Leeds Have Overcome Their Slump and Are Now Ready for Premier League Promotion

Things you love to see: Leeds United bottling promotion for the second season in a row.

There aren’t many football fans out there who wouldn’t smile and nod thinking about this appealing prospect. But they won’t be having the last laugh this time. Marcelo Bielsa’s men are headed in one direction only, and that is up.

It’s been something of a concertina season for the Yorkshire side; the gap to third that decreased from 11 points to zero has since expanded again to seven and counting. After getting off to a storming start, form dipped dramatically over Christmas, but now United look like the dominant force fans knew and loved again just in time for the run in.

A foreboding feeling started to creep in when Leeds fell to their fifth defeat in nine games at the City Ground at the start of February. The Whites played like a team that had forgotten its identity, lacking the flair and confidence that made them such a joy to watch.

Traumatic flashbacks of last season’s collapse and the horrors of the play-offs were emerging with increasing frequency, and vultures began to circle as it seemed every man and his dog were willing it to go wrong for Leeds all over again.

Nottingham Forest manager Sabri Lamouchi was eager to twist the knife, declaring that Leeds were “tired” with all the patronising concern of a mother pandering to her sleepy, teary toddler. Departed Elland Road hero Pontus Jansson chipped in too.

With all the gleeful venom of a jealous ex seeing their one-time partner in a club copping off with a munter, he speculated: “Maybe it is a common thing and this year it is happening the same as last year for them, but it is difficult to say.”

It is difficult to say, but he had no trouble saying it because Brentford, his swanky new lover with a flashy BMW, were in the ascendancy at the time he made these comments. But one of the main reasons that Leeds recovered from this wobble before they were knocked off their perch is that no other club made a serious, concerted attempt to make that happen.

While Leeds were dropping points left, right and centre, they were surrounded by clubs who were doing the same and consistency became an alien concept in the Championship over the Christmas period.

Had one of the chasing pack been able to string more than a few wins together, things might have looked very different indeed, although Luke Ayling recently remarked that one of the takeaways from last season’s crumble is their intent to focus on their own results without looking over their shoulders.

With this determination, the Peacocks have propelled themselves from the very depths of the form table to its glorious peak, and have been rewarded for five consecutive wins with a return to the top of the league. It’s all starting to look rather promising at Elland Road, though fans will be mindful not to count their chickens too prematurely.

When things started going wrong again in December, there was a sense of déjà vu as if losing a few games was the start of the end. But having come out the other side, it’s clear that the earlier arrival of their dip in form will be the crucial difference.

Last year, the campaign nosedived so desperately out of control. When Leeds began to struggle this time around, there were plenty of points to play for, so the players always believed the recovery was just over the horizon.

After 16 years of mediocrity, Leeds are now a Premier League quality side once more. As Fulham are dragged up the table by prolific bagsman Aleksandar Mitrović, Leeds are blessed with quality across the board. Flagging up the low strike rate of Patrick Bamford only serves to foreground the sheer talent of a squad who continue to score without a prolific number nine.

While Bielsa has been criticised for his shallow squad, he is beginning to reap what he has been sowing for many months, as the benefit of a consistent starting XI has manifested itself into a veritable feast for the eyes. 

The 64-year-old’s preferred lineup is so comfortable together that when you watch them knock the ball about with such ease, anticipating each other’s runs, and playing their teammates on without even looking, it looks as though they were born to play with each other.

On Saturday, the Whites survived and thrived against Huddersfield without the injured Kalvin Phillips - whose earlier absence through suspension undoubtedly had a hand in consecutive losses to Forest and Wigan - flaunting the adaptability that comes with living and breathing a system in the way disciplinarian Bielsa demands.

It has taken some time, but Bielsa has bred a squad of players who are primed to overcome adversity. All that’s left to do now for Leeds fans is to sit back and enjoy the ride, with the harmless soundtrack of Joy Division gently trundling on in the background.