Good Morning Everyone Leeds suffered their first pre season defeat at the hands of Oxford Utd last night. Only a second half revival kept the goal margin respectable following bring on Blackman, Edmondson and Roberts at half time. What did we learn? Positives first Blackman commands his area really well, and his distribution is very good. Roberts knows where the back of the net is! Edmondson is a handful. Negatives Will Huffer is nowhere near ready yet. Viera is unable to influence a game. Ideguchi was an awful purchase The biggest concern is how many of these players can back up the senior squad this season? Even Oxford Manager Karl Robinson had a moan about the team Leeds bought down. "It would have been nice to know they weren’t bringing certain players for our fans. It’s not my problem but at least tell us, as we do with everyone we play." Carpi have extended the deadline for Leeds to buy Jerry Mbakogu until the end of July. What on earth makes them think that we are interested? Surely, there must be something there?
Good Morning to Matt and co from a hazy Cote de Bardsey Thank goodness Roberts is OK SO worry to lose to Oxford well that's another worry but at least the were some positives in Roberts Blackman and Edmundson Still no signings apart from Jerry Can still rears its ugly head another Ekuban Don't we ever learn from our mistakes We still need 2 striker a winger a tall CB apparently he thinks calamity is good enough not for me! Derby now why did we think they were skint have offered £8m for Martyn Waghorn so does that mean we are the front runner for Marriot now I hope so and Madison as well Apparently Foyth is injured so we must sign him now! The Japanese Bremner seems to be toothless and a terrible buy so expect him to be winging his way on loan to Tokio
Morning all... Lots of things are worrying me ahead of the season and transfer deadline, one of those being we will sign Jerry as we can’t get anyone else. This poor guy is hanging on and on waiting yet not a sole has moved in to snatch him from under our noses, why? No need to answer we all know why... Yesterday on the Facebook group “we’re all Leeds” someone suggested Troy Deeney, plenty like the idea, several shot it down for obvious reasons, club captain was one, £70k a week the other and more important reason why not. Then I read after yesterday’s friendly that a BBC reporter questioned Phil Hay about the “rumours” regarding Troy Deeney. It hits home how 90% of what we read and post on here are not genuine rumours or transfer targets but lazy journalists looking through the supporters groups for a click bait headline.
Never mind their fans what about the 1000+ of ours that turned up expecting to see some semblance of the first 11. Belgrano appears to be as big a pisstaker as Rad, The club is an utter shambles from top to bottom and no pretty hanging banners and commemorative bricks are going to disguise that. Karl Robinson is a dreadful manager but he had too much nouse for the best coach in the world yesterday! Our season has already been defined and this game will mirror what happens.
LEEDS LIVE say: Will Huffer - four Arguably could have done better with every one of the three goals he let in before half-time. Only the club's fourth-choice goalkeeper in the grand scheme of things, but would have expected more from himself. Vocal, but not competent enough for Marcelo Bielsa's play-out-from-the-back tactics. Jamie Shackleton - seven The Whites' man of the match. Not especially in the firing line during the first half onslaught, but going forward he was a real threat down the right flank from full-back. Consistently delivered crosses from the by-line and eventually got the assist he deserved in the second half Hugo Diaz - five Out-muscled by the home attackers, who wanted it more. Showed naivety at times and fans would have expected better technical ability when passing out from defence. Oriol Rey - five Like Diaz, struggled with the lively home forwards and misplaced too many passes, one of which led to an Oxford goal. Looked nothing like the confident, deep-lying playmaker we saw with the under-23s last season. Tom Pearce - five Like Shackleton, showed willing when going forward, but quality was not always there. Worked hard for the cause, but mistakes crept in after poor start from the visitors. Did not link with Jack Clarke as effectively as hoped down the left. Mateusz Klich - five A shadow of the player who ran things at York City last week. Overrun by the thrilling Oxford attack in the first half and failed to string passes or create moves in the middle with his team-mates. Yosuke Ideguchi - four The Japanese midfielder may not be long for this squad on this evidence. Entirely overshadowed by Shackleton down the right flank. Hard to see him coping in the Championship. Ronaldo Vieira - six Much improved in the second half, but still too many errors and misplaced passes for a player who is expecting to be a regular next season. Oxford scored one goal on a counter after Vieira gave the ball away. Lewis Baker - six The goal saves his rating, but for a Chelsea academy product in his mid-20s the fans and coaching staff will need to see much, much more. Set-pieces lacking too. Jack Clarke - six As with Baker, the second-half goal salvages something from the game for Clarke, who over-complicated things in the first half and wasted a number of attacking openings in the first period from the left flank. Sam Dalby - four Mistimed and scuffed his only attempt of the first half. Looked out of his depth and easily dealt with by home defenders. Jamal Blackman (on for Huffer h/t) - seven Only conceded the one goal and there was little he could do about Jonathan Obika's tap-in. Furious with his team-mates when they chucked his clean sheet away. Made an excellent save from Obika later in the second period. Enjoyed a warm welcome from the visiting support. Tyler Roberts (on for Ideguchi h/t) - seven A fantastic goal will be the highlight of the evening for the Whites. As defenders backed away from him, he eased into the box and shaped to bend a lobbed drive inside the far post from range. Find it on social media now. Pace and impact down the right. Ryan Edmondson (on for Dalby h/t) - six Caught offside more than once when in good positions. Still hard to believe how young he is. Would die for the shirt. Composure, experience and nous will come to back up the physical attributes.
