Former Leeds United midfielder David Prutton has admitted that it was disappointing to watch the Whites repeat the same mistakes during their 4-1 demolition by West Brom before the international break.
Marcelo Bielsa’s men were handed their biggest defeat of the season when West Brom scored four goals in the second half to register an emphatic win at the Hawthorns during the Championship clash.
The Whites slipped to third place in the league table after their defeat prior to the international break.
Despite their stellar showing early on in the season, Leeds have proven vulnerable at times and there have continued to be question marks over their defending of set pieces.
Prutton, who spent three years at Elland Road, admitted that it was disappointing to watch Leeds repeat the same mistakes against West Brom during the loss.
The former Whites star also added that Leeds presented the hosts with openings by conceding possession in vulnerable areas and claimed that they were lucky to go in at half-time without conceding.
“West Brom have a lot of pace and power and they’re liable to dominate when they play well – you only have to look at their goals-for tally to see that”, Prutton wrote in his column for the Yorkshire Evening Post.
“But by far the biggest factor at the Hawthorns last weekend was the number of times Leeds presented them with possession in positions where West Brom were waiting to counter-attack.
“I know Bielsa is a ‘plan A’ man and I’d commend him for the way he’s consistently stuck to his guns so far but it was odd seeing Leeds make the same error so many times without anyone stepping into either correct it or tweak the tactics.
“You could see early on that West Brom were trying to stop Leeds play out and looking for turnovers to punish around the halfway line.
“Personally I felt Leeds were lucky to go in at half-time with the game goalless.”
Leeds will next face Bristol City at Elland Road on Saturday as they prepare to get back to winning ways in the Championship after the international break.
