Bielsa could actually mimic Southgate and go 7 at the back. Aying, Koch, Llorente, Cooper, Dallas. Phillips, Struijk. Raphinha, Bamford, Rodrigo. Keown and the other ****wit pundits would wet their knickers if they saw that line up Then we could have Big Sam as our next manager and it would be a seemless transition.
A player we overlook at our peril is young Poveda who we got for free from Man City. A player who was wanted by 3 top Italian sides, a top German side and 2 top French sides. He walked away from Man City because he knew he was behind Phil Foden. Foden this season has been a regular for Pep and now showing he can score goals for England too. Poveda is someone who can play in the middle and on both wings, although up to now we only see him as a sub on the right wing
Definitely a talent Doc. Needs to mature and we probably won't see his true potential for a couple of seasons but should be worth the wait. Need to keep a keen eye on his contract situation and renew early as he probably signed on lowish wages, we should get him to extend next summer for me
Certainly was, a 10/10 for me. Love Ayling but even that level of performance surprised me especially playing out of his natural position
So is Bamford a club legend in your opinion ? Needs to sign a new deal and then it's a definite yes for me. In fact I hope he stays at least another 4 years as he's a great professional and comes across as a top guy. Just a shame so many fans (twitter & forums etc) were on his back as it totally wasn't necessary.
Because we were made to look like a championship outfit v Leicester & Palace. We should play our best players when they are available Maybe too early to make judgement but I'm unimpressed with the Cooper/Koch combination so far!
yes, for when the oppo play 2 strikers. I’m sure the 3 at the back was in his thinking when he apparently ‘came round’ to the idea of another cb in the summer.
yep Ayling played great... previously hadn’t been great at cb though - and the clearance off the line was from his own initial mistake. So you’ve been happy with Koch defensively then if it’s all on Coops?
Cooper has been **** on since he first arrived at the club. Yes he's made mistakes, but so have a lot of players. I like him, of course there are better defenders out there. But he's good for the dressing room and IMO gives 100% every time. As for Bamford being a club legend, certainly not yet.
We were missing Phillips and Rodrigo. Struijk is a good young player but is no Phillips. We were up against two teams who hit fast on the counter. Without Phillips there to shield the defence yes we were made to look poor. Palace defended very well and took our wingers out of the game. This forced us to play through the middle which is where we missed Rodrigo. He links everything up there and is so creative himself. Yes, we want to play our best players other than the two above I cannot see the need for kneejerk wholesale changes.
I'm sort of with 1964 in that Koch & Coops doesn't seem to be working as a pair...but only 2 matches in so early days. If you asked me to pick one of the two I'd choose Koch all day long. He's a quicker and better player than Coops and hasn't been helped by coming into an unsettled defence. Obviously he needs to use a bit better judgement at times and cut out the errors but there is a fine defender in there which I'm sure we'll see in the years to come.
Not at all... I've already said Coops stays in until injury or suspension in my opinion. If someone take the chance (when it comes) and he can't get back in that's how football usually works
Cooper is the whipping boy of choice and has been for a few years. The new "Blame Tom Lees". However he has improved season after season, is the squads choice of Captain and captained us on our return to the Premier League. He has then played well without any of the mistakes so many Leeds fans seem so desperate for him to make. In years to come the history books will show him as captain during one of the best times in our clubs history. I bet that makes a lot of the moaning Yorkshire men at games, on twitter or on the forums miserable to think that.
It's all just bantz innit ??? Nicknames like League 1 Liam & Calamity Cooper are just to get him to strive that bit harder. Same with Bamford, without the fans getting on their backs we'd still be stuck in the championship. Oh forgot the fans weren't there were they...is that why we got promoted ?