Someone on another forum came up with a decent theory to yesterday’s lineup... Maybe Bielsa knows his starting 11 already, yesterday’s team was those he was unsure about, those that might stake a claim for the bench, Bielsa wanted to see how they would perform against better opposition than Guiesley. I’d imagine the keeper is going to be Blackman but Bielsa doesn’t want to dishearten BPF and Roberts needs game time. Take out Blackman and Roberts, if Bielsa scores the players along the same as everyone else then we won’t be seeing any of the rest featuring against Stoke
Morning Mike, I genuinely thought our u23's would have made mincemeat out of Oxford a month or two ago - the reality is, we are just not good enough.
Morning ristac, well said. Phil Hay said roughly the same. please log in to view this image Phil Hay@PhilHayYEP Bright spots tonight - Tyler Roberts looks handy (nice goal from him) and Jamie Shackleton has plenty about him. But you have to question how many of these players can back up the senior squad this season. Out of their depth in the first half.
Morning all. Can I answer this. I’d suggest 6 minimum. Also likelihood of injuries and suspensions throughout season and we haven’t a scrap of even half decent cover. How many will we get? I honestly expect none. I was never a rad fan but he is shaping up to be even worse than I feared
Decent enough second half, helped a little by Oxford losing their strict 4-2-3-1 formation when defending in the first half. Only downside was our man of the second half is competing with Ayling position wise, and he's not quite at that level yet.
X its nice that we have another RB. if Ayling gets injured Shackleton will not us down Is Roberts fit enough to play against Stoke clearly he has got talent
Good morning im a six as well we have no chance with this lot.seriously i cannot name a team out of our shower of ****e. Im working sunday but would not go anyway as its a stupid day to play a friendly. Also i am not attending the Stoke game as sky have killed it for me im up early for work.
At least 5, plus replacements for Saiz and Pontus who seem to be getting pushed out. How many will we get? 1 maybe. This team needs £40mill spending on it to compete for the top 6. We are light years away from a play off spot... I don't even see why an ambitious player would consider coming to us, we needed the marque signing early doors as a signal of intent instead we got procrastination and bullshit attempts to sign players we were never going to get and in all liklihood never really wanted to get. in short rad pulled our pants down to flog season tickets. From the e mails sent yesterday he has just about to maintain the numbers. Good news for Rad 3000 new season tickets sold, hidden in a % figure 3000 were not renewed. Those that didn't renew might be lost for good.
We lost to oxford and the defence was a shambles apparently. Those scores are more happy clappy ****e, we conceded far too many, far too easily. Last time I checked defenders and keepers are supposed to stop goals therefore none of them merits more than a 2. Midfield were matched by Oxford so 4 is as high a mark as merited. Up front a decent side would have scored 6 or 7 so perhaps a 5 is merited at best.
