West Brom seemed to have the game there for the taking when they went 1-0 up on Friday night. Carlos Corberan made a subtle change at half-time by pushing their back line 15 yards higher up the pitch, allowing them to get extra bodies forward and put Leeds under pressure. The plan was to exploit the space Leeds were giving up with the way they started play from deep, and then break up play in the Leeds half to counter quickly.
It worked to perfection when Ayling gave the ball away cheapy and West Brom countered at pace, won a corner and before we knew it they had stolen the lead. They had the lead and the signs looked ominous as the Baggies had started the second half on the front foot and were playing in the Leeds half a lot more that they had been in the first half.
But then Corberan messed up. He took off Swift, who had been immense sweeping in front of the defence. He had been particularly effective in getting at Shackleton and Ayling, and wasn’t afraid to track Ayling when necessary, especially as Phillips wasn’t able to keep bombing up and down the touchline after Luke.
In Swift’s place he brought on Sarmiento, a young attacking midfielder who immediately moved higher up the pitch. This suited Leeds, as it opened up more space to play into, and also gave Ayling a lot more freedom out wide as Phillips struggled to get oxygen into his lungs to track back.
The result was that Ayling had a free run into the box to head in a well-deserved equaliser with Phillips nowhere to be seen. I’m still baffled as to why Corberan changed his shape this way, because Swift was that extra insurance for them. I can only think that he wanted the team’s mindset to be positive, “keep going forward lads” rather than have them drop deeper and try to defend a one goal advantage.
After Ayling’s goal Corberan made the change he probably should have made at 1-0 up, bringing on a proper left-back to deal with the problem out wide caused by Aylings runs. But as much as West Brom were more secure down the left, they struggled to get up the field, conscious of and panicked by the pace of Leeds and desire to attack them out wide.
Leeds should have won, no doubt, and on the evidence of this game I honestly believe we can have a strong season. The club just needs to add depth to the squad, let’s say another 24 players! Farke looked very pleased at the final whistle, and he should be considering this team isn’t his preferred starting eleven. A solid point, we will smash them at theirs in the return fixture.
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