Leeds United have now officially made 10 signings this summer, the latest being James Justin from Leicester City. The England defender was absent when the team lost to Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal on Saturday.
Justin is a rare Leeds signing this summer who does not tick the physical requirements; Daniel Farke hinted heavily that the club brought in tall players to help defend better in the Premier League. Almost all the outfield players signed in this window are 6ft or taller.
But that did not seem to help when the Whites suffered a huge loss away from home on Saturday?
QUIZ: Can you name the Leeds game these 10 goal celebrations are from?
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink criticizes Leeds United signings
Credit: Imago
Leeds conceded from two set pieces in the 5-0 loss, both from corners. And the sequences that led to the final touch into the net was poor defending from the defenders. Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, who on punditry duty for Premier League Productions, was concerned how the club failed to deal with the set-pieces.
“It was always going to be a difficult match. This is not the kind of match where they would have hoped to pick up points. There is a way of losing. They [Arsenal] are strong at set-pieces, don’t give them away.
“You have brought people in to get better at defending set-pieces, but it is still an issue. Daniel Farke says it is not a defining moment, true, but you still have to be competitive in these matches,” Hasselbaink said.
“You want to be competitive, they were only competitive until the set-piece, then all the plans went away and that was a pity,”
The players are not to blame
In the Arsenal game, the blame lies with the set piece coaching rather than the new signings. With both goals from the corners, the team was too static. Everybody just stood in one place while the Arsenal players had a running start. No one knew if Leeds were man marking or playing zonal marking during set pieces.
And that was one of the big reasons why they were punished when the ball was put in the box. Daniel Farke and the technical team must go back to the drawing board and fix things before they become an obvious weakness to opponents this season.