How Leeds can be great again (with the help of NFL powerhouse San Francisco 49ers' £10m investment) NFL powerhouse San Francisco 49ers will invest a reported £10million in Leeds The franchise's chief Paraag Marathe sees it as a chance for a great resurrection Marathe is hoping the additional funds will assist new manager Marcelo Bielsa He will be at Leeds every other month and insisted he'll be getting his hands dirty The first question is an obvious one: why would an NFL powerhouse like the San Francisco 49ers invest a reported £10million for little more than 10 per cent of Leeds United? For Paraag Marathe, the franchise's president of enterprises who now finds himself with a seat in an Elland Road boardroom more than 5,000 miles away, the answer is equally obvious. 'The potential is huge,' he says from his office overlooking the 49ers practice facility next to Levi's Stadium. 'It's an opportunity for a great resurrection. This was once one of the best teams in Europe. Even a casual fan will have heard of them — half of our players have heard of them. They have global brand recognition.' Marathe, the Silicon Valley son of Indian immigrants who would come home from school to run his parents' pizza business in the evenings at the age of 12, will head to Yorkshire this week for his first board meeting. He is coy on the financials behind the shock May deal, the expanding 49ers' latest project, describing it as a 'significant minority investment which will go into the team'. This is not about flogging a few American football jerseys to the folk of West Yorkshire. The hope is that the additional funds will assist new manager Marcelo Bielsa and owner Andrea Radrizzani as they seek to return Leeds to the Premier League and the riches that it brings for the first time since 2004. If that happens, then the 49ers' stake rises in value and everyone's a winner. 'That's the aim,' Marathe says, matter-of-factly, in his first interview on the investment. 'Andrea is passionate about getting the club promoted. In terms of Leeds being able to grow, the first step is getting promoted.' please log in to view this image Does he believe that those first steps, which would feel like a giant leap for the long-suffering fans, could arrive this season? 'It's certainly the goal,' Marathe responds. 'Although I should say the goal is not as simple as promotion. The goal is building something which will last. Going big on rebuilding the culture of the football side of the organisation — that's what the appointment of Bielsa is. It's all about rebooting that football culture.' It seems Leeds have found a powerful, if unlikely, ally. Marathe is clearly a sharp operator. He has degrees from Berkeley and Stanford, has been at the 49ers for 18 seasons and was hailed for his role in the franchise's appearance in the 2013 Super Bowl. Tough times followed. The departure of a popular head coach sparked two appointments which, in hindsight, were poor choices. However, the belief is that the 49ers emerged stronger and wiser for the experience. Father-of-two Marathe, who is also in charge of negotiating player contracts for his employers as executive vice-president of football operations, is keen to point out such experience can help Leeds and he believes the two outfits are comparable. He has looked at how contracts are structured and admits to surprise at the control held by agents and the lack of regulations to keep their behaviour in check. He will be at the club every other month. He speaks to Radrizzani at least once a week and wants to help deliver success for a fanbase he says has amazed him. 'I've been to every NFL city, and a lot of different places where they love their sports team,' Marathe says. 'I can tell you definitively that Leeds is right up there. There's a difference, there is something special in the air of that city about how passionate they are about their team. 'The team have struggled. They have had ups and downs and yet the supporters are so passionate. You don't see that in a lot of places. It's a rare thing. It's in the people's blood.' Marathe was instrumental in the 2014 delivery of Levi's Stadium which, with its solar bridges, 27,000 square feet green roof and Wifi for fans that actually works, is recognised as the most advanced venue in the sporting world. Can we expect to see similar upgrades at dated Elland Road? Yes, although Marathe is at pains to point out any development would see the famous old ground retain its character. 'It's such an historic place,' he says. 'I watched the movie The Damned United and loved it. There's something special about it. When we came to our first game, Leeds were mid-table and yet 36,000 people were inside. It was neat to see how much they pour their passion into the club. 'Elland Road has a unique opportunity for more. There's a lot of space around the ground. That's absolutely where we can apply our expertise and help'. Marathe met Radrizzani when the Italian was visiting the Bay Area long before his 2017 acquisition of Leeds. He was impressed. 'He is the reason we got involved,' he says. 'The electricity by which he conducts his business is something we really admire.' I enquire if he has experienced any of the Yorkshire stereotypes. Whether there has been blunt cynicism, or searing questions over what on earth some Yank can bring to the mighty whites. 'I haven't experienced that,' Marathe says. 'But even that is just passion. I love that. I would want everyone to question it (the agreement) because they want the best for their club. I like that.' Should those doubters exist, Marathe has a message for them. 'We're not trying to take over,' he says. 'We are supporting Andrea. But this is not cosmetic. We are going to dive in and help where we can. On the football ops, on business ops, whether it's lending expertise on sales, marketing, PR — wherever we can help. This is not something we throw a cheque at and see if the tree grows. We're going to get our hands dirty.' Getting his hands dirty is something he is used to, from his days at Round Table Pizza. As a youngster, Marathe would struggle to see over the counter but would be responsible for, on Friday nights, getting out 250 pizzas to a hungry crowd. 'It's a disservice to two institutions I went to,' he says, 'but the best education of my life was managing that pizza restaurant — the school of hard knocks.' Dealing with a demanding public and trying to produce a great product in a heated, hectic environment — it sounds like ideal preparation for what lies ahead.
I didn't see the game but we lost to a league 3 outfit managed by a gobby scouser that will be looking for his 4th new club inside two seasons before Christmas. The idea is to win the game and not concede and performance scores should indicate how the objective results were met, or not, did you forget that? It is not a complicated concept despite happy clappys and apologists looking for any straw to clutch at. Do you think that anyone had a stand out game and deserved anything above a 4? I don't know if you were one of them but last year there were idiots on here telling me Viera was going to be a world beater. This news just in...They were wrong...,. he is ****e and will remain so...
