Here are our five talking points from Leeds United’s 0-0 draw with Sheffield Wednesday at Elland Road in the Championship as Illan Meslier secures a long overdue clean sheet between the sticks
It may have worked like a charm against Ipswich Town seven days earlier, but against a deep-lying, belligerent, limited rearguard action, Joel Piroe and Georginio Rutter did not have much joy for Leeds United. Eyebrows were raised when Daniel Farke used the division’s most prolific striker since 2021 as a deeper-lying option in Suffolk, but with the Tractor Boys committing to attacks, there was space to exploit.
This was one game and there is no need for an overreaction. Such is the breadth of attacking options, when fit, at Farke’s disposal, there is a vast array of combinations the German can use to crack the code in future.
On this occasion, it was frustrating to see just how anonymous the eight-figure signing was. Piroe, scorer of 42 goals in 93 Championship games, was either helping to build attacks between the centre circle and his own box or finding himself smothered by Sheffield Wednesday’s obstinate nine-man defence.
Farke insisted Piroe thrived from a deeper role, arriving later in the box, at Swansea City, but it really wasn’t working on Saturday. Rutter’s own problems did not soften the Dutchman’s blow either.
Any perceived confidence built on the back of last weekend’s outstanding debut goal was nowhere to be seen at Elland Road. The Frenchman seemed to spend the afternoon either offside or failing to execute when he did have the ball in the final third.
Farke suggested the forward was overthinking his actions rather than using his instinct and looking for, what the German called, a brutal finish. The nadir came as a sumptuous pass over the top met Rutter in the clear, behind enemy lines, one-on-one with Devis Vasquez.
For once, he was onside, the stadium urged him to play to the whistle, but you could tell in his hesitant stride he was expecting the flag to come. A torrid lob looked more like a simple pass to a team-mate and the ground could not hide its frustration.
Last weekend’s goal was too thrilling to suggest it won’t come good for Rutter, but perhaps a different combination, out wide maybe, will suit him and Piroe better.
Shackleton goes from strength to strength
It’s not an especially deep observation which needs to be laboured, but Jamie Shackleton went from strength to strength against Wednesday. The 23-year-old was, predictably, stuck in at left-back where he did so well as a sub in Suffolk seven days earlier.
