Some Bristol City fans have criticised the manager’s approach to Saturday’s game, which resulted in a 1-0 loss to Leeds United.
The Robins remain just outside of the play-off places in the Championship table following Saturday’s defeat. However, they missed out on an opportunity to overtake sixth-placed Preston North End, who also suffered a loss this weekend.
Leeds were enduring an extended run of poor form going into Saturday’s fixture. They had won just two of their last 11 Championship games prior to their win over Bristol City. Leeds’ recent lack of form likely will have given Bristol City hope of earning at least a point from Saturday’s game. However, they ultimately fell short of the mark, thus remaining outside of the play-off zone.
A 16th-minute Leeds United goal via Luka Ayling saw the hosts pick up a 1-0 lead which they ultimately held on to for the remainder of the contest, all the while dominating the possession, denying Bristol City much of an opportunity to create a goalscoring chance.
Did Lee Johnson get his tactics wrong for Saturday's game?
YES, JOHNSON SET UP TOO CONSERVATIVELY
NO, JOHNSON HAD THE RIGHT IDEA GOING INTO SATURDAY'S GAME
Bristol City fans had a negative reaction to their side’s performance in Saturday’s game. Some fans, in particular, directed criticism towards manager Lee Johnson, claiming he ‘got it wrong’ for their weekend clash. Read some of the criticism of The Robins and Lee Johnson’s performance from Saturday’s contest in the tweets below.
Better second half but absolutely no attacking threat. What did people make of that? pic.twitter.com/wHihXxoNEe
— Bristol City FC Supporters Page (@BCFC_Supporters) February 15, 2020
https://twitter.com/JRMBlakey/status/1228725678662725633
Totally unsurprising loss of momentum following a decent win. Partially explained by the illness of Fammy, but overall not good enough from the players or LJ.
— Owen (@bristolianeagle) February 15, 2020
https://twitter.com/trevhartnett74/status/1228725603182010369
Awful
— liam fowler (@liam_fowler) February 15, 2020
Achieved what they set out to do… frustrating, Leeds have been rocking lately. play ‘our’ game they keep ranting on about! Played Leeds game today.
— adam talbot (@adamtalbot4) February 15, 2020
It was relentless in the first half. How ever we didn’t lose 4 or 5 nil I don’t know ???????
— Jon Willmott (@willmott_jon) February 15, 2020
What do we think?
Bristol City registered a total of just three shots in Saturday’s game, with only one of them actually hitting the target. Despite failing to create much, and ultimately losing the game, The Robins did successfully prevent Leeds from hitting the target on too many occasions themselves. Despite having 20 shots, Leeds only hit the target with six of them, though they did test Bristol City goalkeeper Daniel Bentley, forcing him, at times, to “keep Lee Johnson’s side in the contest”.
Johnson’s approach to Saturday’s game allowed Leeds to have the vast majority of the possession. Leeds accumulated 68.4% possession in Saturday’s game to Bristol City’s 31.6%.
Had Leeds not earned a relatively early lead, Bristol City’s defensive game plan may have worked in their favour, considering how successful it was at preventing Leeds from turning their possession dominance into too many shots on target. However, the defensive Bristol City side were unable to trouble Leeds too much once they’d taken the early lead, allowing their opponents to see out the game.