Leeds United trance, Gray tired, Rodon ragdolls, Farke’s plan B and lessons from Norwich City wins

Leeds United may have done the double against Norwich City this season with a 4-2 aggregate scoreline, but neither game was a cakewalk for the Whites. The context surrounding each game was paramount, so much so that the lessons from those victories will need to be taken with a grain of salt ahead of Sunday’s very different and nervy circumstances.

The first meeting was at Carrow Road on 21 October, the first game back after the second international break of the season. The Whites were 2-0 up at half-time and facing a similar result to the one seen at Southampton three weeks earlier.

Daniel Farke, on his return to Norfolk, watched his side outclassed in the first half and there were valid fears for what might happen after the interval. As it was, United produced their best comeback of the season to win 3-2, led by the supremacy of Crysencio Summerville.

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Archie Gray was memorably tired at Carrow Road after playing every minute of three England youth games in the previous break. Given a terrible time by either wing David Wagner opted to deploy on the left flank.

Of course, Gray won’t have the same problems on Sunday, although he seems unlikely to play at right back as it is. Joe Rodon had a tough afternoon down there too, jinxed by Adam Idah too often, although he is now north of the border with Celtic.

Experienced centre-back Shane Duffy was a menace from kicking, scoring the first goal in the fourth minute. That threat has continued from dead ball situations and that is a glaring problem that Farke needs to fix before heading back down south this weekend.

Further forward, Gabriel Sara and Kenny McLean, two of the six outfield players like Ethan Ampadu who have started every league game this season, controlled the midfield. Sara’s goal, in particular, looks like the kind of concession Leeds could suffer with at the moment.

While the engine room struggles for balance regardless of the personnel Farke uses, McLean and Sara could have a field day if too much space is provided. In all of United’s 23 away games this season, only Ipswich Town have had more shots on target than Leeds’ 14, although just four have been on target for the Canaries.

You might remember the trip to Norwich as one of the earlier examples of Farke’s plan B: pouncing on every attacker he has to force a result through brute force. When Patrick Bamford and Wilfried Gnonto came on in the 70th minute, they were joined by Daniel James, Joel Piroe, Summerville and Georginio Rutter with the team trailing 2-1.

It was chaotic but eventually turned the tide of the game and found a victory, led by Summerville’s individual brilliance.

Norwich were not as impressive in the second leg at Elland Road, although it was far from a comfortable evening for Leeds. Wagner’s side had just five shots on the night and only four Championship visitors have had fewer at Elland Road this term.

However, after a classy opener from Bamford, who showed the movement needed to hurt a centre-back like Duffy, Sara would have missed a chance with the last kick of the first half before a bizarre period of dominance for Norwich. Without ever putting Illan Meslier’s goal under sustained pressure, the visitors had all the possession until the third quarter of the night.

Leeds were almost in a trance, such was their inability to press or even encourage Norwich to give the ball away. Farke later described it as a sensible, mature and solid defense in giving up possession but not chances during a difficult period for his side.

For all the problems they had at Carrow Road, Rodon and Gray were memorably impressive in this home game. The former was instrumental in clearing any ball that came into their box, while Gray single-handedly salvaged the three points with a late late challenge on Idah inside the Leeds area.