Leeds United's Little & Large

Article by Leeds United Correspondent Connor Law

After the 4-0 win and stunning performance over Birmingham City in Sundays televised game things looked back on track for the Whites. The two week international break proved to be crucial for the players and staff at Leeds United.

Last week it was reported that the Leeds players had a meeting to halt the poor recent form and march back up the Sky Bet Championship table. Obviously it worked, that was the best performance from Leeds I've seen in a very long time especially from the front two; Matt Smith and Ross McCormack.

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Matt Smith 'Large' proved to be very effective during the full 90 minutes of the game at Elland Road. Scoring two goals and being very instrumental when attacking. It was the first real chance the fans got to see the big man in action because it was his full debut in the Championship this season. We played to his strengths, pumped good balls up to him for him to then knock down to a teammate including the ball Alex Mowatt put in which was struck to perfection for Matt Smith to head in to the top corner in front of the Kop. Another positive to take from Smith's performance in Sunday's game was the way he held up the ball. Instantly a minority of Leeds fans were comparing Matt Smith to former Leeds striker Luciano Becchio. One fan commented on the situation saying, "It's a joy to see that Smith can hold up the ball unlike Becchio." He linked up well with all of his teammates well and the formation that was implemented by Leeds manager Brian McDermott allowed the players around Smith to get involved.

Ross McCormack 'Little' was also at his best against a woeful defence which was made up of Kyle Bartley, Dan Burn and Paul Robinson. The long direct balls enabled Smith to link up with the Scotland International and he maybe should have bagged a hat-trick instead of just one on the day. McCormack's darting runs down the channels allowed his teammates to get up the pitch and when Rodolph Austin ran the full length of the field, Ross McCormack made no mistake to pick out the Jamaican which led to Leeds' second. McCormack's movement on and off the ball helped him to link up effectively with his teammates and on a number of occasions he found himself in front of goal up against the Birmingham goalkeeper Darren Randolph.

Little & Large could potentially form an exciting, goal scoring partnership upfront which would give Leeds no problems to strengthen upfront however consistency is key for Smith and McCormack in order to guarantee themselves to be among the starting eleven week in, week out. Poleon, Hunt and Varney will be kicking their heels to break into the team sheet so the competition is always good to see and there is also talk of Leeds adding another striker (Dexter Blackstock) to their ranks which would be bitter sweet. One thing I can take from the game against Birmingham is that the team performed superbly which delighted the fans; We really did need a good performance and result to lift us. The partnership upfront is also exciting let's hope Little & Large can continue scoring goals and performing well.

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