Tony Dorigo was left baffled at Leeds United’s ‘passive’ performance in the second half of the defeat at West Ham on Sunday.
The former Whites defender was writing in his latest Yorkshire Evening Post column, where he explained how he ‘expected a lot’ more from Sam Allardyce’s side at the London Stadium.
Despite a promising start to the game, in which Leeds took the lead through Rodrigo Moreno, they were, in the end, well beaten by the Hammers.
Leeds barely laid a glove on the home side after Declan Rice’s equaliser shortly after the half-hour mark, with the second half predominantly one-way traffic.
West Ham eventually made their pressure tell in the final 20 minutes, as Jarrod Bowen and Manuel Lanzini both got on the scoresheet.
Dorigo baffled by Leeds approach
Sunday was Leeds’ final opportunity to put destiny in their own hands going into the final day of the season, but they failed miserably at seizing it.
On paper, it was the perfect opportunity to pick up three points given West Ham were away in European semi-final action at AZ Alkmaar on Thursday.
Ultimately, though, it was Leeds who looked like the ones with tired legs as David Moyes’ side enjoyed 45 minutes of domination, much to the confusion of Dorigo.
He said: “The second half performance was hugely disappointing at West Ham United. The first 15 minutes actually went quite well, Patrick Bamford was here there and everywhere and we got the goal to go ahead, but then he limped off injured and West Ham pushed us back.
“After conceding we needed to show resolve to come back again and at times I felt West Ham were waiting for us to come at them, they weren’t brilliantly at it themselves and we allowed them to play.
“The second half needed to show what we were about and nothing happened. It was passive. I couldn’t believe it. We made changes that didn’t do a lot for the game and in the position we are in, I expected a lot more.”
It is nice to hear a former player, who still works for the club, saying what all fans are thinking after Sunday’s game.
It was do-or-die and Leeds chose the latter and for that, they deserve to be in the position they are in heading into the final day.
Any sort of response on Sunday could well end up being too little, too late.