Blackburn's win exposes Leeds United's weak spots

The inevitable 2nd goal came when Cairney swung a corner into the 6 yards box for Gestede to head firmly down into the net. 2-0 Blackburn and Leeds were in danger of being swamped. Blackburn should have a had a penalty when that man Cairney slotted another slide rule ball through for Gestede who was tackled from behind by Murphy. Boos rang out from the frustrated home fans as the half time whistle blew. Leeds were lucky only to be trailing by 2 after a half in which they were well and truly second best.

The urinal philosophers views were fairly consistent. We just weren’t good enough or words to that effect! Rovers had exposed Leeds weaknesses in midfield in cruel fashion. By smothering the midfield when Leeds had the ball they had challenged them to break them down which was clearly beyond the threesome of Mowatt, Murphy and Austin. When Blackburn had the ball they danced through Leeds midfield with ease. It was difficult to see how Leeds were going to get back into this game.

Brian McD replaced Murphy with young Ariyibi at half time in a desperate attempt to wrest back the advantage from Blackburn. His inexperience is there for all to see but he has got pace and within minutes of the restart he was on hand to attempt a lob back into an open net after a Pugh cross but the ball sailed harmlessly over the top.

Leeds had come out with a bit more fire in their belly’s though with Byram clearly looking to attack down the right. He swapped passes with Ross Mac on the edge of the box and chased down a ball that the defender should have cleared but young Byram’s foot steered the ball to Smith who gratefully passed the ball into an empty net. 2-1 and game on!

Leeds now had a head of steam helped by a fired up home crowd after some strange decisions by the referee. Smith was bundled to the floor as he attempted to chase a lovely through ball. No foul! Ross Mac was next to be impeded without even a foul given never mind a yellow card.

The crowd were now baying for the ref’s blood as Leeds looked for an unlikely equaliser. Mowatt had a chance to send the crowd into ecstasy as his shot cannoned off the bar from 8 yards. Soon after Ross Mac’s header hit the side netting as the pressure built on the visiting goal. Surely we couldn’t rescue a point after the first half battering we took?

The game entered the last 10 minutes with both teams looking to score. A Rhodes header clattered Kenny’s bar whilst Poleon had been thrown on in place of Lees to try and get the vital goal.

Shots from Austin and Ross Mac raised expectation levels in the kop but as the game went into 5 minutes of added time I had that all too familiar feeling as the game slipped through Leeds fingers giving Blackburn a deserved victory. Full time 2.1 Blackburn.

If Brian McD needed evidence that the team needs an injection of quality this was it. Blackburn are below us in the table and on paper have a better but also a more expensive team. They controlled the game with ease in the first half and we had no answer. Our ability to break teams down, especially those who get men behind the ball, is very limited with the current personnel.

It won’t take many additions to change that but without it we will struggle to challenge for the top six in this ultra competitive league. A disappointing festive run of games has become the norm in recent years and this year has been no different. Hopefully the difference this year is the response in the January transfer window?