OPINION
With Leeds United heading into the international break off the back of a 4-1 thrashing at the hands of fellow promotion rivals West Brom, there was plenty of food for thought for manager Marcelo Bielsa and the supporters at Elland Road.
While no one wearing the Leeds crest could come away from the Hawthorns with much pride, some senior stars were more culpable for both the manner of defeat as well as the eventual results than others.
One man who will have needed lifting up off the floor would have been goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell, who, having come under fire by fans in recent weeks for displays of varying quality, put in a performance which was way off the standard expected – or needed for that matter – to seal a result against the Baggies.
He was nervy when making stops and was beaten far too easily for at least two, maybe even three, of the home side’s goals, and with loan signing Jamal Blackman breathing down his neck on the bench, Marcelo Bielsa will have been looking at the international break as an opportunity to judge whether the homegrown talent was worthy of keeping his place.
With another run out in the under-23 clash against Birmingham City at Thorp Arch on Friday, Chelsea man Blackman would have been hoping to put in a performance of the highest quality to prove Bielsa had no reason to persist with Peacock-Farrell for any longer.
Things could not have gone much worse.
In what was an ill-fated calamity of an outing, the shot stopper was seen to be flapping at crosses and shots from the Blues, appearing even more unconvincing than his rival for the first team spot as he ended up conceding a penalty for Birmingham’s opener.
Two more goals looked to have compounded his misery between the sticks but the worst was yet to come as he suffered an injury blow, Leeds Live reporting it as a problem with his right leg, and was stretchered off the pitch.
Simply put, this will have done nothing to convince Bielsa to make a change in the first team, and while he is currently on international duty, Peacock-Farrell has avoided a huge bullet while under serious pressure.