Leeds United and the Curse of the International Breaks

Tick Tock!

You can almost set your watch by it. Leeds United finally start to click, Farke’s lads string a few good performances together, Elland Road’s roaring, and then… boom! International break. Half the squad’s on a plane, the rest are running rondos at Thorp Arch, and by the time they’re all back, it’s like someone’s hit the reset button on our season.

Yes we have lost our last two games, both stung equally as bad; Spurs for breaking down the fortress and Burnley for a Rivalries United rematch. But nobody can deny we were starting to look like we belonged to the upper echelon of English football, for a short period anyway.

It’s infuriating. We’ve waited years to get back into the Premier League, only to have our rhythm broken every few weeks by these stop-start circus acts. Ampadu, Rodon and Darlow in Wales, Tanaka flying halfway across the world, Aaronson disappearing for the US, and we’re left hoping no-one picks up a knock, gets jet lag, or forgets which system we’re supposed to be playing.

(Photo by Toru Hanai/Getty Images)

You spend all week watching Leeds finally look like a team; pressing in sync, defending properly, scoring goals that don’t come from chaos. And then they come back from the break looking like strangers again. Passes go astray, players look heavy-legged, and you can tell they’ve spent ten days listening to someone else’s tactical sermon.

Pride of Yorkshire

Don’t get me wrong, it’s fantastic seeing our players representing their countries, it shows how far we’ve come, that we’ve got a proper international spine again. But there’s a selfish part of every Leeds United fan that just wants them wrapped in cotton wool and kept at Elland Road where they belong. We’ve had enough bad luck with injuries over the years to know that “international duty” can be code for “brace yourself mate, summat’s gone wrong.”

And while the elite can afford to rotate after a break, Leeds can’t. We’re still building, still gelling, still fighting for every scrap of rhythm we can get. When half your team comes back knackered and the other half have lost match sharpness, it’s not exactly the recipe for a strong Saturday.

So yes, international football has its place, but for Leeds United this season, it feels more like a nuisance than a privilege. Every time Leeds start flying, someone somewhere decides it’s time for a “break.” A break from what, exactly? Momentum? Conviction? Sanity? By the time they’re all back from their glamour trips, we’re left piecing it together again like a flat-pack midfield.

And just when Leeds United finally start to click again, along comes another international break, the universe’s way of saying, “not so fast, lads.” Elland Road’s momentum will be flying… right up until everyone packs their bags for a week of dodgy flights, friendlies, and fatigue.

If Farke can keep them ticking through the stop-starts, fair play, he deserves a medal and a month off. But for the rest of us, we’ll just keep waiting for the day the world stops nicking our players and lets us get on with it. Because when Leeds are in rhythm, there’s no team we’d rather be. When we’re not? Well… welcome back to chaos.