I disagree. I'm only interested in watching Leeds United and have never been interested in the women's game although I hope they do well.
The link to my blog and photos from the Preston game is http://www.followmeandleedsunited.c...ust-2018-at-elland-road-2nd-round-carabao-cup What can I say but a big thank you to all those Leeds fans who have stood up to be counted and given me fantastic support for sharing my blogs. After receiving some abuse from someone about the fact my blog showed up in approx. 10 different Facebook groups, the reaction I have had from other Leeds fans has been totally overwhelming. After posting the following when sharing the blog the response has been phenomenal. “As always I post my blog and photos for those fans who want to read them. If it isn’t for you then please ignore them but please do not resort to abuse as I received earlier tonight. I’m pleased to report that this has now been deleted by one of the groups I post in. I understand that some fans are in many groups the same as me so receive the same post many times. If anyone has any ideas how to manage my posts better I am happy to discuss these further because it does take a lot of time and effort to do this. If you do not want me to share in your group then please let me know. As I want to get the photos out to as many fans as possible and we do have a fantastic worldwide fan base, how do I do this if I don’t share it? I am happy for Leeds fans to share this themselves if that is easier but look forward to hearing your views. The rest of the blog and photos are on my website link below. http://www.followmeandleedsunited.co.uk/norwich-v-leeds-united-25th-august-2018-at-carrow-road” My response to everyone for their support was “Due to an overwhelming response of gratitude for what I do, please note I will still be sharing my blog in all the Leeds United groups that I am in. If it isn’t for you, then please ignore and scroll past. Thank you! Marching on Together!” Leeds fans are one in a million that’s for sure. As we headed to Elland Road, there would be a lot of changes to the team today but for once I wasn’t worried about square pegs in round holes. As Bielsa is getting everyone to play the same way, this means that anyone stepping into the team should be able to play wherever he puts them. We arrived an hour before kick-off and went to the Peacock to meet friends before going into the ground. As we walked out of the Peacock it was nice to meet someone off the new forum I was asked to post in www.not606.com. I didn’t realise how close it had got to kick off once we were through the queues at the turnstiles so missed the teams coming out. The team were: Blackman, Phillips, Jansson, Shaughnessy, Harrison, Dallas, Baker, Roberts, Shackleton, Pearce and Bamford. Subs were: Klich for Shaughnessy (45), Saiz for Shackleton (45) and Alioski for Roberts (60). Leeds lost the game 2-0 their first defeat of the season under Bielsa’s management. Attendance was 18,652 with approx. 1,000 Preston fans. I was still down at the steps leading to the upper part of the Kop as the game kicked off. I was just ready to go to my seat when a Preston player went down like a sack of spuds in the penalty area and the ref pointed to the spot with 43 seconds on the clock. I will have to see this again as it looked like a dive to me and I felt he’d conned the ref. Unfortunately Blackman was unable to save the penalty going the wrong way which for once I predicted correctly. An uphill battle beckoned. Straight away Preston started with time wasting tactics and I said the ref wouldn’t book anyone until the last few minutes and I was right about that. A terrible referee who let Preston walk all over him, especially with letting the time wasting go unpunished. With new players in the team, it took a while for them to start playing football but once we did, their goalie saved a great shot on target from Shackleton. With 30 minutes gone Preston were reduced to 10 men after their player was sent off which he deserved, for a two footed tackle on Baker. We had a great chance to equalise but Jansson’s header was cleared off the line. Bamford was unlucky not to score with two great chances but their goalie was leading a charmed life and made another fantastic save to deny him. One move was out of this world which their goalie saved. Just before half time and despite all the Leeds pressure, their player beat off challenges to run from near the half way line to score Preston’s second goal. That was a vital goal for them and made it even harder for us. At half time when I was talking to my friend Margaret, we both agreed that we thought we were playing Norwich again due to the kit Preston were wearing. Unfortunately the score at half time was different to Saturday. I wasn’t too downbeat at this time because we were attacking, had shots on target and had been unlucky not to get back into the game. The second half saw a double substitution with Klich on for Shaughnessy and Saiz for Shackleton. The subs made an instant impact as Saiz made some great runs and once again Bamford came close to scoring. As the game went on Roberts tried to do a flick with the ball which didn’t work as he expected. I said straight away that he would be subbed and he was more or less straight after this with Alioski coming on to replace him. I didn’t think he’d had a good game either. The longer the game