Meslier 8 Solid Ayling 6 non-stop again from Bill Struijk 6 did ok but that’s all Cooper 4 Very simple assist. Always got a mistake in him Firpo 6 Fine Phillips 7 solid but predictable. Did the basics well Dallas 8 Mr reliable Klich 7 Took his goal well. Did Ok, but not as good as this time last season Raphinha 9 Nice to see him come more central. He's our only creative influence Bamford 6 Unselfish to set up Klich's goal Harrison 6 Ok
Cant disagree with that but would add that we need to have a lot more 7s as most were just 6. Firpo looks class and needs to get used to the pace of Leeds, he will.
There was far more fight today and their fitness levels seemed good. Silly errors will cost us though
Bielsa explains himself, so calming down: Rodrigo has been the best player in pre-season but tweaked a muscle earlier in the week. Koch felt pain in his pubis ….. yeah I know cant make that up. However it does highlight the small squad because Shackelton and Roberts as your main changes isnt good enough. What makes it worse is that because numbers are small you still put Rodrigo on the bench.
Watched KPs interview and he said “ I wish I was fitter as not had enough time to get back to full fitness yet” so thats nothing like the team are unfit….
Meslier 8 Solid Ayling 6 non-stop again from Bill Struijk 6 did ok but that’s all Cooper 7 battled DCL superbly, giving him very little .. pen cost him 8 Firpo 6 Fine Phillips 6 struggled with Doucoure & Richarlison at times, at fault for allowing their second goal to be created, coudln't link play as effectively as usual Dallas 6 no threat going forward, allowed Gray to shoot too easily for their 2nd goal Klich 7 Took his goal well. Did Ok, but not as good as this time last season Raphinha 7 came central a bit too foten when he had the beating of his marker, at fault for allowing Digne the freedom to pick a cross to DCL for their penalty Bamford 7 Unselfish to set up Klich's goal, worked Mina into the ground physically - the Toffee won't be looking forward to the return fixture Harrison 6 Ok
Just found this. Thought I'd posted it on Saturday night, when I was a little worse for the wear, to put it mildly....... FFs, I know your stream was behind everyone else's, but a week? Did we watch the same game? Meslier 7 Some fine saves. Distribution is poor when putting the ball out to anyone but the back 3. Ayling 7 One of his better performances as a CB, but needs to understand that there's a wing-back to do his normal job. Caught upfield too often. Struijk 7 Best of the 3 CBs. We all love a 7/10 player & this guy is. Getting better too, every match. Cooper 6 I watched a 7/10 captain make 1 mistake, hence my 6. No reason to slaughter the guy. Bielsa's choice, remember, so there for a reason. Firpo 6 Not quite au fait with Bielsaball yet, but made a solid contribution before being subbed for (understandably) tiring. Phillips 8 Immense. Everywhere. Head & shoulders above everyone else. Yet by his own admission, not yet match fit. Grown in stature since the Euros. Dallas 8 Today I wondered why he's not KP's backup. Really. Superb contribution when moved to MF. Quiet-ish as RWB in first half. Didn't click with Raphinha. At all. Klich 7 Back in the groove at last. Got his zip back & the goal was a joy. Covered every blade. Raphinha 7 Game of 2 halves. Very poor 1st half (4), but better 2nd half (8). Extra dot for the goal. Btw, 2 similar on-target efforts, ironically in 1st half. Bamford 8 Did almost everything right. 2 big chances: 1 an unlucky fluff, the other should have been a goal. Harrison 7 1st half, everything went through him. An absolute joy to behold. Love him when he's consistent. Carried Firpo a bit too, imo. Quite a bit, actually. Great to be back watching live football & seeing all the off-the-ball football ignored by the telly. Different game altogether. I'd be disappointed if our players got up to the antics of some of the Everton players. Over-the-ball tackles, hauling people back as they broke, body checks, diving at every opportunity, & rolling about clutching unlikely & untouched parts of their body - the lot. And a referee that did nothing to dissuade them. Looking forward to watching the match to see what happened in the Cheese Wedge corner with Bamford & Gigantor. Got them both booked. Finally, I believe I was the only one boo-ing when the uninformed did their Black Power routine. Also had a run-in with the police which was interesting. Jumped-up cop wanted me out of the car for my little indiscretion. Told him in no uncertain terms to fcuk off that I could hear him perfectly well in the car. He had 2 muppets nipping away at me at the same time. The original mouth backed right off when I started filming him. It took a visiting scouser cop to embarrass the other 3 & de-escalate it. No arrest, but they'll be looking out for me next time, no doubt.
Seems at least we were watching the same match WJ as I concur wholeheartedly with your match ratings. So you were one of the 3 or 4 who booed the taking of the knee. That of course is your prerogative, personally I thought it pleasing that the other 36,000+ chose to applaud loudly and support our players in the message they are trying to convey. Of course if the booing continues (even just a few) then they'll probably keep doing it for all eternity. It's entirely possible that future generations will remember footballs mexican stand off more than the mexican wave of past World Cups. Pretty sure if that does happen it won't be the players who are judged to have been mistaken.
Incorrect. I as not boo-ing the kneeling (which I find ridiculously subservient in this country, & copied from another country where it means the exact opposite), I was boo-ing the Black Power salutes. If you accept this, then you should have nothing to say when the BNP/EDL start with their Nazi salutes. Same thing. Opposite sides. Both wrong.
I don't believe sportsmen should be involved in politics at all. These are footballers, and let's face it, not the brightest in the IQ stakes. They are being manipulated by people who should know better. If someone had tried a Black Power salute 5 years ago, they'd have been red carded, facing a 'bringing the game into disrepute' charge & possibly facing arrest on a public order charge. And rightly so! So why is it so different now? Only the kneeling has been authorised - I don't remember permission being given for the salute. I'm also a great believer in avoiding the circumstance of the boy who cried wolf. This knee business is just routine now - an incipient and unwelcome trend. No-one really, really cares why they're doing it. They understand, but by how much has racism reduced due to this nonsense? Not a jot - if anything it's had the opposite effect imo.
