Rio Ferdinand sums up Leeds season so far with brief verdict

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Leeds United suffered defeat to West Ham United on Friday evening, leaving Marcelo Bielsa’s side frustrated and with just one win in six games – and Rio Ferdinand has given his verdict on Leeds after their first 12 league games.

The Whites returned to the Premier League for the first time in 16 years when they finished the 2019-20 campaign as Championship champions. They got off to a flying start, almost nabbing a point against Liverpool at Anfield.

Stopping Manchester City, dismantling Aston Villa, scraping a win over Sheffield United, beating Fulham, outplaying Arsenal and a smash-and-grab win over Everton have followed. But so have some heavy defeats.

Big losses to Leicester, Crystal Palace and Chelsea – as well as a 1-0 loss to Wolves – were following by a poor display against West Ham last Friday. Ferdinand gave his verdict on former team Leeds and there return to the big time.

“Leeds are just a bit indifferent at the moment, you don’t know what you’re going to get, “Ferdinand told his YouTube channel FIVE. “They started like a house on fire but all of a sudden, bang. They get a few indifferent results and you think wow – you would’ve expected Leeds to beat West Ham.”

TBR’s view – What do Leeds need to do differently?

Leeds have two issues under Bielsa. The first problem is defending set-pieces – with three conceded in their last two games. Both of West Ham’s goals, scored by Tomas Soucek and Angelo Ogbonna, were from set-plays.

That can be fixed on the training ground. But one issue with Bielsa’s style is that Leeds struggle against teams who play on the counter. Leicester and Palace proved just as much, as did West Ham to some degree.

Leeds need to find another way of getting past a low block, while also preventing the counter. Certainly against Newcastle on Wednesday, the will come up against that style once again.