BBC Sport’s Leeds United correspondent Adam Pope has talked about one issue that the club has been facing under Marcelo Bielsa recently.
Pope appeared as a guest on the latest episode of the OTB Football podcast and the panel talked about multiple issues involving the Whites. Pope was asked if there are any issues at the club right now and the journalist revealed concerns about the failure to create chances in recent weeks. Pope revealed that there is a feeling of concern at Elland Road regarding this issue.
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Marcelo Bielsa’s men recently lost 1-0 to Graham Potter’s Brighton side. Their last win in all competitions came back in late December against West Bromwich Albion, when they won 5-0. Since then, they’ve lost to Crawley Town and Tottenham (as per WhoScored).
Pope discussed the club’s issue and highlighted the fact that they are struggling to create enough chances in front of goal and are as a result, having fewer shots as well.
He said: “The feeling’s one of concern at the moment, because I think it’s no goals since the turn of the year, and the big thing about that is that there’s been a distinct lack of chances created. In the past with Bielsa’s side, it’s more of a case of chances created, chances missed. But notably, there’s been very few shots on target. I’m just thinking the last time out, hardly was the ‘keeper tested at all. And on top of that, there weren’t many great chances created, either.”
TIF Thoughts on Pope’s comments about Leeds…
After their win over Burnley, Leeds haven’t generated an Expected Goals tally of more than 1.0. Their xG stood at a lowly 0.3 against Brighton and it was at 1.0 against Spurs. Against West Brom, their xG stood at only 0.9, even though they scored five on the day (as per FBRef).
This clearly shows that chance creation has been a problem in recent weeks for Bielsa’s men. It also suggests that the team needs more chance creators in the team and perhaps, dipping into the market for one this month would make sense.