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Bristol City took on the unenviable task of getting in the way of Leeds United’s title challenge on Monday night, and they made their own job far more difficult with one big weakness rearing its head at Elland Road.
Liam Manning has done a wonderful job with Bristol City this season, guiding the Robins to the top six and still looking likely to secure a spot in the Championship play-offs come the end of the campaign.
Indeed, Manning was praised by Daniel Farke ahead of the clash with Leeds United, but the Whites’ boss made sure not to let his opposite number get the better of him on this occasion.
A dominant first half from Leeds, underpinned by a well-worked Ao Tanaka goal, was followed by an exceptionally ruthless second half showing from the champions-elect.
Willy Gnonto doubled the lead just before the hour-mark, before a super-sub brace from Largie Ramazani put Bristol City to the sword and sealed all three points for Leeds.
It was a miserable night for Bristol City, but the game should serve as a stark warning for one key area they need to improve in if they want to go all the way in the play-offs.
Bristol City’s defensive tactics have to change after Leeds defeat
According to former Bristol City man Gary Owers, the Robins made the same error time and time again in that first half against Leeds United, and deserved to be punished on more than one occasion by Tanaka.
Owers said (via BBC Sport): “It’s unforgivable – Tanaka’s standing unmarked at the post. If you mark zonally, that’s where your weakness is. He should score.
“These are little things you’ve got to look at and analyse. You’ve got to tighten it up because teams will be seeing these weaknesses.”
Not only did Bristol City leave the Japanese midfielder on his own at the back post for the opening goal, but not long after, we saw an almost exact repeat of that situation again.
Manning has made Bristol City the underdogs of this Championship campaign. However, insisting on sticking with the zonal marking approach, when it is so clearly not working, could well be their undoing in the coming weeks.
It would be a real shame if the Robins fell apart when it mattered most, and all because of such a simple issue to fix. But, that should not be the main concern for Bristol City fans after watching the game against Leeds.
More importantly, Bristol City lacked a cutting edge at Elland Road
The real problem for Bristol City is not that they were picked apart by Leeds so often, but that they did not cause the Whites any semblance of an issue at the other end of the field.
It’s always going to be difficult to build attacks against such a strong team, especially when the midfield battle is ruled so dominantly by the likes of Ao Tanaka and Ilia Gruev.
Manning may describe Nahki Wells as ‘pivotal’ to his cause, but the veteran striker cut a lonely figure at Elland Road. That’s partly down to the lack of service he received, but as a forward, you also have to work hard and carve out your own opportunities, too, and we didn’t see that tonight.
Manning turned to Anis Mehmeti in the second half, a player who is not a million miles away from the Championship Golden Boot conversation, but the 24-year-old barely showed any signs of improvement on what his colleague offered up, which will leave Bristol City fans very worried ahead of their potential play-off journey.