With Daniel James’ red card against Chelsea in May 2022, Leeds not only moved closer to relegation from the Premier League but also became the ‘dirtiest’ team in the history of the competition.
They have now hit 100 total cards for the 2021-22 season, more than any other team have managed in a Premier League campaign.
Those include three red cards. Alongside James, Luke Ayling was sent off for a challenge on Gabriel Martinelli against Arsenal and Pascal Struijk got a straight red for his tackle on Liverpool’s Harvey Elliott.
Leeds already played a very physical form of football under Marcelo Bielsa, but there has been some criticism of the way in which his replacement Jesse Marsch has seemingly overseen a doubling down on hard tackles.
“The yellow cards and fouls are not reflective of a lack of discipline, they reflect a desire on the pitch,” Marsch has recently said, playing down accusations his team are ‘dirty’.
“Of course, the two red cards, we know they crossed the line and that hurt us. Ultimately we don’t want that. But we want to be aggressive and we want to go after the opponent.”
Marsch was hired by the club in order to save them from relegation, but that has turned out to be a harder task than first thought.
Whilst he had a run of good form early on in his reign the club has slowly slipped down the table and are face a serious threat of relegation.
“We asked whether we’re over-motivating them, but even the last team talk I gave before the Chelsea match was calm,” Marsch said.
“Obviously we’ve got a team here that’s aggressive, especially at home, and one that wants to show and perform for their fans. But we’re aware of the fact that the two red cards killed us in the last two matches and we can’t have that again.
“The discipline in these moments is important and we want to be aggressive, but not over-zealous.”
So what other teams in history come close to Leeds this season? Here they are, in order of total…
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