Leeds United: Leeds lose as Saints go marching on

National World - LocalTV

Transcript

00:00 Well, Lee, we are back with our Leeds United podcast and well, it's disappointment, isn't it?

00:08 Unfortunately, it's heartbreak. Leeds once again falling at the playoff hurdle, not for the first time,

00:15 as we've chatted about in the past, never actually gone up via the Championship playoff.

00:20 So, the curse goes on. Of course, it was Wembley and it was Southampton and it wasn't to be.

00:26 An Adam Armstrong goal in the first half was the winning goal. Leeds never really looked too threatening.

00:34 I mean, they had that spell towards the start of the game where they looked quite good.

00:38 Southampton then come back into it. Armstrong gets the goal, thanks to some awful defending,

00:44 if we're brutally honest, from Leeds, just letting him drift into some space.

00:48 And then Leeds, you'd think at that point, as the game goes on, they'd be peppering the Southampton goal,

00:54 but it never really happened, did it? I mean, Dan James had a couple of chances that would get on to him

00:58 specifically in a little bit. But the match as a whole, Leeds, for all the highs you had against Norwich

01:05 in that semi-final second leg at Elland Road, everyone saying, you know, this leads back to their best.

01:11 Once again, it was the corner turned back around the wrong way again, and they were sort of back to the lead

01:17 they had been towards the end of the season, not looking very clinical going forward and looking very shaky

01:23 at the back as well. It really was a dismal afternoon in North London, wasn't it?

01:28 Most definitely was, yes. And the second half of the season, well, not the whole second half of the season,

01:32 since the international break, basically, they've just been very, very hard to predict.

01:36 And it has literally been a case of which Leeds turns up, really. And we said beforehand

01:43 that we were optimistic that they'd get the job done, that that second leg against Norwich,

01:48 that they would be full of confidence after that, that if they produced something similar to that,

01:52 that would be enough. And they produced something completely opposite to that.

01:57 It was nothing like that performance. I mean, two shots on target in the whole game and sort of struggling

02:01 to even remember what they are. Obviously, Dan James, very unlucky with his shot, they hit the crossbar.

02:07 We'll come on to it in a minute.

02:08 Was it Willian Donovan who won in the first half when Leeds were on top of their Emery?

02:11 That's right, yes. But, I mean, even when I was doing the post-match video straight afterwards,

02:16 I was struggling to think of any chances, really, where you sort of thought, should have scored that.

02:20 Lots of forays forward and stuff and getting around the edge of the box, people like Somerville,

02:24 especially, but just sort of nothing there and no end products, really.

02:28 Yes, just extremely, extremely disappointed. And then it's hard because you sort of go into that game

02:33 and afterwards you sort of ask yourself the question, well, why did you fancy Leeds to do it?

02:38 Because the club have never done it in the playoffs and this, that and the other, as you've mentioned.

02:41 But, I mean, that's not this bunch of players and that shouldn't really have made any difference.

02:45 But, even so, we were all speaking at Wembley beforehand in the press area, as journalists and whatnot.

02:53 And, basically, the theme amongst us all was the same, was that we felt the first goal was going to be absolutely crucial.

02:58 And, obviously, I went for a 2-0 Leeds win and I was prepared to go with that because I did think that,

03:03 basically, if it goes wrong, it goes wrong. And if Southampton score first, then that would probably be it.

03:08 And even though there was only 24 minutes on the clock, when that goal went in, I was sat there in the stands

03:12 and it was in the press area or whatever at Wembley. And I just thought to myself, it's not going to be Leeds' day.

03:17 And that's pretty bad when you're thinking that there's only 24 minutes gone.

03:20 But it just sort of felt like that game already. And, obviously, Southampton have just basically got Leeds' number.

03:25 They've already beaten twice this season and just an extremely disappointing afternoon.

03:29 I mean, obviously, the second half, they had lots of possession leads and you kind of felt that maybe they might get going.

03:33 But they just never really clicked, never got going.

03:36 Ross McCormack was interesting pre-match on Sky Sports News.

03:39 He said, basically, that if Leeds' front four all turned up, as he put it, he could only see one result in terms of a Leeds win.

03:47 And, unfortunately, none of them turned up. That's the reality of it.

03:50 I mean, they just didn't. I mean, all right, Somerville.

03:53 Well, when Somerville got taken off, that's when I knew the game was up, basically.

03:57 I mean, obviously, Daniel Farkes searching for answers there, desperately trying to make something happen towards the end of the game.

04:02 And he didn't play great and so probably didn't deserve to stay on the pitch, really.

04:05 But, I mean, when you're bringing off the Championship Player of the Year, you know it's not your day and things are not going very well.

04:10 And, you know, it just never felt like a grandstand finish or anything.

04:13 There was all that extra time, obviously, after Dan James' blow to the head.

04:18 But extremely, extremely disappointing, yes.

04:20 And it's such a shame. And that was my thought sat there.

04:23 I'm sure all the fans as well, you're sort of thinking the massive winning run they had, the 90 points they had, all the highs,

04:29 the fantastic win, the semi-final victory, all the highs.

04:32 It has been a very, very good season in terms of the points tally and whatever.

04:37 But, you know, ultimately, they had automatic promotion in their own hands and they blew it.

04:41 And then they had the playoffs and they've blown it.

04:43 And basically, you know, you can say, well, 90 points is a terrific achievement, which it is.

04:47 But really, this season just counts for nothing, really.

04:49 I mean, you know, you can say it's something to build on for next season.

04:52 And we'll come to that again a bit later on.

04:55 But, I mean, you know, you are pretty much back to the drawing board.

