Javi Garcia has now commented on what happened at half-time during Leeds United’s 5-1 defeat against Crystal Palace last month.
The Spaniard was relieved of his duties at Leeds yesterday and he’s been speaking to The Athletic after his short spell at Elland Road.
Gracia replaced Jesse Marsch in February and was seemingly finding his feet as Leeds boss before a surprise defeat to Palace.
The Whites put in an exceptional first-half display against Roy Hodgson’s side that day and were unfortunate to head into the break at 1-1 after a Marc Guehi equaliser just before half-time.
But Leeds suffered a second-half collapse as they went on to concede four goals. The result led to a slump in form under Gracia, which ultimately cost him his job.
Now, Gracia has shared that he believes it was Guehi’s goal that ruined his side’s momentum in the game, rather than anything that happened at half-time.
Gracia on Leeds vs Palace
“I would not centre this on the half-time interval,” he said. “It is more about the minutes before half-time, when we conceded a goal from a set piece.
“That first half against Palace, both in my opinion and also in the view of many people around the club, was really, really good.
“We dominated the match and we created chances. It was incredible to me that we went in at half-time drawing.
“We were balanced in our play. Then the situation that followed was hard to understand. The second half was very tough to take.”
Leeds’ second-half performance that day came as a huge surprise given they had dominated the game beforehand.
Guehi’s effort was certainly a blow for Leeds, but it shouldn’t have resulted in a second–half capitulation.
Gracia only managed to pick up one point in the Premier League thereafter and it feels like that game was a massive turning point in his rein at Leeds.