That title says it all because plain-vanilla Leeds rolled onto the pitch with the ingenuity of a Saturday morning masters club, presented a slow and easy 4-4-2, which was handled quite well by League Two's Bradford City and clung to a 2-1 victory in the first road of the JPT.
The club made a few changes to the lineup from but weekend merely came out in the same easy-to-defend attack they have been using and minimized their talent seemingly as much as possible. I've got a great deal of hope for this squad and feel it could complete in the Championship but heavy-legged midfielders who play to the slowest, least fit player need to be a regular on the bench. This match offered little to me as a coach and it would be insulting to you as a fan for me to ring the praises of a Leeds victory, although it does prove how slow this team can play. With respect to Bradford City, Leeds should have run them into the ground but the League Two squad, stacked and packed the midfield in a 4-5-1 and predictably, Leeds could barely break through. The predictability of Leeds attack is only superseded by the ease of structuring defensive tactics to nullify their attack.
On the positive side, I was pleased to Aidan White in the starting grid and once again, the sixteen year-old showed tremendous promise. Luciano Becchio showed a great deal of ingenuity when paired with Robert Snodgrass and scored Leeds second goal off the Scot's corner. From that point on, the match was reasonably well balanced, with Bradford City drawing a goal back with twenty-nine minutes left and nearly leveling it before time ran out. However Leeds was able to hang on to take the victory and move to the next round.
Crewe visit Elland Road on Saturday and with Steve Holland's club, it is crucial for Leeds to pounce on the opportunity and grab three points.
Match Details
Goals: Leeds 2 (Robinson 7, Becchio 40), Bradford City 1 (Conlon 71)
Leeds United: Lucas, Richardson, Huntington, Marques, White (Delph 86), Prutton, Kilkenny (Johnson 72), Howson, Snodgrass, Showunmi (Becchio 29), Robinson. Subs: Ankergren, Beckford.
Bradford: Evans, Heckingbottom, McLaren, Bower, Lee, Daley, Conlon, Colbeck, Moncur, Nix (Boulding 89), Furman (Bullock 86). Subs: McLaughlin, Arnison, Thorne.