Leeds 0 - 0 Charlton

Whisper it quietly, but guess what? Leeds aren’t that good. Alright, it was very very windy, and OK, Leeds were missing a few first teamers, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that Leeds seem to be a slightly better than average League One team. They have better players than most and they have a goalscorer in Beckford, but Charlton showed that they are more than a match for the supposed runaway champions.

In fact when it came to playing football, Charlton showed that they are very capable of being champions themselves. At times we were knocking it about with ease and with a little more composure around the penalty area, a win could have been possible at a ground where an away team haven’t left with all three points since Carlisle in January of this year.

The wind was the key factor in the game. For the first half of the first half, Charlton struggled to get in the game. The wind blowing towards the Charlton goal ensured that we were penned in. Leeds decided to play long ball a lot of the time, which meant instead of keeping possession, a lot of their ball went through to Elliot. The long ball worked once, when Beckford went through, but as he showed for the rest of the game, his finishing isn’t all that, and he fired wide. A couple of other occasions Leeds threatened in the first period, but only really from wind assisted set pieces or hoofs, one of which caught out Christian Dailly but luckily Beckford failed to get contact on the cross resulting from Dailly’s missed header. Elliot also made a great save from a Bradley Johnson shot. As the half went on though, Charlton got stronger. Passes started being strung together, and the excellent Frazer Richardson started to foray forwards which Leeds seemed unable to cope with. One such powerful run resulted in a good cross to Shelvey, who saw his header flash across goal and wide. He perhaps could have done better, but the signs were encouraging for the Charlton faithful. Leeds forward Luciano Becchio managed to trip over the ball towards the end of the second half and as hobbled off, Shaquille O’Neal aka Enoch Showunmi limbered up to take his place. Despite being one hell of a physical presence, Showunmi also shares the football skills as well as the frame of Shaquille O’Neal, so when the ball went into his feet, it wasn’t generally long before the Leeds move broke down.

At the end of the first half Charlton were finishing stronger and with the prospect of the wind in our favour in the second half, I for one was certainly confident that Charlton could come away with all three points.

The start of the second half did nothing to diminish that confidence. The wind was still strong, and as such the first half of the second half was similar to the first half of the first. This time though, it was Leeds who were struggling to clear their lines, and Charlton who were pressuring. Parky made the interesting decision to change Racon and Bailey around, with Bailey becoming more holding and Spring slightly more advanced. Racon was certainly effective in that role, especially considering as it was alien to him. Charlton however failed to get away many shots in on goal considering the possession we had. Better decisions from Racon could have seen Ankergren called into action but instead Leeds defenders managed to crowd him out. Our best shots were from distance from Shelvey and Spring. Leeds meanwhile managed to force a save out of Elliot from Shaq and at times had breakaway possession. McLeod was brought on for Shelvey about 15 minutes from the end and he looked dangerous. He, like Racon, managed to wriggle though a few defenders but was unable to get a shot away. His performances showed to me that given more appearances against tiring defenders, I think McLeod could be an excellent weapon. Leeds perhaps finished the game the stronger with Charlton giving away lots of free kicks in dangerous positions, but these were all defended with ease. It must be said that several of these free kicks were given slightly too easily by the referee, but I suppose that’s to be taken as standard at Elland Road.

So the game finished 0-0, and while a point away at Leeds is not to be sniffed at, I left the ground feeling frustrated that it wasn’t all three. Leeds were not particularly good, and whilst the conditions didn’t allow for good football, the good football there was on show was from Charlton.

My man of the match was Frazer Richardson, closely followed by Sam Sodje. Spring was also quite impressive. I wonder if this has anything to do with that these three are ex Leeds players? Dailly is also such a great signing. He brings real leadership to the backline, something that has been missing for the last few years. Youga is unrecognisable from the error prone left back a year ago.

All in all, a good point, but a great sign for the season to come that a few were disappointed that it was only a point. Onwards and upwards – onto Oldham. COYR.