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The #LUFC Breakfast Debate (Monday 1st March)

Discussion in 'Leeds United' started by ellandback, Mar 1, 2021.

  1. ellandback

    ellandback Well-Known Member
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    Good Morning. Its Monday 1st March, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road


    Early goal sinks Leeds

    Aston Villa picked up their first away win against Leeds since December 2000 on Saturday, ending a run of six without victory at Elland Road.

    With Leeds midfield decimated, Bielsa partnered Roberts and an injured Klich in the middle of the park. Costa was given a chance to impress the gaffer following recent notable performances whilst Raphinha occupied the right wing. Struijk was sent on midfield defensive duties.

    Anwar El Ghazi, a player well known by Marcelo Bielsa from their time at Lille got the decisive strike after just 5 minutes. Ollie Watkins whipped cross found the Dutch International in space having lost his marker (Costa). Although his first touch was terrible, he recovered and fired the ball between Meslier's legs to score the only goal of the game.

    Even though Leeds dominated the game with almost 70 percent possession, they were unable to find the finishing touch.

    Rodrigo, Phillips, Shackleton, Forshaw and Poveda were all missing from the Leeds Utd midfield, yet the commentator was oblivious, obsessed in the fact that Dean Smith was without Grealish as mentioned on over fifteen times over the game.

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    Why hasn't Klich been dropped?

    We can cut Klich a bit of slack for his recent performances over the last couple of weeks. The 30yo Polish International has been suffering with a hip injury since the Arsenal fixture.
    However, his displays over recent months have been way under par, yet his name appears on the starting team sheet, week in, week out!

    Why hasn't Bielsa dropped him? How does this affect the rest of the squad wanting an opportunity to impress the Manager?

    Surely, if a player is not performing, you drop him to give a chance to someone else. Sometimes its the fairest thing to do. It gives the player time to regroup, find his confidence, and recharge his batteries!

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    Set pieces costing Leeds

    The Whites have shipped 19 goals from set-pieces so far this season, more than any other team in the top flight. Whilst Leeds offensive play will keep them in the top flight this term, you can't help but worry that since Bielsa's arrival at Elland Road almost three years ago set pieces have always been a major contributor to leaking goals.

    The Argentine has worked miracles since taking the reigns in 2018, but whilst we obviously recognise his many strengths, we don't seem to identify and reinforce his weaknesses.

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  2. ristac

    ristac Well-Known Member
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    Morning all

    Klich not being dropped and Alioksi holding his place far too long at LB combined with last season and Kiko continuing to play despite numerous errors until his ban saved us all equal Bielsa not liking change and remaining loyal to a core group. Upset him like Pontus and Pablo did and there is no forgiving, it is part of how Bielsa operates and I guess it is just what makes him Bielsa.

    Flip that though and not a single person would have given Bamford so many chances and look at his goals this season.

    Get the next 2-3 games out the way and I hope we are all breathing a sigh of relief
     
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  3. foolee

    foolee Well-Known Member

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    Morning all,

    I put the Aston Villa game down as a combination of having an off day, injuries, going 1-0 down early on, the ref and Villa defending very well. If you change even one of those factors I think we could've got a result. It's also good to see we can compete with a team sitting comfortable in 9th place with games in hand, a few signings in the summer and we're well on our way to getting Europe imo.

    Klich hasn't been dropped because he can fill in at CDM and we don't really have anyone fit that can play in his position and Bielsa isn't going to throw inexperienced 23s in to the deep end because Klich is a bit out of form and has a slight injury. The thought of dropping Klich and having Roberts in the middle with Gelhardt and Struijk in CDM if far too attacking, open and inexperienced. Roberts and Dallas in the middle could work with Struijk at CDM and Alioski at LB but there isn't many ideal solutions.

    Set pieces have always been an issue with Bielsa. I think we have improved slightly over the last few weeks. Don't forget we are a small side and have had a lot of injuries in defence. Not sure what else we could do to improve it. It's not like Llorente, Cooper or Struijk are small.
     
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  4. Doc

    Doc Well-Known Member

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    Morning all :emoticon-0148-yes:

    We are short through injuries so Klich plays carrying a hip injury and should be applauded for his commitment. We are really short and I hope Phillips and Rodrigo are back next Monday because we are at bare bones now.

    We have been shocking at set pieces but in the last few matches we have got much better and you will also notice a change in how we play our set pieces over the last 4 games. We have seen Struijk miss 2 good chances and then score a great header and we have also seen Cooper miss around 5 good headed chances and even Llorente has come close twice. So our CBs are now doing what you would expect

    I mentioned this last week, but keep your eyes on this one:
    Jorge Sampaoli was convinced to become Marseille manager after speaking with Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa
     
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  5. Leedsdude

    Leedsdude Well-Known Member

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    Villa dragged this game down to Championship level, they got their goal early and then just shut up shop. Smith then blamed the pitch for his team not coming out to play. Costa was really poor for the goal, El Ghazi even took a poor first touch and still had time to pick his spot.
     
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  6. Doc

    Doc Well-Known Member

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    Jorge Sampaoli tends to follow Bielsa. They both come from the same State, both played for Newells Old Boys, both retired from football early and took up coaching, both managed top clubs in Argentina, Chile and even managed Chile and Argentina National teams.........

