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Comedy of Errors at Brentford: Leeds United Player Ratings After Heavy Defeat

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Leeds United were looking to make the most of their start to the season after a lull in form in the past few matches. Their arrival at the Brentford Community Stadium was another good opportunity to build on early results but ended in quite the opposite of their initial hopes. Find out the Leeds United player ratings from the 5-2 defeat at Brentford.

Leeds United Player Ratings for the Brentford Defeat

Man of the Match

As with last week, Luis Sinisterra secured his position as Man of the Match for Leeds United. His cool shot into the bottom left corner, taking the ball down with two deft touches, was the highlight of this match for fans of the Whites by a comfortable margin. The Colombian is growing into his role on the wing and could be an integral part of the Yorkshire club’s growth into a more stable Premier League side in the coming years.

It wasn’t too hard for Sinisterra to stand out from the other players in grey and orange. His closest competitors included Luke Ayling, who marked his return to the squad with a drilled cross into the box after a ball from Diego Llorente. There’s a lot more to be said about the Spaniard’s performance.

Read More: Premier League Predictions

Leeds United’s Defensive Errors

Defensive Misfortune

Going through the goals one by one is probably the easiest way of understanding the personal errors in this match. They started with a penalty, given away by Luis Sinisterra. This one probably was a penalty, with Sinisterra leaping into a challenge after a corner bounced around. Ivan Toney slotted home, but this was a goal that you could jot down as bad luck. The referee didn’t give a penalty, keep that in mind for later.

The second goal came from a relatively soft free kick, with very little that Illan Meslier could do. Some have blamed his positioning, and it’s true that he took a small step to the right before the shot. In any case, the free kick was tucked that firmly into the corner that all the Frenchman could do was watch.

Lack of Quality

The third is where a clear lack of quality at centre-back kicks in. Robin Koch attempted to clear a ball and missed, which happens. There are two centre-backs for this very reason, so one covers the other. It’s less fine when Diego Llorente comes flying into the challenge too. This left a vast gap that the Leeds United goalkeeper raced out to fill, clearing the ball. Sadly, he only cleared it as far as Ivan Toney. Three down, two to go.

Goal number four saw Koch and Ivan Toney challenge for a header. The ball sailed over the forward’s head, bouncing backwards off the centre-back’s cranium. Meanwhile, Brian Mbuemo had lost his marker, Llorente. Through on goal, he could coolly slot the fourth past the Whites’ dumbfounded goalkeeper.

Number five, comfortably the most blatant error of the bunch. In the 92nd minute, chasing the match and under pressure from Yoann Wissa, Diego Llorente (a centre-back with no real history of tricks or skilful dribbling) tries to beat the press with a drag back. It didn’t work. Another one-on-one that Illan Meslier couldn’t do a thing about put an end to a torrid afternoon. Leeds United were so often the better side, and seemed to beat themselves against Brentford.

Inefficient Officials

In the ratings below, you may notice the referee with a 1.88 out of ten. As with many of the referees this weekend, Robert Jones didn’t cover himself in glory. When Leeds United were working on building back into the game, winger Crysencio Summerville broke out on the left flank, rounding a defender. After both a shirt pull outside the box and a push inside the area, the referee waved play on as the Dutchman fell to the floor. Moments after this,  a Brentford forward felt a touch from Pascal Struijk behind, going to ground. Free kick given.

Incensed, Jesse Marsch repeatedly requested that the referee look at the monitor. After all, the foul on his winger appeared blatant. Robert Jones disagreed, and rather than check the monitor, the official dismissed the Whites’ manager from the touchline for dissent. This was just one of many seemingly poor decisions that may have directly affected results this weekend, perhaps demonstrating the need for reconsidering the league’s VAR policies in the near future.

When asked in a post-match interview why he was dismissed by the referee, he responded: “I’m not sure. It wasn’t explained to me. What’s more baffling is why they didn’t look at the penalty incident.”

Leeds United Player Ratings

  • Robert Jones (Ref) – 1.88
  • Jesse Marsch (Manager) – 4.46
  • Illan Meslier – 4.85
  • Cody Drameh – 4.79
  • Robin Koch – 4.38
  • Diego Llorente – 1.55
  • Pascal Struijk – 5.16
  • Tyler Adams – 5.81
  • Marc Roca – 6.49
  • Luis Sinisterra – 7.25
  • Brenden Aaronson – 5.44
  • Jack Harrison – 5.05
  • Joe Gelhardt – 4.99
  • Patrick Bamford (Sub)- 4.72
  • Crysencio Summerville (Sub)- 5.44
  • Mateusz Klich (Sub)- 5.29
  • Luke Ayling (Sub)- 6.48
  • Sam Greenwood (Sub)- 5.07
Joe Blackburn, Editor

Joe Blackburn, Editor

Joe Blackburn is a football writer and editor for Last Word on Football. As a Leeds United fan, he focuses on writing articles about the Whites, with a further specific interest in tactics and analysis, and how and why tactics match up against one another.

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