From Saturday's Injustice to Tuesday Night's Battle Cry
There's a particular kind of anger that can either consume or galvanise a football club. After Saturday's defeat to Manchester City, Leeds United have every reason to feel hard done by. The question isn't whether the grievance is justified. The question is what Daniel Farke's side and the Leeds United faithful do with it. If there is any ground in the country that can bottle that fury and direct it at the opposition, it's Elland Road under the lights. Sunderland on Tuesday night, with an undercurrent of injustice, could be one of the most ferocious games of the season.
Leeds have only themselves to blame for not taking their chances early in the first half, but what happened late in the second half and after the final whistle was all on Peter Bankes. Rayan Cherki stamped on Ilia Gruev and walked away without so much as a yellow card. A handball by Matheus Nunes in the box was waved away by VAR, judged to be a "natural position", a standard that has seemingly applied with remarkable inconsistency throughout this season. City's players were booked for timewasting in injury time, yet not a single second more was added on, with Bankes blowing for full time before Leeds could even deliver a final ball into the box.
Daniel Farke, a manager not given to theatrics, a man whose first red card came from over-celebrating a promotion, stormed onto the pitch to remonstrate with Bankes, seemingly receiving a red card before he had even reached the referee. Particularly galling given that City's players had spent the evening surrounding Bankes at every decision, while Guardiola spent much of the second half encroaching on the touchline without so much as a word from the officials. One rule, it seemed, for the title challengers; another for the relegation battlers with a legitimate grievance. Farke's assistant Edmund Riemer, calm and measured in the post-match press conference, put it simply…
Leeds weren't wrong to feel wronged and the decisions fit a season-long pattern. Brentford's Keith Andrews complained that Khusanov should have been sent off for denying a goalscoring opportunity during their Carabao Cup quarter-final exit at the Etihad. Sean Dyche then lodged a formal complaint with PGMOL after Ruben Dias avoided a second yellow in City's 2-1 win at Nottingham Forest, a decision PGMOL subsequently admitted they got wrong. And last week at the Etihad, Newcastle's Eddie Howe had legitimate cause to feel aggrieved when Dan Burn's equaliser was ruled out for offside with replays clearly showing that the very same Ruben Dias had physically pushed Burn into that position. Farke is merely the latest manager to leave a game against Guardiola's side feeling the officials were favouring one side.
Nights under the lights at Elland Road are one of English football's most visceral atmospheres at the best of times, never mind when fans feel they have been wronged. The crowd on Tuesday will arrive still simmering. They watched their team not only compete with Manchester City but create the better chances, only to be denied decisions in the final stages when they were the side pushing for something from the game.
Sunderland, for all their qualities, will walk into that cauldron knowing the home side have a point to prove that goes beyond three points. Leeds will want to show Farke what his team can do without him on the touchline. They will want to prove that Saturday was theft, not defeat. A full house at Elland Road carrying the weekends grievance into the game is an extraordinarily intimidating force.
The danger, of course, is that the emotion overspills into recklessness. The red mist descending, late challenges, set-pieces conceded. That's the risk when a team plays with an edge of grievance. Riemer's composure in the press conference on Saturday suggests he's acutely aware of it. His job alongside captain Ethan Ampadu on Tuesday is to hold the temperature just right; hot enough to produce the intensity that Elland Road under the lights demands, controlled enough to deliver the win and the all important three points.
Leeds need to be what they were in those opening moments against City, relentless in the press, fierce in the tackle but this time with the clinical edge that was missing on Saturday. We sit six points above the relegation zone, the landscape unchanged after this weekend's results. The end of Saturday's game was frustrating, but Tuesday night comes quick on the heels of defeat. It represents a chance to respond loudly and defiantly at Elland Road under the lights, with a whole stadium of Leeds fans carrying injustice behind the team.
There is no better place to channel it.
Leeds have only themselves to blame for not taking their chances early in the first half, but what happened late in the second half and after the final whistle was all on Peter Bankes. Rayan Cherki stamped on Ilia Gruev and walked away without so much as a yellow card. A handball by Matheus Nunes in the box was waved away by VAR, judged to be a "natural position", a standard that has seemingly applied with remarkable inconsistency throughout this season. City's players were booked for timewasting in injury time, yet not a single second more was added on, with Bankes blowing for full time before Leeds could even deliver a final ball into the box.
Daniel Farke, a manager not given to theatrics, a man whose first red card came from over-celebrating a promotion, stormed onto the pitch to remonstrate with Bankes, seemingly receiving a red card before he had even reached the referee. Particularly galling given that City's players had spent the evening surrounding Bankes at every decision, while Guardiola spent much of the second half encroaching on the touchline without so much as a word from the officials. One rule, it seemed, for the title challengers; another for the relegation battlers with a legitimate grievance. Farke's assistant Edmund Riemer, calm and measured in the post-match press conference, put it simply…
Probably the explanation is going to be he was over-emotional, why he's gone on the pitch, I would suggest. But yeah, disappointing that he got sent off. Would have wished for a more sensible action from the referee as well. Maybe you can, come on, give a yellow card. It's an emotional game, and that's it.
Leeds weren't wrong to feel wronged and the decisions fit a season-long pattern. Brentford's Keith Andrews complained that Khusanov should have been sent off for denying a goalscoring opportunity during their Carabao Cup quarter-final exit at the Etihad. Sean Dyche then lodged a formal complaint with PGMOL after Ruben Dias avoided a second yellow in City's 2-1 win at Nottingham Forest, a decision PGMOL subsequently admitted they got wrong. And last week at the Etihad, Newcastle's Eddie Howe had legitimate cause to feel aggrieved when Dan Burn's equaliser was ruled out for offside with replays clearly showing that the very same Ruben Dias had physically pushed Burn into that position. Farke is merely the latest manager to leave a game against Guardiola's side feeling the officials were favouring one side.
Nights under the lights at Elland Road are one of English football's most visceral atmospheres at the best of times, never mind when fans feel they have been wronged. The crowd on Tuesday will arrive still simmering. They watched their team not only compete with Manchester City but create the better chances, only to be denied decisions in the final stages when they were the side pushing for something from the game.
Sunderland, for all their qualities, will walk into that cauldron knowing the home side have a point to prove that goes beyond three points. Leeds will want to show Farke what his team can do without him on the touchline. They will want to prove that Saturday was theft, not defeat. A full house at Elland Road carrying the weekends grievance into the game is an extraordinarily intimidating force.
The danger, of course, is that the emotion overspills into recklessness. The red mist descending, late challenges, set-pieces conceded. That's the risk when a team plays with an edge of grievance. Riemer's composure in the press conference on Saturday suggests he's acutely aware of it. His job alongside captain Ethan Ampadu on Tuesday is to hold the temperature just right; hot enough to produce the intensity that Elland Road under the lights demands, controlled enough to deliver the win and the all important three points.
Leeds need to be what they were in those opening moments against City, relentless in the press, fierce in the tackle but this time with the clinical edge that was missing on Saturday. We sit six points above the relegation zone, the landscape unchanged after this weekend's results. The end of Saturday's game was frustrating, but Tuesday night comes quick on the heels of defeat. It represents a chance to respond loudly and defiantly at Elland Road under the lights, with a whole stadium of Leeds fans carrying injustice behind the team.
There is no better place to channel it.