Leeds United produced comfortably their worst possible performance of the season on Friday night as they were beaten 4-0 by Queens Park Rangers.
The Whites were second best from start to finish and were therefore completely embarrassed on their trip to the capital. Automatic promotion now looks a very distant proposition.
Daniel Farke’s side set the tone for their performance in the first few minutes of the match, with QPR on top almost right away as Ilias Chair netted a deflected opener.
Lucas Andersen then doubled the home side’s advantage midway through the first half but aside from a couple of half chances, Leeds showed no signs of getting back into the game.
The embarrassment of the result was then completed in the final 20 minutes as Lyndon Dykes and Sam Field added to the scoreline to complete an absolute rout for QPR.
Joel Piroe produced one of the worst ever individual Leeds performances
Patrick Bamford was labelled as a major doubt by Farke heading into the fixture and unfortunately, he did not recover from his injury in time to make the game.
This was a big blow for Leeds as Bamford looked much better in Monday night’s 4-3 victory at Middlesbrough, getting on the scoresheet for the first time in six matches.
But with Bamford out, Farke opted to bring Joel Piroe in up front, despite his below par performance in Leeds’ defeat to Blackburn Rovers recently.
And unfortunately, Piroe somehow managed to produce an even worse performance than he did that day. In fact, it may have even been one of the all-time worst individual displays seen in a Leeds shirt.
Hold-up play as a lone striker has and never will be his strength, but his attempt at doing so last night was abysmal. Piroe lost the ball 12 times on the night, but that doesn’t tell the full story.
The 24-year-old won none of his six attempted aerial duels, consistently passed the ball to QPR players in poor areas, and barely looked like he could control the ball.
His free-kick attempt from 30 yards which ended up in the away end all but summed up his evening, and it is a mystery as to how he managed to stay on for 90 minutes.
Farke’s mistrust in Mateo Joseph has cost him at Leeds
Ultimately, Mateo Joseph showed what he can do in one of his only two starts of the season in the FA Cup defeat at Chelsea, up against a £100m+ defence, scoring twice.
That night he proved at the very worst he should be first backup to Bamford, and yet Farke has continued to keep fielding Piroe in a position he clearly isn’t good in.
The likelihood is Leeds will be heading into the play-offs and if Piroe is in the starting XI as a lone striker for those matches, there is no chance.