The Scratching Shed: “Bielsa works with a small squad and it can be costly with injuries”

Leeds United proved to be an excellent addition to the Premier League last season, securing a top 10 finish in their first campaign at the highest table for 16 years.

The current season is proving to be an altogether different kettle of fish, however. Marcelo Bielsa and his players will rock up at the Amex sitting in 17th spot, just one place and two points above the relegation zone.

Is this a classic case of second season syndrome? Or has something else turned Leeds into strugglers? Might Bielsa – a finalist in last year’s FIFA World Coach of the Year award, lest we forget – even be in danger of losing his job?

As Brighton look to continue their remarkable record of the past decade over Leeds, we caught up with David Wilkinson from The Scratching Shed for the lo-down from Elland Road.

A top 10 finish last season in your first campaign back in the Premier League. You must have been happy with that?

I was delighted. It was way beyond my expectations, but we just seemed to really click into gear second half of the season. I think we were well worth it in the end.

This season in contrast has got off to a slow start and Leeds lie 17th in the table. Is this a case of second season syndrome, or something else?

It’s injuries. While you’d be hard pressed to find any Leeds fan with a bad word to say about Bielsa, he likes to work with a small squad and that’s sometimes to our cost as it runs the risk of a few injuries derailing our season.

I don’t think we’ve been able to name our strongest XI all season, we’ve constantly been missing big names, most notably Patrick Bamford who leads the press for us. We tend to look a bit disjointed without him.

We’re so light at the minute, Archie Gray – the 15 year old great nephew of Leeds legend Eddie Gray – travelled with the squad as backup substitute to Spurs last week, whilst the bench itself had a combined age of under 20.

You mention Bielsa and I cannot believe I am asking this, but this is football in 2021… is there any danger that he could be in trouble if you remain towards the bottom three?

Tough one. I’d love to say no way, but the reality of relegation is a huge financial loss which no owner can really ignore, except maybe Norwich who seem happy to yoyo.

I think the chances are he’d walk before he was pushed, but I’m confident it won’t come to that and we’ll start to pick up a few more points once our injury list reduces.

What were your expectations at the start of the season? And what would constitute a successful season now given your start?

I expected bottom half. A lot of Leeds fans were expecting us to better last season, but that was always wildly unrealistic.

It takes a few seasons to establish a club in this division, it’s always going to be a scrap until you’ve got a squad of seasoned Premier League footballers with real quality. And as things stand, we’re still stretching the limits of a few too many players in my opinion.

Obviously, a full Elland Road missed out on watching Premier League football last season. What has it been like having fans back inside the stadium and watching Premier League football?

We’ve not won as many as I’d like but it’s been great. In any division, Elland Road can be absolutely wild. The best atmosphere I’ve ever experienced there was probably when we came from behind with 10 men against Bristol Rovers to be promoted from League One and I say that as someone old enough to have attended plenty of European nights before our lengthy demise.

What I’ve probably enjoyed more this season is the away days. They’re great in any division, but the fixture list has a lot more stand out games in the top tier. Except Norwich, absolute joke getting to that place every time.

Brighton were rumoured to be interested in Daniel James in the summer because of his links with Graham Potter. How is he getting on since joining Leeds?

He looks to be a bit of a confidence player and I think it has taken him a while to find some. He has certainly shown flashes of the ability we bought him for, but he really seemed to find a different level after scoring last week. Hopefully he can maintain that.

Brighton continued their unusually good record against Leeds last season, taking six points out of six. What did you make of the two matches?

Not one of the European Super League Six managed a double over us last season, so all credit to you for winning at Elland Road and down at your place.

I think the “styles win fights” phrase from boxing sums up football with Bielsea quite well, because we’ve often found it easier to counterpunch teams who attack us than break down those with a more defensively solid setup.

That perhaps changed a little as the season went on and we became a bit more solid ourselves, but even in the Championship we often struggled against a defensive approach.

Who will be Leeds’ dangermen on Saturday at the Amex?
Honestly, I have no idea. It should be Raphinha but he missed the last game with illness so I don’t know whether he’ll be in the squad.

Bamford is back in training but it’s probably a bit too soon for him. It could be young Archie Gray with the way our injury list continues to grow.

Finally, a score prediction please?
I’m going for a Leeds win, more out of hope than expectation. It is hard to predict anything when you’ve no idea who is going to be fit to play. Brighton 1-2 Leeds.

Thanks to David from The Scratching Shed for answering our questions. You can follow The Scratching Shed on Twitter for all the best coverage of Leeds United.