Derby County collectively drove their ram-skull sword through the heart of every Leeds United fan on Wednesday night, putting one over a spiritual rival to secure a place in the EFL Championship play-off final.

The Rams’ rambunctious celebrations in the Elland Road visitors’ dressing room contrasted sharply with the sombre mood of Leeds’ broken players. Contrary to the expectations the Yorkshire club’s absence from the Premier League is now guaranteed to extend into the sixteenth year, and the pressure to gain promotion can only grow year-on-year for a club of Leeds’ stature.

Aside from the obvious disaster that was the second leg for Leeds, it is hard to pinpoint why exactly Leeds folded in the manner they did in the longer term. By the close of play on 1 January, Leeds led the way by two points over Norwich City, and were spread betting favourites to complete the job from there.

January Heralds Decline in Fortunes

Those beliefs seemed further justified by the close links between the club and wide prospect (and recently-capped Welsh international) Daniel James, whom nobody doubted could give Leeds the extra edge that would make promotion all but a formality. The transfer never happened though, and as winter moved into spring, Bielsa’s tactics appeared increasingly careworn.

This was certainly the case in early February, when Norwich became the new league leaders after a 3-1 demolition of Leeds at Elland Road. Amongst the goalscorers, that day was Finland striker Teemu Pukki, who ended 2018/19 as the Championship’s top scorer. There was nothing any team could do about a man in his form, but Leeds’ midfield became less effective over time, being shut down by the opposition in games that looked easy on paper.

A prime example of this was Leeds’ visit to Brentford in April, to face a Bees side that had nothing to play for. Momentum was certainly in Leeds’ favour ahead of kick-off, with the Whites winning three of the four preceding away matches to-nil.

Once again though, the curse of Griffin Park affected the players, with a 2-0 defeat extending Leeds’ winless run there to ten games in all competitions. It was also a seventh defeat in those ten visits, but with Leeds averaging a paltry 0.63 goals per match across the eleven previous league encounters with the industrious Brentford, there was a collective belief that – after all the talk of promotion – nothing had truly changed under Bielsa. This belief was a huge psychological drain thereafter.

Reasons to be Optimistic

There is plenty of fresh talent being well-guided by Bielsa, and the season just gone has been a breakout one for the likes of Patrick Bamford and Kemar Roofe. Both men have what it takes to spearhead a promotion charge, but there is no denying that a couple of creative additions to the squad are needed this summer.

The likes of Cardiff and Fulham will go again after recently being relegated from the Premier League, as will the near-miss promotion contenders West Bromwich, Middlesbrough and Bristol City.

Ultimately, Leeds have no choice but to invest in the future, and with names such as Neal Maupay, Yoann Barbet and Jamal Lowe currently being linked to Elland Road, there appears to be a widespread belief that Leeds do, at least, have the biggest pull factor of all Championship clubs at present.

Hunger of Loan Players a Useful Tool

Yet, perhaps bearing in mind the severe lessons of the past, which got the club stuck in the wilderness in the first place, loan signings are another potential way to go for Leeds. While the Premier League now seems to have a growing alliance with the Bundesliga and Eredivisie as the go-to destination of young top-flight loanees, relocation is not for everyone.

There are undoubtedly still many youngsters who would readily become part of the Leeds family, albeit temporarily, even if only to test their nerve and character in a 46-game campaign, as opposed to a mere 34-game one. However, youth and hunger alone is not enough in a ruthless league like the Championship, and with more experienced heads such as Pablo Hernandez amongst those on the potential departures list, some more injections of wisdom will be needed in 2019/20, to ensure that the mistakes of the season just gone are not repeated.

Given how Leeds failed in their promotion quest, after staying in the top six for so long throughout 2018/19, next season is going to be a superlative test of character for Marco Bielsa and his charges. Understandably gutted at going out after winning the first leg of this season’s playoff semi-finals on hostile turf, Leeds know that it will be very difficult to enjoy the same sort of season yet again under Bielsa.

It has been fifteen long years since Leeds last graced the Premier League, but an existence without even the slightest flicker of hope is no existence at all.