Pontus Jansson provided one of the defining images of Leeds United’s play-off semi-final defeat.
Pontus Jansson has taken to Instagram and admitted that he still cannot get his head around Leeds’ play-off semi-final defeat to Derby County, with the defender thanking the fans for their support.
Marcelo Bielsa’s side’s season ended in agonising fashion as they became the first team to miss out on reaching a play-off final having led following their away leg.
Derby won an incredible game 4-2 at Elland Road to go through and set up a final against Aston Villa. Jansson did not play in the game, but he provided one of the defining images from the defeat as he was seen after the full-time whistle sat against the advertising boards looking completely dejected as the stadium emptied.
His response on social media was always going to be one that the fans looked out for as it may have surprised some that Gaetano Berardi kept his place for the second-leg, and because the Swede is arguably one of the players that will surely attract most interest during the coming months.
The centre-back has now provided an insight into what has been going through his head since the defeat…
If there was one criticism of Bielsa from that second-leg, it may perhaps be that he made a mistake not replacing Berardi with Jansson at some point after the former had picked up his first yellow card.
Berardi’s dismissal proved to be a key moment in a game that had everything, so – perhaps, only with the benefit of hindsight – leaving him on the field as the game boiled over has to go down as an error. Similarly, not bringing Jansson on once Berardi had been sent off seemed to backfire.
Leeds fans’ main hope for the coming months will be to see Bielsa commit to another season. But keeping Jansson could also be an incredibly important piece of business if the agony of this season brings the best out of the cult-hero next year.
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