Leeds United have had a serious issue with stoppages in recent games. It all started when the Elland Road crowd though Manchester City took a break in play to discuss tactics.
But that was made clear that it was a break for Ramadan in that game. After that match, Sunderland came to town and also deliberately stopped the game to discuss tactics. Goalkeeper Melker Ellborg went down and was booed by the home crowd as Regis Le Bris got time to reorganize his team after they were absorbing pressure.
Daniel Farke and people around Leeds United have complained about this, but nothing has been done so far. On Saturday, Brentford came to Elland Road, and in a very similar situation, the same thing happened. When the home side got a foothold of the game, Caomhin Kelleher went down, allowing Keith Andrews to gather some of his players on the touchline.
Adam Pope blasts visiting teams for delay tactics against Leeds United
This trend has gone on for weeks, and the league has done nothing about it. Referees keep stopping play anytime the visiting side have a player down, and the team end up having a tactical break. Adam Pope slammed this behaviour, calling it ”outright cheating” on BBC Radio Leeds.
“This is outright cheating. It’s cheating because you’re pretending to be injured, it’s simulation, it’s cheating. The goalkeeper going down made everyone uber angry, I’ve never seen Aidy White, who’s really calm, so angry… Some of the refereeing stuff that’s gone on recently that affected Leeds, and you just think, Bielsa was right, football is eating itself. There’s a lot of stuff going on in football in general, I really don’t like at the moment and then when you have a game that doesn’t excite you at all (it’s frustrating).”
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Premier League has to intervene on this issue
Trends like these can only be stopped if the Premier League and the referees crack down on it. But it does not look like they will anytime soon. In the last few weeks, it looks like the referees have gone against Leeds United, with some abysmal decisions going against Daniel Farke’s men. The Key Match Incidents panel agreed that the Whites should have had a penalty against Sunderland, but no apology was issued. Daniel Farke was sent off for making his complaints known, and the second yellow for Gabriel Gudmundsson in the Palace game was just shocking. Leeds need to push this issue as far as possible, as it seems to only be affecting them when they play at Elland Road.
Ahh bless you, mind the gap.