After our 0-0 draw at home to Brentford Jesse Marsch told the media he is happy with the progress his side are making, despite the failure to pick up all three points. But in a game where we seemed to have overcome our jitters at the back, an older problem resurfaced, as we had the bulk of the possession but failed to convert it into a victory.

Our head coach said “First the group is disappointed because they really felt that they played well and they wanted to be rewarded with the points. But for me, I've been really focusing on the performances, the tactical clarity, the individual confidence and for me it's clear, it's very clear that we're moving in the right direction".

“There were maybe a few moments where we had a little bit of an advantage in the attacking third and maybe a clever little combination, or being a little bit more cleaner quality in the last third was the difference from getting three points out of that match. But we were very stable defensively on set pieces, very stable.”

“We talked about how we failed ourselves in the last match at Brentford and even in moments when we thought we had to control the match, we didn’t and Brentford were just waiting to hit us on the counter. Today, we had a big control of the match and if we were a little bit sharper in the last third, it would’ve been a win.”

In the pre-match conversation in the Peacock the consensus was that we were about to witness another high-scoring game, and I responded to a mate’s prediction of 3-3 with a slightly optimistic 3-2 win for Leeds. None of my group expected a 0-0 draw with few chances to get excited about, but much to our surprise Leeds were confronted by a Brentford side who looked more than happy to go back to their bus stop near Hounslow with a point.

We also thought that Aaronson might get a rest after the dip in his performances we’ve noticed of late, but no, there he was, still in the starting line-up. At least Kristensen was on the bench, with Ayling preferred, but another Marsch old boy came in to make his debut, though it was a surprise to see Wöber in central defence while Struijk continued on the left.

That said, his presence brought the desired calming effect, and for once our defence rarely looked troubled, though Brentford’s lack of ambition was a great help. The only moments of anxiety in the first half saw Koch needing to get his head in the way of a shot by Ivan Toney, and when Meslier left the same player a large gap to aim for to the right of his goal, but thankfully the Brentford man put his shot well wide.

But at the other end Leeds were finding it hard to break Brentford down, even though Aaronson was having a better game than of late. Our best chance of the first half came when he was brought down just outside the are, but although we’re told that Wöber can hit a mean free kick, there wasn’t enough distance for his attempt to get the ball over the wall and back down again.

Gnonto was as lively as ever, but it looks like the surprise factor has already gone, as Brentford were well aware of his growing reputation, and he had at least two players confronting him whenever he started a run at their defence. In the second half we stepped up our efforts, and Aaronson got a curling effort on target, but without the pace to trouble Raya.

It was surprising that Marsch left it till the last 20 minutes to make any changes to go in search of a win, but eventually Sinisterra was introduced for Aaronson to continue his comeback from injury. But it was Gnonto who had our best chance of the game, when he was denied by a fine stop from Raya. I thought Rodrigo delayed the through ball a fraction too long, which meant that Willy had to slow down and couldn’t get quite so much power into the shot as a result.

That was one of Rodrigo’s last contributions before he was replaced by Bamford, with Greenwood being the final change in place of Roca. Three minutes were added on, much to the consternation of the man behind me who had been complaining all the way through about Brentford slowing the game down, and thought the ref should have played on for at least another week to compensate.

The time added on wasn’t enough for Leeds to force a winner, so we had to be contented with the thought that at least we hadn’t lost. The Brentford fans tried to tell us we’re going down as we left, which might be a bit harsh, but we really could have done with the three points to take ourselves closer to victory.

West Ham’s win over Everton to climb out of the bottom three means we are now only one point above the relegation places, albeit with a much better goal difference than Bournemouth. Marsch is right that performances are improving, but we need to play well at both ends of the field at the same time if we are going to make it count and get the results we need to stay out of trouble.

Reuters

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