Brentford 1-2 Leeds United: The humbling
This season was a humbling for many people at Leeds, but Raphinha knew what he owed, and to whom, and how to pay us back.
Way back in August, when Leeds United started their season by losing 5-1 at Old Trafford but things still felt only temporarily bad, I put my faith in Luke Ayling's grim expression in his aftermath interview. We'd seen it before, when promotion was on the brink at Nottingham Forest, and it had saved us then. I hoped we would let Luke Ayling's frown, once more, be a turning point.
The set jaw, the glowering eyes, the bristling injustice operating like static on a manbun; it got Leeds to safety in the end, but it wasn't being worn by Billy boy. Something about Leeds United's ascension was forged in Yeovil, and Chesterfield, and Northampton, the austere origins of Ayling, Liam Cooper and Stuart Dallas driving them up and away from a world they wanted to leave behind. In common with them, in the end, was Raphinha, using whatever got him from Porto Alegre to Yorkshire to make sure that, if and when it gets him to Barcelona, it's only at Burnley's expense. He also never gave into manbun pressure and he's a better dancer, so it all worked out very well.
I think too much is made of legacies in modern football, as transient players get dipped in bronze so the game can build a fake heritage with which to sell itself more lavishly. Brentford's manager Thomas Frank offered a ludicrous example this week, suggesting that in a couple of seasons they might build a statue to Christian Eriksen. I'd set the bar higher than scoring the one goal he has so far, but let's see what Eriksen does for Brentford next season. I had, though, started wondering lately what we will make of Raphinha after he goes. He's probably the best player Leeds have had for twenty years, although for impact at their level, I'd talk about Robert Snodgrass and Pablo Hernandez, too. And they both put promotions on their record, while a few weeks ago Raphinha looked set to drift away without anything to show for his skills but the dazzle. Would he mean anything more to us, in the end, than a wondrous two season distraction, our first viral nutmegger of souls?