Leeds the losers as game of steaming chaos shows their leadership void

D awn breaks in Leeds with a smell of menace. Police out by breakfast, a slow-moving filet of yellow hi-vis beating the streets, lining the alleyways, scanning the trains for trouble. In the stands, songs about Munich and Istanbul, Mason Greenwood and Jimmy Savile. On the pitch, skewering tackles, crunching limbs, collisions you can physically hear. The atmosphere is magnificent, even if it comes from the ugliest of places.

Leeds have committed the most fouls in the Premier League this season, Manchester United are fourth in that list, and the two clubs have hated each other for decades. Perhaps this was the inevitable result: a kind of bestial melee, RB Leipzig v RB Leipzig, in which for long periods neither team could get a foothold on the game because they were too busy getting a foothold on each other.

Clearly this steaming chaos suited some better than others. Marcel Sabitzer had a riotously good game in the United midfield. Fred has always been a better player when he has less time to think. Luke Ayling was having the time of his life. But the promising Wilfried Gnonto got a little lost here, Bruno Fernandes never really managed to exert an influence and Jack Harrison’s precise technical game was knocked off its stride early on. Even Marcus Rashford had a quiet first hour before moving into the centre and resuming his stately march to world domination.

But of course Manchester United have other tones and gears to them, other ways of playing. Rashford not getting much change out of Ayling on the left? Move him into the centre, bring on Alejandro Garnacho and watch them win you the game. The introduction of Lisandro Martínez for Tyrell Malacia was another key moment, offering command and control at the back. This