Although Daniel Farke made eight changes for last night’s tie the starting eleven still looked quite strong on paper. But on grass it was an entirely different story, as Middlesbrough ripped us to shreds in the second half.
Farke said before the game that he had faith in his whole squad, and although he would have preferred not to make so many changes this early in the season (to give the team a chance to ‘gel’, with the new signings getting to know their colleagues) he felt the need to shake it up, with such a short gap before the next league game at West Brom on Saturday lunchtime.
All eight of the changes involved players who had been on the bench of Saturday, and four of them had got onto the field, so that can’t be used as an excuse for what followed. Especially when Boro had rested a few first choice players themselves. It would be a huge understatement to say that the visitors’ fringe players made much more of the chance to show that they deserved a starting place in the league.
It didn’t help that we had no natural wide players in the attacking positions, unusual as it is for us in recent seasons to be running out of wingers. I presume Anthony didn’t come back for a second season because of his lack of game time last time round, which is unfortunate when we’ve now sold the player who was keeping him out of the side. Recruitment of another winger looks like a priority, even if we do manage to keep hold of Gnonto beyond the end of this month.
Aaronson and Gelhardt both showed plenty of enthusiasm despite having been played out wide as the only way they could be accommodated in this side, but neither provided the service from the flanks that a half-fit Bamford might have been able to use. Piroe was largely anonymous once again, and Rothwell struggled to provide the midfield creativity we needed to pierce Boro’s well organised defence.
Our best chance of the first half fell to Firpo, but Brynn was able to make a fairly comfortable save. At the other end Coburn shot into the side netting on the turn, but the half was mostly a cagey affair with little goalmouth action. We thought that Leeds might step it up after the break, but instead it was the visitors who went onto the front foot and took charge of the game.
Anfernee Dijksteel had endured a nightmare in the league game at Elland Road last season, but last night was totally different, as he surged forward to score his first ever goal in Boro colours. Our defence backed off as he cut inside on his way into the box, and although he needed to take the shot with his weaker left foot, he was able to curl the ball round Darlow and inside the far post.
The visitors could have extended their lead a few minutes later, but Darlow spread himself well to save from Burgzorg, but that only kept them at bay until the 60th. minute. Boro broke quickly after we lost possession deep in their half, and Coburn’s long through ball split our defence to send Burgzorg clear. And this time Burgzorg was able to shoot past Darlow into the far corner.
That prompted Farke to use all five subsitutions to throw as many of his first choice players into the fray as he could, in a desperate attempt to salvage the tie. I thought it was a huge gamble to have no further changes available with so much time available, not least because Darlow was receiving treatment at that moment, after picking up a knock in the process of saving the shot that could have put us three behind while the subs were getting ready.
Our keeper was able to recover and in fact we got through the remaining time with no further injuries, but that was about the only thing that went right in the closing stages. Boro duly added the third when Jones’ shot was blocked by Ampadu but the ball fell kindly for Coburn to score from close range. I hoped for an offside flag, but the TV replay confirmed that the Boro man had simply reacted to get to the loose ball before our defence.
By now Luke Ayling had replaced another former Leeds man after Howson had gone off injured, having been informed "you’re Leeds and you know you are” as he warmed up. Though on last night’s evidence he might be glad that he moved. To complete the reunions, Johnathon Woodgate was among the Boro coaching staff, and Bamford was another to be facing his former club.
To be fair, the Leeds team kept going till the end in the hope of salvaging some pride, but the best we got was a run from Rutter and a fierce shot that hit the post, but Piroe could do no better with the rebound than head it narrowly wide from close range. At the other end Darlow made another smart save to turn a low shot wide of the far post and prevented an even more embarrassing scoreline.
When it was all over Daniel Farke’s immediate reaction was to tell Sky that he wasn’t worried by the result, but that he took responsibility for our cup exit because he had made so many changes. Yet in the cold light of day he had admitted to our official website that we deserved to lose, which has to be a massive understatement.
He will know that he has got a lot of work to do before Saturday to organise a defence who looked good in pre-season but who have now conceded six goals in two games when it mattered. And that the back-up options in his squad aren’t good enough, so the 49ers will need to re-invest a good amount of our transfer income before the current transfer window shuts.
But this morning we got the news that for the time being things have moved in the opposite direction, with Rutter heading for Brighton for £40m. Though some fans on social media have been quick to jump on our current owners for selling another of our best players, it seems that this was down to another Victor Orta contract release clause, which would apply while we weren’t in the Premier League.
So unfortunately it does look as though we’re heading for a similar start to the season as the one we had last season, with key players departing up to the last minute, while we scramble around looking for replacements of similar quality. At the very least we now need a new winger and a creative midfielder. And some would say a new left back and a goalkeeper. Anything else?