Jody Morris has praised the work from Leeds United off the ball during their 2-1 defeat to Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Sunday.
The former Derby County coach shared how the Leeds players, with their typical 100 miles-per-hour press, were ‘rattling’ the opposition, especially goalkeeper, Vicente Guaita, as he told Sky Sports News.
Jesse Marsch’s men were the better team in the first half, with Brenden Aaronson’s brilliant run into the Palace penalty area resulting in Pascal Struijk picking up the pieces and opening the scoring – Ian Wright hailed the magic Leeds’ American star showcased during that goal.
Despite dominating proceedings early on, against the run of play, Odsonne Edouard levelled the scores and that’s where Patrick Vieira’s side started to find some flow to their game.
Even though Leeds were able to field a stronger XI than in previous matches, i.e, the return of Patrick Bamford to the XI, they still couldn’t do enough to knock down Palace’s wall, before Eberechi Eze showcased composure and magic in equal measures to sit down Liam Cooper and score what turned out to be the winning goal.
One area of Leeds’ play that didn’t let them down was their effort and aggression without the ball, which was highlighted by an old rival in Jody Morris.
“The intensity and the way Leeds go about their business without the ball is outstanding,” said Morris. “There was a passage of play when Doucouré tried to take two or three touches and there was literally four Leeds players around him. They all could have made the tackle.
“The number of times they are making these passes, then Leeds have swarmed around him. He (Guaita) has made two mistakes already. They are even rattling the keeper. He has given the ball away, not that much pressure, but he should do better.”
LEEDS TRYING TO FIND THEIR FLOW
It has been a mixed start to the season from Leeds and, at this moment in time, the feeling from the fans is pretty negative, especially given that they last won a Premier League game on August 21st.
Postponements didn’t help the club’s cause during that period, but that’s two games – Villa last week and now Palace – where the Yorkshire club would have expected to pick up maximum points.
But, the positive side of it all is that Bamford is starting to get his engine going again, and once he does, then he will lift everything around him.
The club’s summer signings – Tyler Adams, Aaronson and Luis Sinisterra have started pretty well, but once again, it doesn’t help when players get sent off for needless moments of madness which just continues to disrupt any flow Marsch is trying to build.
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