THAT WINNING FEELING
I wrote recently about my enjoyment of watching this Leeds team regardless of the result, but you just can’t beat the warm glow of that winning feeling. It had been 19 weeks since Leeds United last won a match, and 19 months since they last won in front of a packed Elland Road. Sharing the experience with 30-odd thousand Leeds fans elevates the feeling beyond recognition compared to watching on TV, when with a click of the wife’s fingers you’re back in the room and real-life bites once again. The triumphant cheer that greets the final whistle, the pride as players and fans engage in a lap of mutual appreciation, the happy chirps of the fleeing flock on Lowfields Road. You can bask in the glory of it all night and look forward to watching the highlights later, safe in the knowledge that the memories will carry you through the week.
“You can bask in the glory of it all night and look forward to watching the highlights later, safe in the knowledge that the memories will carry you through the week.”
It had been 18 years, almost to the day, since Leeds fans left Elland Road on a Saturday and could look forward to watching their team win on Match of the Day. It was 4th October 2003, so long ago that Dino Baggio was on the scoresheet for the visitors, who had Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole up front, trying to party like it was 1999. Seth Johnson was the hero (words I never thought I’d write), scoring both the goals as Leeds beat Blackburn 2-1. The three points lifted Peter Reid’s side out of the relegation zone, but it was the last time they would have their heads above water all season.
Escaping the bottom three on the first weekend of October should be the only comparison that can be drawn between the current team and the mess that Eddie Gray soon inherited. To a man Leeds were brilliant against Watford on Saturday, from the first minute to the last. Shackleton was my man of the match, an outstanding performance at right-back. The returning Llorente was as excellent as we’ve come to expect, and more than made amends for nearly costing us a goal by scoring the winner. Cooper was impeccable (with a little help from the referee), Junior Firpo gave his best performance in a Leeds shirt, and so too did Dan James, who’s pace was as unsettling for the Watford defence as it was reassuring for the Leeds defence. Raphinha’s trickery was a constant menace, Rodrigo’s movement a constant threat, and the superiority of Dallas, Klich and Phillips in midfield was the key to Leeds’s total domination. It would have been the complete performance, but the sight of goal seemed to cause as much panic in the players as a pre-match firework display at the Millennium Stadium. Maybe it was the ghost of Ben Foster that put the willies up them, except it actually was Ben Foster in goal, 15 years after his bit-part role in Leeds’s play-off final capitulation against the same opponents.
“Maybe it was the ghost of Ben Foster that put the willies up them, except it actually was Ben Foster in goal, 15 years after his bit-part role in Leeds’s play-off final capitulation against the same opponents.”
Regardless of the narrow scoreline, this was an emphatic end to the negative cycle which should also end any fretting about a relegation battle we were never in. The embryonic Premier League table deserves no respect at this stage of the season, it had Watford in midtable for goodness sake! And if Leeds had not conceded that injury time goal to West Ham, this one measly victory over an abysmal side would have moved the Whites from the relegation zone to within three points of the European places when Match of the Day aired on Saturday night.
“The embryonic Premier League table deserves no respect at this stage of the season, it had Watford in midtable for goodness sake!”
A great man once said, ‘When you win, more than being happy you are calm. It is good in football to have a period of calm’, and with our first win on the board we can all enjoy a panic-free international break. Yet on this occasion, more than being calm we can be happy, for this was a victory that has been far too long in the making. Imagine if the next time Match of the Day shows a Leeds home win is in October 2039, it seems impossible and shows just how badly we have suffered. Thankfully, under Marcelo Bielsa the only way is up.
Rocco Dean - Author of Marcelo Bielsa vs The Damned United (order on Amazon)