    On 15 December 2010, Sampaoli was presented as manager of Universidad de Chile.[24] With the side he achieved impressive results, winning the 2011 Apertura, the 2011 Clausura, the 2012 Apertura and the 2011 Copa Sudamericana.[25] He left the club after accepting an offer from the national team, with 80 wins in 135 matches.[26]

    Chile national teamEdit
    On 3 December 2012, Chile's Asociación Nacional de Fútbol Profesional announced that Sampaoli would take over as manager of the national team after a successful run with La U.[27][28] His arrival brought about a turnaround in performances and results, with Chile winning three of their first four World Cup qualifiers after his appointment. Under Sampaoli, Chile returned to the energetic, high-pressing game of Marcelo Bielsa,[29] the Argentinian coach who inspired Sampaoli's managerial philosophy.

    In 2015, Sampaoli led Chile to victory in the 2015 Copa America, the country's first major trophy.[30] On 30 November of that year, he was named on the final three-man shortlist for the 2015 FIFA World Coach of the Yearaward, joined by Spaniards Pep Guardiola (Bayern Munich) and Luis Enrique (Barcelona).[31][32]

    Since 2010 managing clubs in Spain, Chile and Brazil plus National teams of Argentina and Chile he has an average win ratio of 55.3%, and I am betting this guy is on Bielsa’s list of replacements for himself
     
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  7. Leedsdude

    Leedsdude Well-Known Member

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    Just reading how Dean Smith kept goading Ayling throughout the second half from the sideline. This guy really has no class, I can't imagine any other manager in the PL stooping to such childish tactics.
     
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  8. NostradEmus

    NostradEmus Firpo is Shit

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    Klich was dropped due to bad form but injuries have brought him back in. Klich knows the system better than any other player and sticks to the plan. Even though he has been poor with the ball the last 15 games he still makes the runs which create space for the likes of Costa, Harrison, Roberts, Bamford, Raphinha, Hernandez, Rodrigo etc to shine.
     
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  9. Jammy 07

    Jammy 07 Well-Known Member

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    Interesting stuff Doc.

    Seems he's signed a contract at Marseille until June 2023 which is some way off. However as these days very few managers stay until the end of contracts it's not something to be overly worried about.

    Certainly ticks a lot of the right boxes where we are concerned and is 5 years younger than Bielsa.

    Hopefully 2 more seasons from Marcelo and then Sampaoli to take over...like the sound of that <ok>
     
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  10. Jammy 07

    Jammy 07 Well-Known Member

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    Will have been fairly obvious to all as Ayling was on the far side 2nd half...makes a good story though so must be true <laugh>
     
    #10

  11. Leedsdude

    Leedsdude Well-Known Member

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    I was thinking that myself afterwards, must have been the first half (cough cough).
     
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  12. Doc

    Doc Well-Known Member

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    We already know that Bielsa is heavily involved in selecting his replacement, so you would think that whoever it is wouldnt just come in and rip everything up so it would need to be a coach who has his own views but also respects Bielsa’s blueprint and can add/develop it rather than not like it. Something I posted last week about this guy, when Bielsa was asked about Sampoali he said “Jorge is a deep thinker and can see where problems are going to come from and can adapt his tactics to combat it. Thats why Jorge is better than me because I am not abke to change my ideas”. Seems like high praise but we know Bielsa talks his own achievements down. But making Chile play fast attacking attractive football again like when Bielsa was in charge. One other thing about this guy he will resign rather than accept crap. Sounds like someone we know.he has resigned last month as not happy with the board, he resigned from Argentina job because of problems with the AFA who were wanting hand if god to take over and Sampoali had bollocked Messi who didnt like it..... we shall see
     
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  13. hemase

    hemase Well-Known Member

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    Afternoon all,

    Dean Smith has always lacked class. He is a ok manager with some dinosaur attributes. There are times when Villa play good football, the same as there were times Brentford did when he was manager there. But he has a nasty old fashioned streak where his teams can play dirty. This is what we saw Saturday.

    He also, and the likes of Terry & Grealish, are very much of the attitude ashamed of nothing, offended by everything. They send out a team of divers, time wasters and thugs but the moment they feel something go against them they turn into the biggest victims out there. Again this is what we saw Saturday.
     
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  14. hemase

    hemase Well-Known Member

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    Klich was dropped a few games back but has been brought back in due to Phillips injury. I have been saying for a while that, aside from a handful of performances, he has struggled the most with the step up.
    He always seems a step off the pace leading to players getting away from, giving silly fouls away and leaving space in midfield. His shooting is terrible his season as well.
    It is hard to watch due to the high standards he has set in the last two season but it is what it is. He could get back to where he was but I have a feeling age is against him. His position is definitely one we need to be looking at strengthening this summer.
     
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  15. wakeybreakyheart

    wakeybreakyheart Well-Known Member

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    Squad player next season we can bring him on when we need someone to stick a foot in near end of game when ahead.
     
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  16. oldschool

    oldschool Well-Known Member

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    Excuse me not all dinosaurs have a nasty streak I'm quite a friendly t-rex!....but the point about Smith & Terry is they are jealous in my opinion of the attention bielsa has had regarding his style,demeanour,and in their eyes unwarranted praise they are not Dino's just boring,tactless individuals who are well suited:emoticon-0178-rock:
     
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