Micah Richards has admitted he was “surprised” at just how poor Leeds United were in the play-off final against Southampton on Sunday, picking out two players that really struggled.
Leeds could not overcome Southampton at Wembley as Russell Martin’s side beat Daniel Farke’s men for the third time this season, after previous 3-1 and 2-1 victories in the regular Championship campaign.
Adam Armstrong scored inside the first 30 minutes at Wembley, sliding an effort past Illan Meslier to score his 24th goal of the season for Southampton and his second goal in the Championship play-offs.
Leeds struggled to break Martin’s men down, and only Dan James really made any kind of impact. The Welshman slammed an effort off the crossbar, before having an effort saved by Alex McCarthy in goal.
But it was a poor performance from Leeds as Southampton rose to the Wembley occasion and Richards said he was surprised at how badly Leeds played, picking two players for criticism on The Rest Is Football.
Micah Richards criticises Leeds duo after play-off final defeat
Not many Leeds players can come out of Sunday and tell themselves they played well. James aside, The Whites were far from their best and the key players did not turn up, including Crysencio Summerville.
But Richards said Georginio Rutter did not have a good game, and questioned why Willy Gnonto kept wanting to cut inside rather than just staying wide and making the pitch big for others to exploit.
“They didn’t have anything, I was surprised because in the two-legged semis they were brilliant, well in the second leg of the semis I should say. Just didn’t turn up. They missed Bamford holding the ball up.
“Rutter did not have the best of games. It was strange because on the right-hand side of the pitch there was so much space, but Gnonto kept going inside and I was like, ‘stay wide and try and beat your man’.”
What will happen at Leeds now, after play-off final defeat?
Leeds will be locking their wounds but ultimately, there is lots of work to be done. Reports have come out that The Whites owe £190m in player transfers, after their huge outlay during the 2022-23 campaign.
The 49ers will have to sell a few assets, and that includes the majority of those out on loan. It also means a few key players may have to be offloaded in order for Leeds to bring in the necessary cash to pay debts.
With promotion, these issues could have been sorted with TV money. But now, Leeds are forced to sell and the chances are, Gnonto will be one of the first as he looks to return to Serie A.