Where’s the Improvement After Throwing Away Leads?

A 3-3 can look ‘entertaining’ on paper, but it’s hard to pretend it’s progress when you cough up two separate leads and spend the closing stages clinging on instead of controlling.

I’m not having the idea that a mad 3-3 automatically equals improvement. You can call it a thriller if you want, but once you’ve gone two up and then led again at 3-2, the story becomes something else entirely. It’s about control, game management and whether we actually responded well when the tide turned. For me, we didn’t.

The most frustrating bit wasn’t even the individual errors, though there were some. It was the feeling that once Leeds decided to get after us properly, we retreated into ourselves. We ended up with bodies back, the sort of shape that should buy you time and calm, but it didn’t look calm at all. It looked scared. And if you’re scared, you stop stepping out, you stop engaging, and teams sense it.

When the press arrives, you’ve got to meet it

Leeds didn’t play the same way for the full match. They sat off for spells, and once we got the cushion, they changed the picture. They pressed harder, the tempo went up, and suddenly it felt like we were reacting to them rather than making them react to us. That’s the big issue in all this: the final half-hour shouldn’t be you hanging on by your fingertips.

When a side flips the script like that, you either play through them or you go long with purpose and squeeze the pitch. What you can’t do is drop deeper and deeper while still giving them time to pick passes and recycle attacks. Nine behind the ball means nothing if no one steps out and shuts the space down at the edge of the box.

Set pieces and leadership: somebody has to take charge

The third goal coming from a set-piece situation just made it worse. That’s the kind of phase where you want clear voices, clear jobs, and a first contact that eases the pressure. Instead it felt like nobody owned the space. The ball ends up causing chaos, it strikes Gravenberch’s arm, and you’re punished. You can debate fine margins all day, but the bigger problem is allowing it to get messy in the first place.

And yes, mistakes happen. Konate giving away a penalty is a big moment, and it hurts. But if one error becomes a full-on wobble, that points to a wider issue than one lad having a bad second. The game should be there to be managed at that point.

It’s not about “entertainment” if you’re losing your grip

People keep framing this as results over performance, or entertainment over control. I don’t see it like that. If results are the only thing that matters, then throwing away two leads in quick succession should set alarm bells ringing, not get waved off as “one of those games”.

This is about tactics and decision-making in-game. Leeds found something, raised their intensity, and we didn’t cope well enough. Improvement isn’t just scoring more or having a good spell. It’s what you do when the other side lands a punch. At the minute, that’s the bit I’m not seeing enough of.

Written by OliRed: 5 January 2026