Good Morning. It's Thursday 22nd August, and here are the Leeds Utd headlines Brentford buckle under pressure Leeds second half battering (that even Harry Ramsden would have been proud) of Brentford finally paid dividends ten minutes from the end when Costa conjured up some magic delivering a ball to the feet of Nketiah to tap into an empty net. With the synchronisation of the two loanees, you would have thought that they would have been playing together for years, not weeks! Its fair to say that Brentford more then held their own in the first half, and were unlucky not to go ahead when the ball cannoned off the post half way through the first half, To be fair to Leeds, they could themselves have scored sixty seconds later when they broke away, and only fine work from their keeper Raya and a certain Swede kept the scoreline level. After the break, Leeds were a different team, launching attack after attack on the Brentford goal, and it was clear that a Leeds goal was coming. The introduction of Costa and Nketiah was the straw that broke the Camels back, as the Whites held on to top spot in the league. Both Managers reaction to the game:- Marcelo Bielsa "We deserved to win the game because we dominated the game. We didn't create a lot of chances but we created enough chances to make a difference. "It was a physical, demanding game and we took control in the best moment of the game. "Helder Costa is a balanced player who can play on both sides, and Eddie Nketiah can make an impact in the middle. We defended well and our opponents did not have enough clear chances." Thomas Frank "The first half was a top away performance where we pressed high, caused them problems and created opportunities. We did everything more or less right. "Second half, they put more pressure on us and we were not good enough to keep the ball. We had big desire defending, good organisation and a high line. "We got through the most stormy parts of the second half and you thought our opportunities would start to come. And then they scored a goal. "I can't imagine, going forward, a more difficult away ground to go to than this one." Selection headache for Bielsa Having scored twice in the last two league matches, both after coming on as a substitute (not counting the League Cup goal v Salford or the U23 game v Millwall) Nketiah is already giving Bielsa a big selection dilemma according to Leeds journalist Phil Hay Can Bamford and Nketiah play together? Who would make way for Nketiah? please log in to view this image
Morning all Eddy and Bamford together is only Roofe and Bamford together last season, when they were available. Eddy is quick and works the flanks and Bamford has the skill to hold the ball and also work out wide. Eddy could be the perfect player in the hole Great win last night and only shows that Costa deserves to start and Pablo needs to go to No10 which means Klich should drop out as Forshaw is superb right now. Think Eddy will stay on the bench until Bamford struggles and then a straight swap unless we are going to win and Bielsa adds Eddy in place of Harrison and tries them together in a live match
Morning all... Nice selection headache but I hope it’s not one that costs us points. Roofe and Bamford in the same team was terrible last season. Costa has to start soon but at the expense of who? We’ve Stoke coming up twice now, I’d like to see Pablo rested for a week in preparation for the swans game
Message for WJ Not going to be around for a few days but can you try and find out whats the problem (if any) with Rafa Mujica and the club? I'm reading that we may be sending him back to Spain for a season loan to Extremedura (2nd Div) In pre season he looked classy and was unlucky not to get on the score sheet. Ot seen since and not even on the bench for the 23s along with Edmondson. He was supposed to be pushing for first team place by January, so has Fast Eddy spoiled his development. Using Stevens as CF on Monday and leaving Edmondson and Mujica out? Can you DM me please mate after sleuthing.
Roofe couldn't make him and Bamford work, Eddie can, nothing like last season.A new dawn, let's hope they stay injury free. Costa can step in for Pablo, Harrison etc, so good to have quality waiting to get on the pitch.
Morning all. Very satisfying game. It was very poor to say the least. All the usual problems visible for 70 minutes. Bags of possession without creating any clearcut chances. No real pace in the team. Pablo on an off night so no moments of magic from him to score a blinder or ping an inch perfect pass as he often does, corners terrible. Enter Eddie and Costa. Two great football brains combined with blistering pace and they lit up the final 15 minutes. That would have been a draw last season and hats off to all involved in these two great summer signings. Bielsa needs to keep them on the pitch as much as possible now, they'll terrify defences
No doubt that a bit of pace (and quality) made the difference. It’s different coming on against a tiring team that have been chasing the ball all game though. It’s not as simple as saying start Eddie and costa every game. There’s an argument for it but also an argument to say, let the guys who give you control of a game do it for an hour... and then send in the cavalry if needed. We are naturally more conservative with Phillips klich and forshaw in the team... Last year it was two from three. But klich wasn’t the one to make way. Maybe there’s a reason for that. Under-rated player in this team in my view... like forshaw was last season. If any of them are dropped for tactical reasons they can consider themselves unlucky.
TBF London I think Brentford should be given credit for making it difficult for us to break them down. They will beat a lot of sides I think this season, so I'm delighted we got the winner. As mentioned by someone, we may have drawn or lost it last season.
I know he's found his level now. But I always liked Matt Smith, good in the air and maybe a few years ago could have done a job for us.
Said this on match day thread... there are two pablo’s. The one who defies age and swaggers around the pitch dictating play. And the old man who couldn’t pass water. As a rule of thumb, you get one for the first 2/3 of the season and one for the last third, but there are exceptions. You pretty much know which one has turned up after 10 minutes of the game... and as all our play goes through him, it’s no wonder there has been truth in the adage that Leeds play well when Pablo plays well. When he’s bad though, he is really bad. His pitch time needs managing carefully in my view.
I’m not saying Costa is a better player than Pablo at all but, imo, he’s a better winger and gives us the pace we need out there.
Don’t disagree... My assumption was always that the preferred starting line up would be Pablo at 10 and costa on the wing. I suspect we’ll see that when costa is bedded in... assuming that bielsa is satisfied that costa understands and does all the teamwork stuff required.
He was also helped start of last season when Saiz was around because it took the pressure to be creative off him and also means other teams can't just oncentrate on nullifying him. Hopefully Costa and Roberts will be able to do that season so it's not just him having to be creative but also he has more oppurtunites to be creative because he can't be the only one marked.
I’m still not convinced. He barely had a meaningful shot to save. Defence handled their corners and free kicks into the box well when they weren’t over hit. Happy for him to keep proving me ‘wrong’ though.
...Wiedwald rolled off 6 or 7 clean sheets on the trot I call what I see. Last year he was w@nk. This year he was w@nk against brizzle and has been fine since... but with little to do. If he continues in the upward trend no one will be happier than me.
