After falling down by three goals in the first half, Southampton, another team in the relegation zone, defeated Daniel Farke’s team 3-1 to drop their second game of the year.
Collectively, Daniel Farke’s team didn’t play well enough, and the manager will undoubtedly own that he made mistakes as well.
Leeds 3–1 Southampton
Adam Armstrong went through on the blind side of Liam Cooper to chip Illan Meslier before the away fans had much time to get into their seats for the start of the game.
Will Smallbone, who waltzed into the area virtually unobserved by Leeds’ backtracking defense and midfield, calmly diverted a Kamaldeen Sulemana cut-back into the far corner to give Russell Martins’ team a two-goal lead.
Armstrong’s second goal before halftime virtually ended the game when he skipped past Sam Byram, with Pascal Struijk’s bundled goal serving as little more than a consolation.
Crysencio Summerville made the observation
There is no need to single out any one person because St Mary’s has a lot of issues that make the entire team look subpar.
The YEP’s Graham Smyth noted that the midfield tracking of Smallbone’s unparalleled run was insufficient, but the second goal stands out.
The Saints player scored, and Crysencio Summerville was jogging back:
“His dribbling might have caused issues and drawn fouls in good spots, but his lack of urgency when the running back was trailing Will Smallbone was not a good look.”
Leeds will finish where in 23/24, where?
Jogging back at 1-0 down is not good enough, but Summerville is not someone known for his lack of effort, in fact you could claim he’s been one going above and beyond for us.
He’s kicked up and down the pitch every week, especially by Smallbone who was lucky not to be sent off minutes before his goal.
As much as he could have put a five-yard sprint in to thwart Smallbone, Glen Kamara and Ethan Ampadu could also have tracked him.
It wasn’t good enough from back to front.
