Leeds United 4-3 Bournemouth: Get into this

It can be hard to tell what's wearing Jesse Marsch down most, the defeats or the wins. "I hope it doesn't continue this way," he said on Saturday, after Leeds United came back from 3-1 down to beat Bournemouth 4-3 in an exhilarating match. "I want to try to make things simple on us," he went on, "but that's not the Leeds way, I hear."

That's not the first time Marsch has rebelled against the adrenalin sustaining what, at other clubs, might be impossible results. The first question put to him in May, after Sergi Canos' implosion and Jackie Harrison's goal kept Leeds in the Premier League on the final day, suggested that 'If there’s a Leeds way of doing things, that was it.' Jesse didn't seem keen on the idea.

"I’ve heard this a lot about Leeds United and the community," he said, "that we always think we have to do it the hard way. Honestly, part of the job of being the manager of this club is to change that mentality, to change the mentality to say we deserve more ... I’ve heard this is the Leeds way but I’m not buying into that. I’m only thinking about the potential we can turn this into."

Maybe, after this confusing and exhausting week that has done everything the month before did not to make sure Marsch will still have a job in 2023, it's time for Jesse to stop fighting against the Leeds United way, to stop trying to change something neither he nor we understand, to embrace the chaos and submit to the sublimity of Wilf Gnonto setting up Crysenscio Summerville for a Bonfire Night winner. Whoever was setting fireworks off on Beeston Hill at that moment was part of the insanity, a gift for the Premier League's worldwide broadcast feed, a display of explosions that would not have been visible from inside the ground if the 1950s West Stand had been redeveloped by now.

If it wasn't for the Leeds way, those fireworks might have been hailing a change of management at Elland Road, and Marsch would be heading for home, probably still convinced that with a bit more time and a few more motivational speeches he could have overcome 103 years of irascible history and changed the mentality in LS11. Because he's staying, he has a chance to drop that idea, and quit butting his head against a joke setup from the 1970s — the bloke who tried to change the mind of 35,000 Yorkshire people — and concentrate on changing the way his team plays, so these death or glory fightbacks aren't needed anymore. That's how you change the culture — that's how you stop doing things the hard way — by not leaving your right-back marking two attackers again and again and again and again. Sort that out, and leave the Leeds United way to us.

There was an hour of this match when Leeds toiled and laboured at Marsch's match plan, and the 3-1 lead Bournemouth took from it was the least they deserved. Then there was half-an-hour of 'typical Leeds' madness that changed so much of the mood that the fans can bounce from this one through whatever happens at Spurs and right on until after Christmas. Marsch deserves credit for his part in making that half-hour happen, by trusting midfield to Sam Greenwood's energy, attacking to Wilf Gnonto's desire, helping Liam Cooper stand as the defence's inspiration. But as he tries to reverse engineer solutions from this shaken-up fortnight, step one should be submitting to what the signals on the pitch are telling him. It's not Leeds United that needs to change to reflect the best of Jesse Marsch. It's Marsch who could profit by letting Leeds United make the best of him.

After Crysencio Summerville completed two sensational back-to-back Premier League minutes by winning a penalty in his first 55 seconds of play since he was subbed straight off from the high of his Anfield winner, and Rodrigo converted to make it 1-0, all the confusing and self-defeating contradictions of Marsch's style played right into Bournemouth's eager hands. The narrow shape leaves room for our full-backs to attack wide, but makes long diagonal balls over them the first thing a team tries against Leeds. The centre-backs come over to help, Marc Roca doesn't have the legs to track runners from midfield, and United's defenders do a dance of shadows trying to keep their opponents out. Bournemouth's equaliser was a ball over the top of Pascal Struijk that brought Cooper over to help him; Robin Koch tried to head the cross clear but Rasmus Kristensen, with no choice but to make a choice, had gone for marking Kieffer Moore and left Marcus Tavernier free to volley in. Bournemouth went ahead by pinging a ball over Kristensen, who lost a race with Tavernier; his shot was saved by Illan Meslier but he got another go, teeing up Philip Billing to smash on his run from midfield. It became 3-1 just after half-time because Leeds started the second half well and won two corners in a row. They got away with a break from their own corner in the first half, Summerville and Meslier just keeping Bournemouth out; this time, after running down the left, Tavernier could choose Dominic Solanke ahead of Moore from between Tyler Adams and Gnonto's desperate attempts to cover.

That was Bournemouth's sixth shot on target, while United's one and only was the penalty, because the relentless pursuit of witless dead ends continued to be their main priority. Harrison was hauled off after a frustrating first half and he might have felt relieved. Desperate to get Summerville into a game he'd disappeared from for over half an hour after winning the penalty, Harrison twisted on the right, desperately scanning the left wing for a pass, eventually finding Summerville standing five yards away from him, along a straight line to the goal, in a crowd of red and black striped shirts. Marsch was saying before this match that Leeds have option A, B or C in attack, from A "being the most threatening, most vertical action" to C "being sort of a third most vertical", and that by too often choosing the first most vertical instead of the third most vertical Leeds are giving the ball away too much, before the defence has time to get set in case of a counter. And yes, we could see this against Bournemouth. What I couldn't really see was a benefit to choosing a "third most vertical" because as well as giving our defence time, it gives the opposing defence time too. What I'd maybe like is an option D, D standing for a second dimension.