Setting Records in the Championship – a Leeds season that matches Bielsa’s performance but may not be enough to send us to the holy land of the Premier League.
The huge defeat at QPR was not the team we had seen most of the season and an immensely woeful end to an epic season. The reality for me is that there were two reasons why Leeds had entered this match needing a miracle to reach the play-offs. Firstly, at the beginning of the season our rivals had a month’s head start on us. Farke did not have a team in place until September – still building a new team whilst sorting out want-away players. Secondly, the season fell apart after the international break. Leeds lost their record breaking run when their players came back from the international break in April 2024 and had not managed one convincing win. They are a young squad for the championship and when it mattered at the end of the season both Leicester City and Ipswich Town delivered wins whilst Leeds lost to QPR.
In another season Leeds would have earned automatic promotion by this point. Farke had achieved his aim of 2 points per game. But this season is unlike any other. And Leeds find themselves in third and “choked” by the pressure.
The mood in the build up to this home match against Southampton FC match was solemn – Ampadu and Byram both in interviews had the look of defeat on automatic promotion – a lot of hard work had not delivered the desired outcome. An Ipswich Town win today means Leeds were playing for pride and for Fortress Elland Road.
Play-offs for Leeds do not have a strong track record and to lose is a bitter pill to swallow after a strong season with over 90 points on the board and a strong defensive record. Farke has admitted that he did not think Leeds would make this far – have we over achieved? Having had a first season at Leeds setting records in the Championship he must wonder why the team choked at the final post. Either way – in the play-offs, the Leeds that needs to turn up is the one that dominated the Championship after Christmas not the one that lost its way in April.
