Southampton away. October 16, 2021. A day it felt like the first penny dropped on what this season may become for Leeds United.
After labouring to a tight, first win of the season at the seventh time of asking, the highs of the previous three years were papering over the cracks that have lingered throughout 2021/22. The cracks that ripped through two weeks of wallpapering during the October international break delivered some of the biggest blows of Marcelo Bielsa’s tenure.
That trip to the sunny south coast remains one of the worst performances we have seen from a Leeds side under the Argentine. The writing was on the wall with the events of the international break, though.
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Kalvin Phillips withdrew from England duty and would be missing from a Leeds squad for the first time this season. Taking one talisman out of this threadbare squad is one thing, but by that stage, Patrick Bamford was already nursing the ankle injury he suffered at Newcastle United too.
That’s two, how about a third? Raphinha was always seen as a doubt because of the horrendous scheduling FIFA allowed for Brazil. The third talisman, and at that stage by far the best player in a struggling side, was facing less than 36 hours between full-time in South America and kick-off in Hampshire.
Raphinha would score twice for Brazil in a 71-minute outing which never gave Bielsa a chance of conscientiously expecting him to play for the Whites with so little recovery time. Losing those three, alongside first-choice defenders Luke Ayling, Junior Firpo and Robin Koch left the whole visit feeling flat.
Now, it’s Southampton after an international break again, but the world seems a very different place for Leeds. By stark contrast to October, Jesse Marsch is in the dugout and he has a far fitter squad to deal with based on his most recent comments.
At the very least, Phillips is on an upward curve with his fitness and will hope to get minutes from the bench if not from the start against the Saints. Raphinha’s Covid diagnosis spared him the arduous flights to and from South America which put him in pole position to return to the side next weekend too.
Marsch was broadly positive on the problems which arose at Molineux last week also. A tearful Bamford did not initially believe he exacerbated his foot problem, while Mateusz Klich will be clear of his concussion protocol. Diego Llorente may struggle to keep his place even if he is fit and Illan Meslier was not considered serious by the head coach.
Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side arrive at Elland Road off the back of three consecutive defeats to face a side on the back of two, dramatic wins which could prove to be the platform for survival in their eight-match run-in. The feeling could not be more different to last October.
