Few Leeds United fans were complaining when they saw the starting line-up for last weekend’s match.
Leeds United kicked off their recent match against Sheffield Wednesday knowing they needed to get back to winning ways after their 3-1 defeat to Cardiff City the previous week, and at first glance it seemed they had selected the right players for the job.
While there will always be some disagreement among fans, it seemed Leeds manager Thomas Christiansen went for arguably his strongest starting XI, so what went wrong?
Well, in truth, practically everything went wrong, and hindsight means the selection can easily be ripped apart, with questions over the performances of practically every Leeds player bar Samu Saiz.
Yet the truth is this is the Leeds side many would have wanted and expected, with Saiz, Kemar Roofe, Ezgjan Alioski and Pierre-Michel Lasogga all picked, the impressive Matthew Pennington starting alongside Pontus Jansson (with Liam Cooper suspended) and fan favourite Gaetano Berardi at left-back.
What we now know is the midfield pairing of Eunan O’Kane and Kalvin Phillips, so impressive at the start of the season, looked lost at sea against the Owls, and there is a case for both players to be dropped when Leeds take on Reading later this month.
Vurnon Anita could also return in place of Berardi, who struggled against Wednesday, while goalkeeper Felix Wiedwald may be spared more short-term embarrassment by getting some time out of the spotlight, replaced by Andy Lonergan.
So do Leeds even have a strongest XI? Was it simply a case of an off-day? Or is Christiansen continuing to get it wrong against the Championship’s top sides?
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