Leeds United 2-2 West Ham United: Team spirit

For half an hour I thought, through a prism of the past, I was seeing the future of Leeds United, at least for the rest of this season. Brenden Aaronson's 22 years of talent, stretched by the Premier League and the World Cup, snapped, giving a goal to West Ham. Crysencio Summerville, also cracking in his youth, was subbed off instead of being sent off for leaving immature retributive stud marks just below Vladimír Coufal’s knee. In their place came Jackie Harrison, who from deep in midfield fed Rodrigo with irresistible passes straight and through West Ham's defence, that had to and did find at least an equaliser. And, setting the tone for the comeback with desperately necessary drive from midfield, was Mateusz Klich.

These were two of the players who have delighted us since 2018. Frustrated us, too. Klich had yet another impressive night from the bench, and still managed to miskick a shot sending the ball so high, and so far away from goal, that he could run over and win a tackle for it before it came back to earth. That was Klich for Leeds, nearly 200 times: influential, imperfect, committed. Aaronson and Summerville and Tyler Adams and Max Wöber and the rest might be the future of Leeds United, but the thing about the future is that it doesn't have to happen sooner than it's needed. In the management’s rush to build a new Leeds United, there isn’t enough being thought about how it can be better than the old one. Or, in a second half like this, what’s best about the current one.

What I took from the second half against West Ham was that Leeds should have enough to end safely in the Premier League again this season, but it could take a step back to make sure. Aaronson is the perfect example. He's been a delight at times this season. He's got a lot of quality and a great future. Since coming back from Qatar, though, he has not played well, and perhaps he's going to be one who suffers from the schedule and the pressure of having to raise his game so high so much in the last six months. In other words, the kid needs a rest. He's got a long contract with Leeds, youth is on his side, he doesn't need to impress anyone to get to a major international tournament for a while. It was making perfect sense, at 9.40pm on the evening of Wednesday 4th January 2023, that with a run of important, winnable games coming up, Leeds should bench Aaronson and start Mateusz Klich, at least for a while, an experienced player with form for getting Leeds to where the club has to be.

So obviously by 9.45pm Klich was in tears, Elland Road's big screen was displaying goodbye messages from his teammates, and players were lining up in specially printed t-shirts to give him a guard of honour as he leaves for America. One solution to at least our next three months of problems leaving on a jet plane. A key to our future, a big part of our present, being made part of our past before it is time. I wish you good luck in MLS, Mateusz, but I don't think you'll need our wishes to be happy — you've the knack for making your own happiness, and sharing it with us. I should save my wishes for Brenden Aaronson, who isn't going to get your help anymore, and for us, hoping to cope without you.

Cope might be the right word. Jesse Marsch seemed mystified by this exciting game against West Ham. “The first half for me wasn’t good enough, in terms of that we played backwards too much, we invited the opponent into the match too much,” he said afterwards. “That’s not how we want to play.” The second half, he said, was much better. “I’m very frustrated that it took our players to go down a goal, at that point in the match, to play to their potential and to play with their ability, and to play with their fearlessness and belief.” He has to come up with a way, he said, of getting the players to perform like that from the start.