Leeds United: Whites must overcome Norwich hurdle
Leeds United: Whites must overcome Norwich hurdle
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Well, if we look at the playoffs now and before we look at the playoffs as a whole, we'll
00:04look at what's first for Leeds, and that is a trip to Power Road very shortly to face
00:09Norwich side, who they've had a decent enough season. It's always decent if you're making
00:13the playoffs from their point of view. But given Leeds, as we've mentioned there, Lee,
00:19it's not going to be an easy test. I'm myself trying to find some positives here, but I'm
00:27struggling to be honest, because as you say, the attack's not really at their free-flowing
00:30best and obviously the defence are leaving gaps, making mistakes, and even the field's
00:34not really helping out either side, to be honest. So what can Daniel Tharker do in this
00:39first away leg to try and make sure that Leeds are at least solid at the back and can nick
00:45a goal going forward?
00:46Yeah, well, I'll give you some positives, which is the fact that Leeds beat them home
00:49and away. So that's the first thing you can say about it, which can't be said for anybody
00:52else who's in the playoffs. Obviously, Southampton done the double over Leeds. West Brom took
00:56four points against Leeds. So in terms of the results against the sides that are in
00:59the playoffs, if you want to pick one based on that, you'd pick Norwich. That said, both
01:03games are very, very close. It was a 3-2 win. I think it was back in October, Cricencio-Somerville.
01:08So very close game there. And Norwich, the game, plenty applauded. So remember that game
01:13at Ellen Road, the 1-0 win and from the Bamford strike, I think it was in the second half
01:16where they had like a spell of possession that just really forced Leeds back and stuff.
01:19And I remember after that game, a lot of people sort of said, you know, they look like they're
01:22sort of getting a lot better. You know, they've obviously, you know, risen right at the table
01:26to even get into the playoffs, really. And I mean, a lot of people were saying after
01:29that game, myself included, you know, that you wouldn't, you know, you wouldn't necessarily
01:33want to face them in the playoffs. But I mean, whoever you're going to get in the playoffs
01:35is going to be a reasonably good side in such a strong division. So, yeah, you look at those
01:39two games that Leeds have won against them. I think me, myself, when I'm sort of starting
01:44to think about this, this could be the playoffs. I've got to be honest. I sort of said, you
01:48know, out of the teams in there, I wouldn't mind out of the ones facing Norwich because
01:53of the fact, you know, you sort of, you know, you gain confidence, if you like, from the
01:57fact they've beaten them home and away. But that's the Leeds United. Leeds are the best,
02:00you know, and this isn't Leeds at the best at the moment. So it's a totally different
02:03ball game. You look at the table, 17 points difference between the two teams. That's a
02:07lot. You know, it's like, that's, you know, obviously five wins and two draws. That's
02:11an awful lot of difference, but it doesn't feel like there's 17 points between these
02:14two teams at the moment. I mean, we might find out otherwise at the weekend, but I suspect
02:18it'll be a very, very hard game, particularly away from home at Carrow Road. They've got
02:22the fourth-best home record in the division. And to be quite honest, as much as you'd want
02:28to go there and get a win, you know, and like, you know, nick something like a 1-0 win or,
02:32you know, take an advantage back to Welland Road, I think first and foremost, and this
02:35might sound a bit defeatist, but I think first and foremost, you've just got to stay in the
02:38game and stay in the tie. You know, the last thing you want to be doing is going there
02:42and going 1-0 down after 10 or 15 minutes and all of a sudden you're 2-0 down at half-time
02:45and then it's an absolute mountainous task, you know. Go there, be solid, sort the defence
02:50out. You know, obviously there won't be as risky as we were against Southampton because
02:52Daniel Farquhar will know what he's doing. It's a two-legged tie and stuff. And hopefully
02:56then, you know, if Leeds can be solid at the back, the attacking prowess will shine through.
03:00But for that to happen, you're going to have to have people like Routier back to the best.
03:03You want Somerville to have one of his best games. We'll, you know, see what happens with
03:07the team news. Obviously, Bamford's been a big miss lately. Dan James might be back,
03:12whether it's in time for that remains to be seen. Nonto, obviously, you know, it's all
03:16going to have to click. But they've got some very, very good players. I mean, looking at the stats,
03:18I looked at Gabriel Sarra, the Brazilian stats. I mean, I think it's 13 goals and 12 assists.
03:22I mean, that's an amazing, you know, haul for a team that finished in sixth place.
03:26Josh Sargent's a player everybody knows about, had been linked with Leeds before, 16 goals.
03:30Jonathan Rowe was on the bench at the weekend, but he's a good player. And they've scored lots
03:34of goals. I think they've only scored two goals less than Leeds throughout the season. So that
03:38shows they're going to be a threat going forward. They have conceded a few, though.
03:42So as I say, if Leeds were at their best at the moment and they were somewhere near the best,
03:46I'd be fairly confident to get through the two legs. I'm pretty confident they'd even go there
03:49and win. But you couldn't be confident at the moment. I just find it very hard for anybody
03:53to be confident in them at the moment because of the way they're playing. All you've got to
03:56hope is that they use this week wisely. They have had a full, will have had a full week,
04:00obviously, before the game. So as Daniel Farkas said himself, basically, just hit the reset
04:04button, you know, get back to what they're good at and stuff. And, you know, it's both ends of the
04:08pitch, really. But it will be a very, very hard game. Leeds, I mean, it's almost always the case,
04:14Daniel, to be honest. Leeds are strong favourites, but they are every week, aren't they? And yet
04:18again, I look at this and I think Leeds are six to five favourites there. They're about near enough
04:22even money. And again, that's one of those ones where you're almost scratching your head a little
04:26bit thinking, well, what the form Leeds are in and the home record Norwich have got, you know,
04:29and they'll fancy it because they're the underdogs. And, you know, obviously, David Wagner,
04:33their manager, has already said that. He said, you know, we'll relish the sort of role of being
04:37underdogs, you know, because nobody will expect anything. So there's plenty of things in Norwich's
04:41favour, not least good players, not least to play good football. So very, very hard game. Yeah,
04:46first and foremost, just go there. And certainly in the early stages, just stay in the tie.
04:51And then obviously it goes back to Welland Road on the Thursday. The kick-off as well,
04:5412 noon, it was 12.30 and that sort of seemed like sneakily got moved to 12 noon. I mean,
04:59that in itself is a big challenge, 12 noon kick-off down in Norwich. I mean, Daniel Farke has talked
05:03before about lunchtime kick-offs and how they affect things. And, you know, that's a very early
05:07kick-off at somewhere that's not exactly down the road, is it? So, so many different facets to this
05:12that make it a difficult game. And as I say, first and foremost, just stay in the tie.