By Mike Courtney
Well that wasn’t pretty. In fact, it was possibly one of the most boring matches I’ve ever sat through. It was like watching a Chess match live, nothing much happened and from early on it was always destined to end in stalemate. One shot on target in the entire game and we had to wait 88 minutes for that. If it’s any consolation, Leeds were the only team trying to win that match. Imagine being a Burnley fan and having to watch that style of football week in week out. I think if you offered most Leeds fans a point at the start of the night they would have taken in, but in the context of the game itself if any team deserved to win it was Leeds.
Burnley are tough to break down, we knew that before the game began. Just 9 goals conceded all season is some feat and in truth Leeds rarely looked like they were going to breach that backline. There was lots of passing and probing but little or no penetration as attack after attack broke down in the final third. Some Leeds fans will say it is an opportunity lost to put a bit of daylight between us and the other teams around us, but hopefully when we look back at the end of the season it will be a deserved point towards our promotion.
The performance did nothing to stop the clambering for a centre forward in the transfer window as both Piroe and Joseph failed to shine. Whether that happens or not before the window closes on Monday, we will wait and see. Farke seems happy that we are getting goals from all areas and not depending on one or two players but when you see our closest rivals dipping their toes in the transfer market, one hopes it won’t be something we regret at the end of the season. After all Leeds are top scorers in the league and one game drawing a blank doesn’t change that statistic.
Looking forward to the next few weeks I think it’s fair to say that the next three league fixtures are very winnable. Throw in an FA Cup fourth round tie against Millwall and early February could be a fruitful time for Leeds before we head in to a run of fixtures against more serious opposition. Nothing in the Championship can be taken for granted but if we keep playing the way we are and stop giving away silly goals the promotion picture could be much clearer after the WBA game on March 1st. If Leeds can take a minimum of 14 or 15 points out of these fixtures and not lose to our closest rivals Sunderland and Sheffield United in that run, the door to the top flight will be ajar and waiting for us to push it open and step through to the place where we all want to be.
But it’s Leeds so things will never be that simple…… or will they?????
MOT Leeds Leeds Leeds
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