Agree cooper is nowhere near good enough for a top champ club that we aspire to be.one ball last night he raced out missed the ball and tackles Saiz.in fact we were lucky boro did not make use of it better.trouble is he has his fsans and i cant see why.
Yeah Bera done well. Havent checked out his injury status yet. Im still not happy to have dropped points at home - but they beat us tactically. Strange to use our other subs in injury time, guess it was a run out as he felt couldnt influence the game.
Every player has their individual fans wakey. I think their 5 man defensive backline caught us unawares, and stifled us a bit. I believe Bielsa mentioned there are things to look at during his post game interview. The game was quite even all round, including yellows. Both teams went at it, and neither team could break the deadlock because of both our strengths and resolve. It was a good game to watch, and squeaky bum time did get very tight......
The morning after and that was a very satisfactory result. Well play lots more sides this season trying to do what Boro did but not as well as they did it. Be happy when the Wally game is out of the way as likely to be a similar test. I dont see what coaches see in Cooper though. Lucky again last night not to have given away a penalty with his constant dragging at opposition players and especially with Pontus now fit. Thought Beradi was terrific given his lack of height. I touched on the subject last night but what a difference to have a good confident keeper between the sticks. BPF likely worth at least ten extra points this season
Good Morning toSheriff Matt and his posse from a crisp sunny Bardsey Well Boro aim to bully there way to promotion and the only way to stop them will be suspensions Ayala in particular is one dirty player.They are terrific at set plays and I did warn yesterday not to give silly free kicks 35 yards from goal Phillips in the early stages did just that and they nearly scored I was pleased with the whole team but Jac k Harrison had a really good game and I can't wait to see Izzie play all in all we stood up to the bullies very well sorry to see Beradi injuredhe his a warrior but at least Pontus came on to give that extra height
Bielsa plays Cooper before Pontus simply for his ball carrying and distribution. Pontus is learning this and has to learn to stop doing what CBs are taught to do and just clear it. Lumping it forward means it comes straight back and Bielsa hates that. Cooper started humping up last night too often as Roofe has no chance. The keeper situation Eire is spot on and Felix would have crumbled by now meaning the team would collapse chasing every game. 10 points saved at least if this goes on, although I still prefer Blackman but BPF has the shirt
I think if we had a target man we could have beaten them.just no one for harrison to aim at with any height.
I wouldnt expect Izzy to feature till the xmas time. Has a lot of learning to catch up on even when fit. Could be a great addition for January if were stumbling
A very tight game where both teams cancelled each other out. A typical Pulis team who were like the land of the giants, plenty of hoof, long throw-ins & relying on set-pieces as their bunch of robots pumped the ball into our box. It worked for Boro' as they stemmed Bielsa's flowing style of football, unfortunately, there was lots of head-tennis & we resorted to playing into their hands by crossing the ball in the air with no hope of breaking Boro's solid defence down. We missed Pablo Pulis is killing football, god help the Smoggie fans having to watch that every week, rather them than me! Positives We didn't lose. Clean sheet against a massive team. We limited them to one clear-cut chance, maybe a couple. We competed & adapted to a more physical type of game. The consistent form of Phillips & Berardi in their new roles We actually have a young keeper who dominates his box. The noise within the stadium, great atmosphere. Negatives We desperately missed Pablo. Saiz & Alioski without Hernandez pulling the strings. Too many balls & crosses played in the air, required a bit more composure. Only one clear-cut opportunity with Ayling's header cleared off the line. Scrappy game between the two top teams in the Championship Poor referee Bring on Millwall 8 Peacock-Farrell 7 Ayling 8 Berardi 7 Cooper 8 Phillips MOTM 7 Douglas 7 Klich 6 Harrison 6 Alioski 6 Saiz 7 Roofe
For those watching on tv the assistant coach who got ‘booked’ looked a likely lad. Anyone know much about him?
For me Cooper has absolutely no positional sense whatsoever, which is why he has to resort to wrestling with their forwards. Pontus is much better with this part of the game so why he wins so many headers and interceptions. Berardi was great with his tackling but needs to play to his strengths and keep it simple. His distribution isn’t good and in nearly every game he has passed to the opposition forward right in front of our last defenders, we’ve been fortunate they haven’t scored.
Social media, including this forum, amuses me no end. Bielsa is widely, if not unanimously, hailed as being a demi-god to us, and yet loads & loads of people think they know better than him about team selection. I think you'll find, for instance, that there's a very good reason that Bielsa selects Berardi & Cooper ahead of Pontus. Only Bielsa knows why. We can only guess. My guess is that he thinks Cooper & Berra are better than Pontus at this time. But then what does he know, he's only a demi-god! #IBWT
Well at the time their was no Leeds players to wave a yellow at,so he settled for next best thing morning all and were still top, with an on paper easier set of fixtures to come,all looking good atm.
That was a bad one I agree, I cringed because it was so inept - what happens when a player does not have brain in gear. He also resorts to man-handling when dealing with physically powerful opposition. On the other hand - Bielsa picks him. Maybe last night will have given Bielsa extra information. I think Pontus is better defensively but lacks the link up play that Cooper does well. Happy to say IBWT
