Liverpool and four times from ten attempts in a 4-3 triumph at home to Fulham.

Yet Bielsa readily admitted that such a high efficiency rate could not last and Sunday's contest proved the opposite of the Reds and Cottagers clashes with 25 attempts somehow not producing even a single goal.

The Premier League is unforgiving and making the most out of their chances created will certainly be crucial when it comes to United’s first season back in the Premier League in terms of how high up Bielsa’s Whites finish.

With nine games played, Leeds now sit 14th and the objective that matters most is that the Whites end up 17th or higher.

United are already eight points clear of third-bottom West Brom who along with fourth-bottom Fulham, basement boys Sheffield United and second-bottom Burnley are struggling to get going.

Leeds ought to achieve their primary aim with the minimum of fuss yet Bielsa’s side are playing football worthy of a much higher position than 14th yet in the last three games issues at the opposite end of the pitch have prevented them from climbing higher.

Bielsa admitted it was impossible not to be concerned by conceding eight goals in two games in the 4-1 losses against Crystal Palace and Leicester City before the international break and United’s defending was much improved against the Gunners.

But Bielsa also knows that United’s attacking is linked with their defending in terms of making the most of their play and this time the issue was a problem that Bielsa has often cited in his last two seasons in needing too many chances to create a goal and in this case even 25 of them not being enough.

Bielsa has previously bemoaned how his side have needed four, five or sometimes even more than seven chances to score a goal when other sides required three or four and this was the most extreme example yet, albeit Leeds can count themselves very unlucky.

The woodwork proved Arsenal's man of the match with Rodrigo, Patrick Bamford and Raphinha all denied by the frame of the goal whilst Gunners stopper Bernd Leno also produced some good saves.

But there is no denying that Leeds also squandered some very good opportunities with wayward finishing and there was no prime culprit with Bamford, Stuart Dallas, Mateusz Klich and Luke Ayling probably the ones who saw the best chances go begging.

Leeds are continuing to take the plaudits for their football and rightly so with Patrice Evra and Freddie Ljungberg the latest to marvel at their style of play under Bielsa in the Sky studios during Sunday’s coverage.

It is pretty clear Leeds have it within them to be much higher than 14th. Taking chances, though, will be key to making that happen.

Pepe's red card

The vile abuse aimed at both Leeds United's Gjanni Alioski and Arsenal's Nicolas Pepe is the sad aftermath of Sunday's contest with both clubs rightly condemning the abuse which is completely unacceptable.

But as far as Pepe's red card was concerned, the Arsenal winger can have absolutely no complaints about being given his marching orders.

The duo were clearly locked in something of an ongoing feud with pushing and shoving off the ball and Pepe then lost his rag in essentially dishing out a light head-butt.

It was hardly the fiercest head-butt you will ever see and more a lowering of his head into the smaller Alioski's face but Gunners boss Mikel Arteta admitted Pepe's actions were unacceptable and the 25-year-old was rightly shown a straight red card after VAR spotted the incident with referee Anthony Taylor going over to check his monitor.

There was only ever going to be one outcome but Patrice Evra on Sky Sports and Danny Murphy on Match Of The Day 2 were then among the pundits to criticise Alioski for the ease at which he fell to the ground and stayed on the floor holding his face in the moments before Pepe was sent off.

Yet as highlighted on MOTD2, would the incident have been spotted by VAR and would Pepe have been given his marching orders had Alioski not fallen to the floor?

You'd like to think the answer would be yes and that Pepe's 'head-butt' would have been spotted and dealt with regardless but it's not difficult to have your doubts and really the answer would probably have been no.

Debate surrounds the way Alioski went down but the game has all sorts of problems and this is one of them as without doing so Pepe might well have got away scot-free and that would have been wrong.

Pepe was the culprit here and was rightly sent off though the bigger picture is the subsequent abuse suffered on social media which quite clearly needs dealing with and longer term completely stamping out.

Rodrigo's impact

Sunday's encounter featured a first Whites start for summer recruit Raphinha and the Brazilian produced a decent performance full of tricks and pace with the winger unlucky not to score.

Yet in 20 minutes from the bench it was arguably United's record signing Rodrigo that created the biggest impression of all on his return to the side following his isolation having tested positive for coronavirus.

Rodrigo's first few games for Leeds produced pretty quiet displays but the Spanish international had been in fine form prior to his forced absence and the 29-year-old again proved a menace when coming off the bench for Luke Ayling in the 70th minute.

That change meant some musical chairs position wise with Mateusz Klich dropping from the no 10 role to centre midfield as Stuart Dallas moved to right back and Rodrigo quickly had a big impact on the game.

Two fantastic strikes from fairly similar range very nearly put Leeds ahead with one whizzing just wide and the other hitting the crossbar and Rodrigo must surely now come back into the starting XI for next weekend's clash at Everton.

A third clean sheet

The sheer amount of goalscoring chances that United squandered took the headlines but at the other end of the pitch it's worth highlighting a very welcome clean sheet and a third shut-out of the Premier League campaign.

United's set up and defending naturally came under the spotlight following the consecutive 4-1 defeats to Leicester and Palace but Leeds held firm against an Arsenal side featuring last season's joint runner up in the Golden Boot race in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as well as the likes of Willian who was seen off by half-time.

It might have been a different story had rising England star Bukayo Saka showed a bit more composure when clean through towards the end of the second half and Illan Meslier was almost caught out by a Pepe cross in the first half that hit the bar.

But in the end, it was a case of job done for United's defence with centre-backs Robin Koch and Liam Cooper both producing good defensive displays and definitely benefitting from the return of Kalvin Phillips in the holding midfield role.

Another big test now awaits against an Everton front line led by another England international in Dominic Calvert-Lewin but Leeds basically looked back in pretty good shape against the Gunners and if taking their chances the Whites should have every chance of getting a decent result at Goodison Park.

https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/sport/football/leeds-united/leeds-united-0-arsenal-0-graham-smyths-player-ratings-gunners-clash-somehow-ends-goalless-3043963https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/sport/football/leeds-united/yorkshire-evening-post-launch-leeds-united-only-digital-subscription-ahead-premier-league-campaign-2967964

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Thank you Laura Collins