OPINION
Leeds United’s promotion hopes took a big dent on Friday afternoon after they were resigned to a disappointing 2-1 defeat at the hands of Wigan.
Patrick Bamford initially put the Whites ahead in the 17th minute after the Latics had a player sent off just three minutes before, but they managed to pull two back in order to stop Leeds in their tracks and have their automatic promotion hopes hanging by a thread.
Marcelo Bielsa no doubt learned a lot about his team after the defeat, and he will have to do that before they face Brentford on Monday.
Here, This is Futbol has rounded up the three things learned about Leeds in their loss v Wigan:
Forshaw needs to be sold in the summer
Adam Forshaw came on for Kalvin Phillips at half time, but it is safe to say that he did not make the slighted bit of difference. If Bielsa had intended for his substitution to change the course of the game, that is something that he has seriously backfired on. This is not the first time the 27-year-old has been atrocious this season, and it will not be the last by the looks of things. The best thing Leeds can do is cut their losses and bin him in the summer, as he is hardly making an impact.
Hernandez display was worrying
Pablo Hernandez perhaps had one of his worst displays in a Leeds shirt for a very long time on Friday. You could tell that it was not going to be his day after his penalty effort hit the post, and from then on, everything seemed to just crumble around him. This display was no doubt very alarming for Bielsa, as when Hernandez is off the boil, the rest of the team seem to follow suit. The fans will have their fingers crossed that he can improve in time for Monday, otherwise their automatic promotion hopes will just go down the drain.
Brentford is now their most important fixture of the season
Monday night’s fixture away at Brentford could potentially be one of their most important games of the season after this defeat. The play-offs are going to be a reality if they cannot turn things around, so it is paramount that they get a win against the Bees. If they do not, then they might as well kiss goodbye to going up automatically. They will then have to do it the hard way, and that is the last thing that the fans want right now.