“Estevao has an incredible amount of talent. He’s good at finishing, has a lot of magic and he works very hard. I can say this: with Estevao, Brazil have a guaranteed future.”
When five-time Champions League winner Carlo Ancelotti makes such a proclamation, as he did last month after the teenager had scored in Brazil’s victory over Senegal, it carries weight. The 18-year-old may go on to be one of the best footballers in the world, but the only mark he left on Leeds United was the divot created by his frustrated trip of Gabriel Gudmundsson.
Estevao was booked in the 39th minute for that bit of petulance and hooked at the break by a red-card fearing Enzo Maresca. “The feeling with Estevao was a little bit, ‘Welcome to Premier League, welcome to Leeds’,” the head coach said post-match.
The prodigious teenager was suffocated by Elland Road’s febrile atmosphere, the home fans stirred up by a stunning Leeds display.
This is what Leeds can mean in the top flight. The stadium, when the home team is playing with ferocity, discipline and quality, can overwhelm any visiting wonderkid.
It had all started at 7pm that night, when Daniel Farke’s teamsheet was revealed.
There is no doubt that during the run of six defeats in seven games the Leeds players kept running and fighting for their under-fire manager. They just needed a system to unlock their potential and the stars seemed to align at Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
The fog of the previous two months disipated by the 5-3-2 formation used during that 3-2 defeat and Farke simply had to stick with it for the visit of Chelsea. The German has been undoubtedly fighting for his job during this run and losing to Chelsea playing in a 4-3-3 would have drawn a very different reaction to losing in a 5-3-2.
Mercifully, for anyone clutching to reasons for Leeds staying up next May, the 5-3-2 delivered in spades. This was Farke’s singularly most effective tactical plan of the season and, arguably, of his entire United tenure.
Chelsea, the Club World Cup champions on a run of one defeat in 12 games, felt the playing field level. They had the ball, yes, lots of it and there would have been plenty of edge-of-the-seat anxiety around Elland Road, but they ultimately created little with it.
Patience and Elland Road are not natural bedfellows. A typical Leeds fan is waiting for the next bad thing to happen, so watching their side sit in a low block, allowing the opponent to pass the ball around does not do much for their nerves.
And yet, there was a strange synergy to Wednesday night. While the natives did call for United’s players to get stuck in, there was an acceptance this lower block was working. Chelsea were careless with the ball and whenever Leeds turned it over, they created something positive with it.
Leeds United’s goalkeeper Lucas Perri punches the ball from a Chelsea corner (Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images)
Leeds ended the night with 29 per cent possession, their lowest percentage at Elland Road since Liverpool visited in April 2023 and battered them 6-1, but they outclassed Chelsea in every respect nonetheless. The home players executed the plan perfectly, remaining compact, but stepping out when their press was triggered.
Farke’s managerial career is built on high possession stats, but this has to be the way forward. They had so little of the ball, but bossed the title challengers on expected goals, shots, shots on target and big chances. It’s a system which seems to make everyone play better.
Jayden Bogle and Gudmundsson, two of United’s best players, are unleashed in this formation. Supported by the centre-backs where necessary, they did not give Estevao or Jamie Gittens a sniff, while in the other direction, their boundless energy saw them supporting the two strikers, either dribbling or crossing into the box.
Jaka Bijol was brought to this league for straight-up wars like the one he had with Liam Delap. Shielded on either side by Pascal Struijk and Joe Rodon, he could focus on heading and kicking anything which came towards the Chelsea No 9. Delap’s pea-roller at Lucas Perri was the only change he got out of the central trio in a meek first half.
Rodon, who appeared in his 100th consecutive league game for Leeds, was so dependable whenever Bijol or Bogle did need bailing out. It’s a system which allows Struijk to bring the ball out from the backline, too. The Dutchman had the technical ability to drive into the channels ahead of him, committing Chelsea attackers, and then releasing Gudmundsson down the flank.
If that central trident was not solid enough, they then had the indomitable Ethan Ampadu ahead of them. He relished the battle with Enzo Fernandez and dished out numerous tone-setting tackles. With Ampadu and that back five as an anchor, Anton Stach and Ao Tanaka had licence to hunt for the ball.
Yes, they kept their line with Ampadu when structure was needed, but it was on them to step out if the frontline press was breached. Time after time, Stach and Tanaka were able to sniff out Chelsea errors or undercooked passes and turn possession over, launching the front two into space.
And then we come to the strikers. They were recruited for the same role, as cover for one another not to play together, but, like last Saturday, they dovetailed beautifully.
There was something deeply comforting in seeing two strikers whenever Leeds did go long. They brought presence, they occupied defenders, fought for the ball and made it stick in the Chelsea half. Lukas Nmecha and Dominic Calvert-Lewin are so much more than target men, however. They are intelligent with the ball, too.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin attempts an overhead kick against Chelsea (Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images)
When they did make the ball stick, they invariably knew where it had to go, even if the execution was not always there. It’s encouraging to think they’ve barely had three halves as a partnership. Their cohesion will only improve.
Crucially, they were a threat in the box when Leeds did get forward. Calvert-Lewin benefited from Noah Okafor’s industry for his goal, but he and Nmecha each had other chances, too.
The disallowed goal arguably sums up why Wednesday was such a success. First, there were crunching tackles from Struijk and Tanaka that dnited Chelsea in possession their own half.
Then there was the direct, aerial assault on the away box with a Bogle cross. Calvert-Lewin and Nmecha each won the first and second balls in the air before the latter eventually lashed home.
It was chalked off for offside, but it gave belief at a time Chelsea were in danger of equalising. It showed the essence of their overall blueprint for the night: physicality, desire and a clinical edge.
The takeaway message is the same as Saturday’s: Farke needs to use this in the next game. The manager has bought himself priceless time and an out-of-sorts Liverpool could be the perfect platform for cementing this turning of the tide.