The YEP's Leeds United Jury: '˜A fighting display' ... '˜season effectively over' ... '˜A win needed badly'

As ever, our YEP Leeds United Jury are on hand with their views on the game and the knock-on effects. Have a scroll down the page to see if you agree with their views and feel free to add your own thoughts at the bottom of the page.

MATTHEW EVANS

Losing on a Saturday always ruins your weekend but effectively losing twice is a whole new sensation and not one to be repeated any time soon.

Those that were at the New Den last September will recall a United side out-run and out-fought by a team that wanted it much more than we did. We saw it again at Newport County a couple of weeks ago and it was back on Saturday for a first half where we seemed reasonably dangerous in attack but totally hapless at the back.

If we had shown anywhere near the same fight in the first half as we did for 30 minutes in the second, this would have been a comfortable victory. Similarly, if Steve Morison, when he was wearing a white shirt, had shown an iota of the passion he put into taunting the Elland Road crowd on Saturday, he might be remembered more fondly.

The positives are that we managed to fight our way back into it at all. This week’s red card came from an incident actually in play and Laurens De Bock had a good debut. Otherwise, we want to forget this immediately.

Man of the match: Pierre-Michel Lasogga.

KEITH INGHAM

Leeds lost a 4-3 thriller at Elland Road, this after the home side had gone into the break 2-0 down and had captain Liam Cooper sent off for a bad tackle – it was probably one of the worst 45-minutes I’ve seen this season by Leeds at home.

Millwall had enough chances to be ‘home and hosed’ because they completely dominated first-half proceedings. The sending off was Leeds’ third in three games and their sixth of the season.

After a bright start by Leeds when Pierre-Michel Lasogga had two very good chances to put Leeds ahead but unfortunately for the near full house he didn’t put them away. Millwall dominated after that and after a goal was disallowed, Aiden O’Brien and Lee Gregory put the visitors in complete control.

After the break a totally different Leeds team came out and a opening-minute second-half goal by Lasogga gave them the impetus to push back Millwall, unbelievably they were level within 10 minutes of the re-start. Debutant Laurens De Bock’s cross caused mayhem in the visitors six-yard box and in the goalmouth scramble Kemar Roofe somehow poked the ball over the line. With fans ‘screaming’ them on Leeds went in front thanks to a tremendous shot by Lasogga.

With the game in the balance, a strange substitution lost Leeds their momentum, Lasogga was clearly struggling but Thomas Christiansen brought off Roofe and replaced him with Stuart Dallas. It was end-to-end but Millwall got an equaliser through ex-Leeds youngster Tom Elliott and with time nearly up and worse was to follow, Dallas gifted possession from a Leeds throw in to Millwall, they drove straight at the retreating Leeds rearguard and Jed Wallace’s deflected shot broke thirty thousand plus hearts when it nestled in the corner of Wiedwald’s net.

You simply cannot give your opponents most of a half and play in such a disorganised way. The sending off was key and you expect better off your captain! Thomas Christiansen’s tactics and substitutions were loudly criticised by fans on the local radio station and rightly so. Leeds’ season hangs by a thread and unless recruits are brought in (Leeds now have four key players out suspended) mid-table is where the club will stay! There are serious questions to be asked about how recruitment was done in the summer. There are players within the 2017/18 squad that quite simply are not good enough.

Man of the match: Pierre-Michel Lasogga.

MIKE GILL

Millwall and in particular former Leeds ‘favourite’ Steve Morison came to Elland Road to provoke, wind up and frustrate.

In the first half they succeeded in this. United failed to heed the warning when Jed Wallace’s shot was ruled out for offside on 17 minutes.

Shortly afterwards, Aiden O’Brien scored Millwall’s first. The next setback was the sending off of Liam Cooper for a mistimed tackle on George Saville.

Three minutes before the break Millwall piled on the agony when Lee Gregory converted Morrison’s cross.

Nobody could have foreseen what was to come in the second half.

First Pierre-Michel Lasogga with a fine strike, then Kemar Roofe from a goalmouth scramble then another fine shot from Lasogga and suddenly Leeds were in the lead.

Unfortunately, the 10 men could not hold on for the final 20 odd minutes of the match and late goals from Tom Elliott and Wallace broke United’s hearts. Leeds now need a win badly.

Man of the match: Gjanni Alioski.

DAVID WATKINS

As a game of football for a neutral this was a great game; sadly I’m not neutral and nor will be many reading this.

In a nutshell; Leeds missed decent chances early in the game and then let Millwall get the better of us physically and score a couple of goals. A rash tackle by Liam Cooper put us down to 10 men and by half-time and I’m sure most Leeds fans, like me, thought that was the season over, never mind the game. Incredibly, three quick goals inside 17 second-half minutes including two sublime finishes from Pierre-Michel Lasogga had Leeds leading 3-2 and most of Elland Road dreaming again of promotion.

But it wouldn’t be Leeds if it ended there would it? With three minutes of normal time left and Leeds in lock down mode having removed both goal scorers, we contrived to give up everything we’d worked so hard to achieve. That was far more like the United we’ve come to know, if not love. For all the plaudits we should rightly receive for that 17 minute comeback – at the end of the day the conclusion has to be as it was at half-time; the season is over. The fundamental problem is the same as it has been all season; as a team, we are just not good enough to challenge for a play-off place and playing like we have played since the turn of the year, and before that if we’re honest with ourselves, we will do well to finish top half.

Man of the match: Pablo Hernandez.