Leeds United are still without a win in their Championship campaign after suffering a 1-0 defeat to Birmingham City at St Andrew's on Saturday afternoon, something that will leave Daniel Farke feeling extremely frustrated.
The Whites are currently 19th in the league table after taking just one point from their first two games of the 46-game campaign and will need to start finding their feet soon if they are going to compete for a Premier League comeback at the end of the season.
How did Leeds get on vs Birmingham City?
Despite having much more possession of the ball (59%), Leeds failed to dominate in any area of their performance with fewer shots on goal (7), shots on target (1), big chances created (0), interceptions (9) and clearances (17), demonstrating the difficulties faced on their visit to the Midlands.
In the first half, there wasn't much between the two sides with the visitors dominating the ball with 61% possession but were unable to deliver anything worthwhile, with the score-line remaining 0-0 when the half-time whistle was blown.
It was more of the same in the second half, with Birmingham City looking much more lively in their attacking third, nevertheless, Leeds continued to hold off any attempts on goal for the entirety of the final 45 minutes.
However, a cruel blow was struck in the first minute of injury time when Lukas Jutkiewicz found the winner to secure all three points for the home side, sending Leeds back to West Yorkshire with nothing to show for it.
How did Joe Gelhardt play against Birmingham City?
Joe Gelhardt has been given the opportunity to prove his worth to the new Leeds boss due to Patrick Bamford's injury blow during pre-season, even earning the nod over Georginio Rutter who started on the bench on Saturday.
However, Farke's faith put into Gelhardt was not repaid by the 21-year-old as he looked like a fish out of water in front of goal at St Andrew's, which ultimately contributed to Leeds' inability to take the game away from the Blues.
Over his 67 minute display, the young striker even had fewer touches of the ball than goalkeeper Illan Meslier (19 v 62), registered no shots on or off target throughout and only completed eight passes, before being hooked, unsurprisingly, by Farke and replaced by Rutter in the centre-forward role for the remainder of the clash – while he also failed to catch the eye in the official highlights package after the game.
Leeds supporters took to Twitter to share their frustration at Gelhardt's lack of tenacity in the final third when opportunities presented themselves, with The Athletic's Leeds reporter Phil Hay venting his disappointment too:
"A few long balls towards Gelhardt which are a waste of time. He's trying to make that point – keep it on the ground."
With that being said, Farke will need to evaluate his options whether that be trusting in Rutter to start or looking to the transfer market to find the solution to their problems in attack.
Either way, Leeds will need to find a quick solution to their massive headache as it could set them back in their chase for promotion.