went on, you just knew we weren’t going to get anything out of it which was impacted by the play acting and time wasting from Preston. That said, Preston didn’t sit back and defend once they had their player sent off and if a neutral fan was watching, I think they’d have been pleased to see an end to end game. From a Leeds perspective though, it turned out to be our first defeat of the season. I also thought that Bamford looked very lightweight in attack near the end of the game. Whether his fitness wasn’t up to scratch I don’t know but watching him closely as Leeds were attacking the Kop end, I found out that I wasn’t impressed with what I was seeing. Despite losing the game there were plenty of positives to be had. Bielsa had kept Phillips in the spine of the team and with the strongest bench I’ve seen Leeds have for a long time, I felt he was talking the game seriously. We did lots of attacking with shots on target and a goalie playing out of his skin. Maybe if he’d have been booked early in the first half for all the time wasting he was doing, it may have impacted on his game. Pearce was limping for a lot of the second half with a muscle injury by the look of it. We’d no subs left but credit to him for carrying on and without making a fuss about it. I know many Leeds fans aren’t interested in the cup games anymore and feel the league is more important. That is something I don’t agree with as winning breeds winning. I didn’t feel the same way tonight as I did after the defeats against Sutton and Newport, because we had been trying and did put some great attacks in where we were unlucky not to score. Back at Elland Road on Friday for our game against Middlesbrough being an important game for us in the top of the table clash, I am happy that Peacock-Farrell will be back in goal. Whilst nothing against Blackman, he seemed to hesitate when getting the ball out from the back and I think that was picked up by Bielsa at the end of the game. For once I didn’t feel too disappointed about the defeat and as we play Preston again in September at Elland Road that will be the game where the points matter. See you Friday, LUFC – Marching on Together! Heidi Haigh – A fanatical Leeds United supporter of over 50 years Author of the following books: Follow Me and Leeds United Once a Leeds fan, Always a Leeds fan Co-author with Andrew Dalton of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly of Leeds United The Sleeping Giant Awakens, Leeds United 2016-17 OUT NOW! Back to Reality, Leeds United 2017-18
Putting all your eggs in one basket as we have done for the last two seasons hasn't worked. Winning breeds winning from my point of view. What I will say though is that the defeat yesterday felt different as we were actually trying to score the goals to win it so I don't feel we threw the tie away for once.
Yeah I'm aware of the cup final injustices, I was thinking more about the possibility of how constantly playing full strength teams in EVERY game, including league cup and FA Cup, could have affected our league title chances. But then again, the cups actually meant something in those days (well the FA Cup did anyway).
I think the one time it did affect us as a team was 1970 when we were after 4 cups as that was down to fatigue and too many games in a short space of days. With the small squad we had and one sub it wasn't a surprise I suppose. There again Don Revie put a "weakened" team out against Arsenal that was full of international players and we got fined! The one thing the players now don't have to contend with fixture congestion in the same way.
If you were to take gender out of it the reason people dont watch womens football is becuase as it stands the quality is not as good. So in terms of football, it is inferior. You take too recordings of Leeds ladies and Leeds mens and simulate them back the quality would be so different. Sure that could be down to funding etc - but you cannot expect people to just go watch. Which why investing is the best option until the quality is just as good, if not better.
Appreciate that there’s a difference in quality and standard, but I still don’t buy that as a reason. People don’t watch football for the quality (if they did, we’d have run out of fans a long time ago! ), they watch it for the entertainment, and I’m sure you can admit entertainment can be found in every format and level of the game. Is a tactical 0-0 by two very technically proficient sides any more entertaining than a 5-4 goalfest from part timers with defensive horror shows and goalkeeping howlers? Women’s football may not be at the same standard in quality, if that’s how you want to phrase it, but it’s just as entertaining as the men’s game. It’s those who denigrate it and point and laugh at men like Phil Neville and indeed Redfearn for taking jobs in the women’s game that are its biggest obstacle.
Womens football is growing in stature and technique but even though admission prices are between 3-5 quid for a adult and a pound or free for a child the crowds are still poor, a few years ago there were over 60,000 at Wembley for a international but no ticket was more than a tenner and most were freebies for schoolkids around the country. When womens football is on the telly the viewing figures are never published but no one would subscribe to view it, as for travelling the country to follow 'your team', a handful at the most.
