Practice, as they say, makes perfect. And as Daniel Farke’s team stunned Sunderland to climb back to the Championship summit, Simon Grayson felt no one epitomises that better than one member of a victorious Leeds United side.
All those hours on the training ground, all those countless dead balls whipped towards a wall of mannequins, it has all been leading towards this.
If Leeds United do go on to claim the Championship title, the Elland Road faithful may look back to the double change Daniel Farke made with 71 minutes on the clock against Sunderland as the decision which brought Premier League football back to West Yorkshire.
Pascal Struijk’s two headers – including his 95th minute decider which had even the usually-composed German stomping onto the pitch like his compatriot Jurgen Klopp in the dying seconds at Goodison Park – will dominate all the post-match discussion.
But former Leeds boss Simon Grayson was keen to shine a light Joe Rothwell’s two assists as Farke’s two ‘excellent’ substitutes combined in sensational style.
A pair of glorious Rothwell crosses without which Struijk’s booming brace would have remained an unlikely pipe dream.
Simon Grayson hails Joe Rothwell role as Leeds United beat Sunderland
“He’s done that all season, to be fair,” a beaming Grayson explains. “Joe Rothwell practices free-kicks, set-pieces, probably most days at the training ground. It’s no coincidence that, if you put it in the right area, you’ve got people willing to attack it.
“First-half, we didn’t have the quality of the set-piece but also we didn’t have people attacking it. Great ball, great area, Pascal Struijk attacks it, back of the net.”
The contrast between Rothwell’s deliveries and those of Ilia Gruev could hardly have been more stark. Gruev had Elland Road descending into a chorus of groans as he scuffed one abysmal first-half delivery into the near post.
And Grayson, who himself tasted promotion in the Leeds dugout over a decade ago in League One, can understand why the man currently at the helm let his poker face slip as Struijk put Leeds two points clear with pretty much the last kick of the game.
“All you do when you make your substitutions, you want them to affect the game however they can,” adds Grayson, who spent a brief and miserable spell on the Sunderland touchline back in 2017.
“Whether it’s coming on to see the game out or, if you’re attacking midfielders, can you assist something? Can somebody get on the end of things?
“His substitutions worked today.”
Rothwell ‘composure’ was key as Pascal Struijk puts Leeds top
If Rothwell’s first assist of that wonderful cameo display was impressive, his second was nothing short of sensational. As the ball came his way following a Largie Ramazani miss-kick, the Bournemouth loanee could have been forgiven for whacking a hopeful cross back into the mixer.
Instead, he stepped inside an onrushing Sunderland defender and floated an inch-perfect cross onto the onrushing Struijk.
“He beat his man and then had the composure. Sometimes, people rush in those areas when its the last 30 seconds and just stick it back in. But the composure to put it into an area where he’s got loads of bodies, Pascal Struijk is there to get on the end of it and look at the celebrations!” Grayson smiles, a whirling flurry of scarves and limbs threatening to lift Elland Road spinning into the atmosphere.
“As a manager, I’d be down there towards the Kop! When you get a late winner, you celebrate as if you’re a supporter.”
Grayson does feel, however, that Rothwell may be restricted to a substitute’s role again when Leeds face second-place Sheffield United next Monday. Ilia Gruev’s physicality and aggression out of possession means, while he may lack Rothwell’s technical qualities, the battling Bulgarian could be essential in blunting Chris Wilder’s Blades.
“[Rothwell] now laid a marker down to Daniel to saying; ‘I’m ready for next Monday’,” Grayson adds. “I would [start him] but I think Daniel will stick with Gruev away from home.”
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