Derby County 1-0 Leeds United: Some Motion
The right changes in the right places have transformed Leeds United this season, putting diamond formations in the past and diamond players in key positions.
Pontus Jansson we know about; Kyle Bartley we've heard of. We're hearing more now about Eunan O'Kane, too. At first he looked (to me, anyway) like he didn't really do much; but he's an influencer, almost as responsible as the formation for setting down a style of play.
That style, for all its Hernadez and Sacko, is a lot to do with security, which is a nice feeling for Leeds. Compare the first half at Brighton last season, when there was nowhere on the pitch where the ball could not be considered a threat to our goal, to the first half at Derby, where Robert Green was only troubled once and it was Leeds who got closest to goal, hitting the woodwork through Bartley.
That's what additions like Jansson, Bartley and O'Kane have done for Leeds. They've made us a self-secure outfit, who can, as they did at Derby, safely allow the other team to have the ball and dominate possession. If a team had that much of the game against Leeds last season, it would only be questions of when and how many, as Bamba and Bellusci used up the good part of their good-to-mental play ratio with last ditch defending, often just trying to stop Scott Wootton scoring.
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