Woo! Hoo! It's Leeds vs Boro. And no, this isn't too early for the match thread. We love you Boro fans. Comment lots.
the line-up that i would start with based on current form etc would be ------------Lonergan------------- Lees---Bromby----Kissa---Connolly --------Brown----Clayton--------- Snoddy-----Howson---------Nunez -----------McCormack------------ Now i know im gonna get flamed for not picking gradel but.... i think that nunez is quicker, more skillful, better shot, better decision making, better passing, better on weak foot and generally a better player. The only thing is his confidence isnt as high as gradels. The other thing is putting lees at right back, now i know it was only against bradford and it was only for a bout half hour or so but i was incredibly impressed and i think connolly could do a job at LB to be honest. At the very least lees is gonna provide good competition for every place in the defence. I also wouldn't be happy with starting with mccormack upfront as a lone striker, however we have no one else. I think we desperatley need to sign a decent striker who will be competing with becchio for that spot. This is a case where bates needs to seriously get some money out to put into the team.
Looking forward to this match. Emnes will be full of confidence after signing a new contract and scoring 4 goals in 2 games. McDonald will also be wanting to get off the mark for the new season. There's a good possibility that we could have two new faces in the squad come saturday in Arca and Haroun. No doubt we can score loads under Mogga but we need to sort ourselves out at the back. Possible lineup for us (got a sneaky feeling we'll go with a 3-5-2 again) and including the potential new signings: -----------------Ikeme------------------ -------McMahon--McManus--Bates------- Hoyte------------------------------Bennett -----------------Bailey----------------- --------Williams----------Arca---------------- ------------Emnes--McDonald------------ Subs: Haroun, Zemmama, Hines, Smallwood, Robson If we go with the normal 4-4-2: -------------Ikeme------------- McMahon--McManus--Bates--Bennett Zemmama--Williams--Bailey--Arca ----------Emnes--McDonald---------- Subs: Haroun, Hines, Smallwood, Hoyte, Robson Going to be optimistic and predict a 3-1 victory for us.
how do you think your do this season Magooder? I find it really hard to second guess Boro at the moment.
I wouldn't know, he never used it last night. I think we should wait and see how Snoddy does for Scotland tonight before deciding his place in the team for Saturday, if he doesn't improve on his showing against Soton he should be dropped. I'd also be inclined to keep O'Dea at LB and move Lees into the middle with Connolly at RB. I'm really stuck for who we should play on the wings between Nunez, Snoddy, Gradel and Sam. The natural choice obviously would be Max and Snoddy but Sam and Nunez have really taken their chance.
That 3-5-2 looks very cheeky, especially with Bennett nipping down that wing. Michael Brown's going to have a big job on his hands keeping both Williams and Arca quiet, and I'm not entirely convinced he's up to it. For us: McCormack Nunez - Howson - Gradel Brown - Clayton Despair - Lees - Kisnorbo - Connolly Lonergan Subs: Rachubka, Bromby, Bruce, Sam, Paynter Give Ramon a start; I stick by what I said pre-season about him and Howson having an equal crack of the whip in the opening games to see who's worthy of continuing the season with a starting place. He'll cut in well from the left like he did against Bradford, being able to use that right foot of his to crack those shots away. It's a pretty fluid attack anyway so he won't be pushed wide too often. Snodgrass didn't look fit at all and I think he'll need a few practice matches before he's back in the swing of ting. Left back: I just give up. I guess it'll have to be O'Dea, but a cash signing there would be very, very, very welcome before Saturday. Please Kenneth you horrible old ****er? If McCormack is getting bullied, bring Paynter on at half time. If Clayton and the wingers play it to Ross' feet instead of lofting stupid crosses in every time they get the ball, it will work. That said, Tom Lees' cross last night was perfect. If the crossing is of that standard, no gripes from me.
I think mid-table to be very honest. But if we manage to hold onto our players now and add a few more (especially another striker) before September 1st, I see no reason why we can't push for a playoff spot. For the most part we have kept the squad together that ended last season with 1 defeat in 13 games. I believe we finished 2nd in the form table for the final quarter of the league. I see Snodgrass scored for Scotland last night, him and Gradel will definitely cause us problems. It has all the potential to be a very entertaining and high-scoring match. Can't wait for it! Zemmama is the only player that will be out for us. Bit of a shame really because throw him on for the last 10-20 minutes and he can cause all kind of problems.
It's not a Yorkshire derby, Boro were evicted in 1968.. if you want a derby you'll get one next Tuesday.. I also prefer Nunez to Gradel..
To be fair, we got the best Yorkshire Derby this Tuesday when we played Bradford. Proper passionate West Yorkshire fans showing the rest of Yorkshire how it should be done.
Did you know Humberside ceased to exist in 1996? The county is now called East Riding of Yorkshire, so Leeds v Hull City is a West vs East YORKSHIRE derby.. but you can get more excited about Bradford if you wish..
I was very impressed with their lot. Can't slag them off because they could easily support us if they wanted to but choose to go with their local side instead. Like Bolton fans who could support the scum, always have respect for them.
--------------------------------- Rachubka Lees-----------Bromby-------------Kisnorbo----------------White Snodgrass--------------------------Clayton----------------Gradel -----------------------------------Nunez ------------------------------------------McCormack
When did we all get brainwashed with the '1 lone striker up front' tactic????? I remember the day when we also played a 4-4-2 like every one else... happy days :-/ Middlesborough (the away team!) will have 2 x strikers coming at our so called defence. Before you tell me we haven't got anybody else (with paynter, Becchio and Somma out), this is true, however LG never played them when they were available did he. Maybe I'm just old fashioned thinking 2 up front is so much more threatening than one headless chicken chasing long balls.
Or playing 1 up front allows us to play 3 of our 4 best players in their best positions, all 4 when Luc gets back. Barcelona, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Arsenal, Spain, Germany. Guess what all those teams have in common.
