Our trip to West Bromwich Albion didn’t produce the most riveting game of football, but at least the defence managed to tighten up, albeit at the expense of any sort of creativity going forward.
What a difference a week makes. 15 minutes into the opening game we seemed to be shredding the Portsmouth defence, and it looked like we were on our way to a comfortable win, with another fine season in prospect. But at the same stage today our back line were cautiously passing the ball round amongst themselves, the priority being not to lose possession as they cautiously looked for a way to start moving down the pitch.
Of course we were all feeling a little bit rattled by everything that had happened since 12.45 last Saturday, with the manner in which we conceded six goals in two games, and the likely departure of at least a couple more key players. Although Rutter’s move to Brighton was yet to get over the line he hadn’t travelled to the Hawthorns with the squad, but Struijk was there, despite the rumours that he was heading to Fulham.
So Piroe took Georginio’s place just behind Joseph, but it was a defender who was called up to make up the numbers on the bench, in the shape of young Debayo. And while our steady approach was keeping Albion’s goal threat at bay, it became evident that without Summerville or Rutter we were going to find it difficult to mount the sort of quick counter attacks that troubled so many opponents away from home last season.
When we did get forward on the break Piroe selfishly wasted the opportunity by shooting from distance instead of passing to either of the teammates who were racing down the field to his left. Firpo sent a header over the bar from a corner, and Ampadu tried an audacious shot from his own half, which could well have embarrassed Palmer had he not sent the ball curving wide of the post.
Probably the closest we came before the break was a header from Struijk, which was on target before Ajayi’s head got in the way. At the other end two of our old boys caused us a bit of difficulty from their own set pieces. Mowatt’s deliveries were proving hard to defend, and Kyle Bartley failed to make the most of a corner that reached him beyond the post when he was completely unmarked.
Early in the second half the Albion had their first shot on target from Molumby, which was well struck but straight at Meslier. The hosts wasted a couple more promising breakaways by not finding the right pass to pick out the man running into space, and the best chances for both sides continued to come from set pieces.
Struijk headed wide from a corner, but he had to reach back as it arrived slightly behind him, and the TV replay showed it was wider than it first appeared. And at the other end Bartley sent his header narrowly over the bar. Bartley also managed to sprint back to stop Gnonto racing down the right into a dangerous position, showing more defensive prowess than in his latter days at Leeds.
The Leeds contingent in the crowd were in great voice throughout the game, trying to get the team going with a few renditions of MOT, but they were also getting frustrated by the amount of time it was taking to build from the back. There were boos reminiscent of England under Gareth Southgate, and while nobody went as far as throwing plastic cups at Daniel Farke, it was clear that most of us would prefer a faster approach.
In the final third of the game Farke tried shuffling his attacking players around in the hope of getting a breakthrough, with Aaronson and Rothwell replacing James and Piroe , before Bamford came on for Joseph for the last eleven minutes. But none of this was to change the pattern of the game, and eventually put us out of our boredom with the final whistle.
Our manager was visibly relieved at the end, and when he spoke to the BBC it was clear that stopping the rot was his first priority. "To get this outcome after such a difficult week, I’m pleased. We are happy when we win with offensive fireworks. That wasn’t the case this time but there were many positives.”
"After conceding six goals in two games, compliments to my players for their reaction to get a priceless point. I have not won many games here over the years and just I wanted to show our unity, that we are a proper team." Certainly there is some justification for saying that a draw is a reasonable result away from home to a team who made the play-offs last season.
Had we beaten Portsmouth last week then we might have thought that this point had kept us on course for a promotion challenge, but the lack of an attacking threat today was very worrying. I’ve no doubt the powers that be at the club are working hard to re-invest some of our transfer receipts on some new signings, so we’ll just have to hope they manage to bring in some badly needed firepower by the end of the month.