04:58 The only thing is, obviously, is that you've obviously got a manager in place now in Daniel Farke.

05:02 It will be, you know, the sort of situation is a lot less turbulent now than it was over last summer.

05:07 But it doesn't mean it's plain sailing now this summer because the fact Leeds have missed out on the Premier League,

05:12 obviously, they've got players who, you know, probably can play in the Premier League, Somerville top of that list.

05:18 So there's going to be speculation and interest in people like him, I'm sure.

05:21 And it's going to be another difficult summer, basically.

05:23 So, I mean, we'll come to next season, you know, at the end of this one and also in other shows that we do.

05:27 You know, I left Wembley and I thought you can't really argue with the result.

05:31 Some people might say it was quite a 50-50 game and stuff, but it's about taking your chances.

05:35 And we said beforehand Adam Armstrong was the danger man, you know, his favourite to score first.

05:40 It was no surprise that he did. 24th goal of the season in the 24th minute.

05:44 And that was it, you know, and fair play to Southampton.

05:46 They've done the job. They've beat Leeds three times.

05:48 You know, I mean, obviously, you could say, well, top three should go up, but that's not the way it is.

05:52 It's the playoffs. And if you get in the playoffs, this is the risk you run.

05:55 But, yeah, I think the massive regret also and disappointment for fans is that if they didn't win the playoff final,

06:01 then at least go out fighting, you know, and like go out all guns blazing and like with an absolute sort of like siege on the goal.

06:06 And it wasn't that. It wasn't that Leeds United have been brilliant this season.

06:09 It was the one that hasn't turned up in some games towards us, you know, since international break.

06:14 And just very, very disappointing. I should say a word for the fans, though.

06:17 I mean, that's the one thing that will stick in my mind.

06:19 I mean, that game, obviously, going down to Wembley and the experience of it was, you know, like, obviously,

06:23 you'll always remember it and for disappointing reasons, obviously, having lost a playoff final.

06:27 But the fans down there, that will always stick in my mind, you know, like the white wall, as Daniel Fart said,

06:33 he expected it to be. And it was and it was that handsome. It was absolutely unbelievable.

06:37 Like, you know, literally every fan, it felt like was wearing white.

06:40 You had the big crest in the middle of them as well, you know, on the big screen and so loud, so noisy.

06:46 It was just an amazing, amazing atmosphere. One of the best I've seen, really.

06:49 So full credit to the fans, who soon quickly cleared off. And I don't blame them.

06:54 You know, after that, it was quite a sort of surreal sort of sight.

06:57 You had like one end of the stadium full of Southampton partying and then you had like Leeds players on the knees

07:01 and tears and stuff. And the fans, very, very, I mean, within about 10, 15 minutes, it felt like it was empty.

07:06 People quickly wanted to scarper back home. And I'm not surprised.

07:09 So it's very rostered at the moment. You know, as I say, you can look back and say,

07:13 well, it was a good season, etc., etc. But it wasn't really because obviously,

07:17 it's not been promoted and we'll come to that in a minute. But yeah, an extremely disappointing end

07:21 to what has been a good season, full of lots of highs, but, you know, a huge, huge low at the end of it.

07:26 No doubt about that.

07:27 Wembley isn't a place for losers, I think is the, is certainly what I'd contribute to that conversation.

07:35 I mean, I've been there myself. And certainly, I know as you're coming out of Wembley way

07:40 and all you want to do is just get away as quickly as you can.

07:43 Of course, when you're covering the match, you don't go straight away. But for the fans,

07:47 you just want to get away as quickly as you can. Then you come down Wembley way,

07:49 because it's, you know, it's not that wide. You've got those stop-go signs as well.

07:54 It takes forever and you just know, it's a nightmare.

07:57 Well, I think even us, I think even us as journalists felt a little bit like that, you know,

08:01 I mean, obviously we had our work to do and whatever, but I mean, it's, it's, yeah,

08:06 I mean, certainly for the Leeds United journalists and stuff, myself included, it's a blow as well.

08:10 You know, I mean, we, you know, like, I mean, you've had things before and accusations and stuff

08:15 from, you know, sort of other clubs and whatever and stuff where people sort of say, oh, you know,

08:19 like journalists would be out of business if clubs weren't, if, you know, clubs were doing well,

08:22 this, that and the other, like, they're sort of let the press thrive on, you know,

08:25 clubs going badly and whatever. But it's not the case, you know, like everybody wanted

08:28 Leeds United to go up. We wanted Leeds to go up. We wanted to be covering Premier League football.

08:32 That's what it's all about. And obviously, like, I mean, throughout the season, I mean, you know,

08:36 I was messaging friends and stuff saying we're going to win the league, you know,

08:39 like Leeds are going to win the league this season. It was like, because that's what it was looking that way.

08:42 As I said, you know, sort of a smash.

08:45 Yeah, as they smashed into Leicester's advantage, you know, and that's what I thought would happen.

08:50 And then obviously that didn't happen. They thought, well, definitely get top two.

08:53 Then eventually started to get my head around the fact, no, they can do this.

08:56 They can win the playoffs. And obviously in the end, you've ended up with nothing.

08:58 And it was quite a sort of weird feeling, sat there thinking like throughout, you know,

09:01 for all this season, how good it's been. Basically, like, you know,

09:05 they're just still going to be in the championship next season. It was almost quite hard to get your head around really.

09:09 And I'm sure it will be for the players. I'm sure it will be for the fans.

09:12 But yeah, I echo that sentiment. You're right. I think it isn't a place for losers.

09:15 And I think everyone just wanted to get away ASAP.

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