The cup dream is over
No sooner had it started, than Leeds United’s FA Cup run, their best in seven years, was over. Just as supporters were daring to talk up Fulham’s focus on an excellent Premier League campaign and talk down the quality of remaining opponents in the hat, the cup reverted to type and chucked the Whites out.
The 20-year wait to reach the quarter-finals of the world’s oldest cup competition goes on and Javi Gracia is sure to wake up this morning wondering how. The Whites created the better chances, and more of them, yet came away from Craven Cottage with a 2-0 defeat to swallow.
It was a familiar tale of wastefulness around the opposition penalty box for United. Poor finishing, a lack of composure and a missing clinical edge have felt like problems which have dogged Leeds for years.
READ MORE: Javi Gracia rues familiar Leeds United failing and 'very soft' Fulham moment
Stretching back to Marcelo Bielsa’s tenure, most weeks in the Championship were spent discussing why Leeds were struggling to finish their dinner. The Argentine’s side would dominate possession and territory, but continually struggle to put deep–lying, negative sides to the sword.
Leeds would more than double Fulham’s seven shots with 16 of their own, six of which were on target. Marek Rodak was busy throughout the evening, but by the time Weston McKennie was watching a six-yard-box scramble with two quickfire efforts denied it felt like it was not meant to be their night.
Referee Chris Kavanagh would play his part too. The baffling decision to rule out Georginio Rutter’s deadlock-breaker in the first half will continue to smart.
McKennie’s hand in Harry Wilson’s back was considered forceful enough to be a foul. Replays have to show the referee he was in the wrong, especially when you look at the standard set at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in November when Illan Meslier watched a goal scored from the back of his net in a bundle with Clement Lenglet on top of him.
Rutter sharpening
The main silver lining to this particular Leeds cloud was the performance of Rutter. This was a seventh appearance, but just a second start for the club’s record signing and, at long last, there was something about him.
Rutter’s price tag has made it easy to forget he is only 20-years-old and adapting to another new country, team, culture and philosophy. There’s also only so much he can take from the cameos he has been given in the latter stages of matches up to now.
Billed as a versatile forward who could play across the frontline in the days before his transfer from Hoffenheim was finally announced, Rutter’s early displays pointed to attributes better suited off the flanks. The Frenchman did not seem to have the strength or jumping reach to play as a lone forward.
It seemed as if Leeds may have landed another wide attacker or second forward while Patrick Bamford and Rodrigo continue their one-in-one-out routine at the tip of the attack. And then last night, on the banks of the Thames, it felt like a breakthrough for Rutter.
The number 24 led the line, did well in his duels with the centre-backs, fed teammates, but, most importantly, looked a threat in and around the penalty box. The disallowed goal, the athletic, arching header off the post and the parried effort early in the second half all showed a striker in the mood.
By contrast, Bamford again found very little joy when he took to the field for the final half an hour or so. Most spectators have come to accept Bamford’s game in this Leeds side is about more than outright goal threat, but this latest run in the side, with Rodrigo absent, is failing to sufficiently impress.
Rutter was by far the bigger all-round threat as the team’s striker last night. As with anything, it would be foolish to draw firm conclusions on the evidence of one breakthrough performance, but there is, at last, grounds to believe Rutter is finding his feet with United.
Kristensen moves inside
When the teamsheets landed, the assumption had been Luke Ayling would be the right-back moving inside to partner Robin Koch. It would not have been the first time the vice-captain had done this either, of course.
It was a shock, when the match started, to discover Rasmus Kristensen was in fact alongside Koch for the first time in his Leeds career. The assumption had been the Dane was moved inside to combat the physical threat of Aleksandar Mitrovic, but Gracia would add a little meat to the bone post-match.
“Rasmus played really well,” he said. “I spoke with him before the game to tell him I wanted him to play in that position.
“He agreed and he said he would play where the team needs him and this is a very good professional, putting the team before himself. He played well, he is very focused, he was concentrated on the game and he was well.”
Kristensen was solid in the middle. Koch seemed to pick up most of the heavy lifting with Mitrovic and he was quietly impressive once more, but his Danish teammate did not put too many feet wrong.
One of the comments Jesse Marsch made towards the end of his tenure admitted if there was one department the squad possibly short in bodies at the end of the January transfer window, it was at centre-back. Diego Llorente’s loan exit did, arguably, leave Leeds short of a senior option there and if Kristensen is someone else Gracia might rely on in there, that can only be a good thing.
Something to return to SW6 with
On Saturday, Leeds will be in action again less than one-and-a-half-miles from Craven Cottage. Stamford Bridge and Chelsea await with Gracia keen to build on his unbeaten league start in the job.
Yes, a defeat last night was not preferable and it was frustrating for all concerned, but it was hardly a whitewash lacking any redeemable features. Gracia and his side can go into the Chelsea visit with grounds for confidence.
The chances were there, against a side with a far better record than Graham Potter’s outfit this season. The finishing was absent, but any head coach would take a litany of unfinished chances over a blunt outfit creating nothing at all.
This loss does not have to be the blow which knocks the early stages of this coaching administration. The optimism of a new start can be retained, from that Southampton win, and carried into Saturday’s league game.
READ NEXT:
Leeds United player ratings as Georginio Rutter impresses in unlucky Fulham defeat
Leeds United wastefulness punished as FA Cup run is ended by Fulham at Craven Cottage
Jermaine Beckford feels Leeds United's FA Cup defeat to Fulham 'sums up their season'
Leeds United supporters send 'shooting boots' message as Whites exit FA Cup in Fulham loss
Javi Gracia must address Leeds United's major issue in front of goal made evident in Fulham defeat
