OPINION
Leeds United’s hopes of winning automatic promotion to the Premier League might have been derailed after losing 2-1 at home to relegation-threatened Wigan on Friday put Sheffield United in the driving seat to finish in the top two.
One of the major reasons why Leeds failed to see off a Wigan side that was reduced to 10 men early on was the lack of a proper centre-back playing alongside Pontus Jansson in the heart of the defence.
Gaetano Berardi has stood in at centre-back when both Jansson and Liam Cooper have been out this season, and if the full-back has been out as well, Kalvin Phillips has been shoved into the back-line.
While it has helped Leeds at some stages of the season, it has hindered them in others, costing them important points in the race for promotion.
If Cooper had played alongside Jansson on Friday, then Leeds might have walked away with at least a point and that would still have meant they were in the top-two by the end of the match.
Marcelo Bielsa only has himself to blame over the lack of natural centre-backs at Elland Road.
It was a concern for almost every fan, however we heard Bielsa claim after the close of the summer transfer window that he was happy with the squad.
Again, going into the January transfer window, the Argentine claimed that there was no need for new additions despite Cooper being injured at the time.
Bielsa’s stance on the Leeds squad is surely coming back to haunt him at the worst possible time of the season.
If he had just signed one more centre-back on loan or a free transfer in January, then maybe Leeds would have picked up more points when Cooper has been out.
The Yorkshire giants have lost three out of the last four Championship matches where Cooper hasn’t played, and they will be without him again on Monday when they take on Brentford at Griffin Park.
Bielsa has rarely made changes to his starting line-up this season and we are more than likely going to see Berardi line up alongside Jansson once again in the heart of the back-four.
Leeds may be in trouble as a result of Bielsa’s decision to not sign additional centre-backs in each of the last two transfer windows.