All true but I see no reason it can’t change. And as I said earlier if it gets women watching the men’s game too, all the better
I agree with this, same reason why I don’t watch league 1, 2, non-league, league of Ireland or Millwall, the standard is ****
Can you imagine the fans singing "you s**t b***ard" at an opposition female goalie? Dont think it would sound great
That Brandon Barker (to go back on topic) they loaned from Man City, weren't we linked with him at some point (appreciate we've been linked with just about everyone).
Some thoughts on last night .... Referee: this one went all out for the title of worst at ER ever. Gave a pen after 45s because their #9 changed his run direction, right into Nessi. I could see it from the halfway line, and it was clearly confirmed at half time on the highlights. Bring on VAR or whatever it's called. I hope he gets hauled up for this & banished to the pub leagues. Team choice/performance: Defence: I can see why you'd want to give Nessi some game time. Miles behind the team in terms of physical & match fitness & understanding the new system. Fair enough, take that chance and surround him with experience. Like Pontus. Oh, wait! He's only had 1 match in this new system, hasn't he? Ah well, Dallas on the right then. Oh, wait! Not even 90 competitive minutes this season. Like Nessi, just back from injury, miles behind ... etc. So that's the RHS of defence banjaxed then. At least we can put some experience in at LWB. Oh, wait. Pearce in the same boat as Nessi & Dallas. Fcuk! Pontus underlined 2 glaringly obvious things - first, that he's a great defender. At defending. And secondly, he's shockingly bad at passing. Look at his stats & you'll see he had a reasonably high success rate, but if you watched him, he mostly passed to Pearce, or Blackman, expecting them to do something positive. Any time he tried it, we usually lost the ball. At one stage, he found himself of the left wing & panicked. He passed it to Phillips in the penalty box. This was the same Phillips who was closely surrounded by 4 attackers running at him from all directions. Fortunately, he found row Z. Madness! Going forward, Pontus is exactly what Bielsa doesn't want. Either he hasn't a clue, hasn't got the skills for it, or hasn't got the confidence to do it. It's not a new issue. Nessi was right off the pace & it was a relief that he was subbed at half time. Replaced by Phillips, who dropped back as a full CB, rather than an auxiliary. It made a real positive difference. Dallas did ok. Not great, and not bad. I can't fault Pearce. He was hobbling with an injury later in the game, right up to the end, as we had no subs left. Blackman had very little to do, but he almost gave me heart failure at one point when he had the ball at his feet & appeared to momentarily forget the game was on. Far, far too casual, but fortunately, a one-off. He will not oust BPF with performances like this. Midfield: Middle 2 were fine imo, but not sure if it was Shackleton or Baker that had the Saiz role (prolly down to my lack of understanding). Wings were a problem. Sorry to all Harrison fans, but I have yet to see a noticeably positive contribution from him. Watching him, you begin to realise exactly how much you get from Alioski. He had virtually no relationship with Pearce, either in attacking mode or defence. Poor lad was exposed time after time. Harrison appears to be more of a loner than a team player. I don't remember one single triangle between him, Pearce & a central midfielder. His off ball running doesn't disrupt the opposition or create opportunities for us. His corners were shockers, most of the time failing to get past the first defender. And don't start me on Roberts. He was even worse! When they swopped wings, Pearce was totally exposed, as Roberts seemed to think he was a CF, and spent more time loitering in the middle than being out on the wing. Time after time, Pearce would have no-one to pass to. Very disappointing. Attack: There is no doubt that Bamford is an asset, but the lad needs to stop being such a polite young gentleman. He needs a bit of nasty about him. And quickly too. He's not Chris Wood, but some members of the team obviously though he was, going by the number of high balls that were pumped in to him. The ones that reached him, that is. Kudos: Most impressed by Alioski when he came on. Not so much for his play (which wasn't great, tbh), but by his efforts to bring their time-wasting to the ref's attention. He would go and find the ball every dead-ball & place it for the keepers' kick, or place it where the throw-in should be. He started a big rammy during one of their substitutions, as he tried to help their player off the field more quickly than he wanted to go. He had more sense of urgency than anyone else in the team. The crowd appreciated this & lent their voice to his actions to keep the ref on point. He certainly fcuking needed it!
