In what is becoming a regular occurrence for Leeds United, they dominated on the stat sheet, but sadly not on the scoresheet.
And their failure to convert chances has clearly gotten under the skin of former Leeds man Danny Mills. Speaking to Talksport’s Sunday Exclusive (22/09, 1:30pm) Mills pointed out how a lack of goals could be their downfall this season.
“They missed a penalty [against Derby]. There was the Forest game at the start of the season where they dominated and couldn’t put the ball into the back of the net. Same thing against Swansea. Same thing last season. Dominated possession, creating chances and lots of chances. But not killing teams off and putting the ball away. I said they are the best team in the Championship with the way that they play and the squad they have. But they have got to prove it. If they don’t start scoring, it’s going to become a real problem.”
Whilst Mills here is talking about goals and turning them into wins, there’s one aspect that has been bothering me during this whole debate about Leeds and their lack of ability to convert chances, and that’s goal difference.
These failed chances are costing us wins, but at the same time, they’re also costing us vitally in the goal difference column. It’s not just a case of winning games, you have to be able to win them convincingly if you are to put your foot down and show your dominance in this league.
If you take a look at the Premier League table from last year, the dominance shown by Manchester City and Liverpool wasn’t just in their ability to win, but their ability to decimate teams along the way that set them apart from the rest of the pack. If we are in a tight battle at the end of the campaign, much as we were last season, we may be relying on goal difference to help us out.
What about you? Is it the fact that we aren’t winning as many games as we should that is annoying you? Or is it that we aren’t winning games convincingly?