Good Morning. It's Thursday 2nd September, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road. Leeds will face up hill task to keep Raphinha Leeds journalist Beren Cross dropped a bombshell on the Leeds Utd faithful after being asked about Brazilian ace Raphinha, and how settled he is at Elland Road. The 24yo magician has dazzled the Premiership since his 17m move from Rennes last Summer, but according to the Leeds Live journo, Raphinha may have aspirations to play in Europe with Europe's elite if Leeds cannot fulfil his ambitions! Speaking on the Blue, White and Yellow podcast Cross said: “We’ve seen that with all the best Brazilian players, they are incredibly ambitious once they get to Europe, and they want to keep progressing, keep moving forward. “As somebody who grew up watching Ronaldinho, he will know that he wants to be playing Champions League football sooner rather than later. “So yeah, there is going to be some tough conversations to be had when it comes to renewing his contract, and that’s what Victor Orta and Angus Kinnear get paid to sort out.” Having seen new improved contracts given to Meslier, Bamford and Phillips this Summer, surely Raphinha should be next on the list. He has three years remaining on his contract! please log in to view this image Have Leeds lost their spark Former Chief Football Writer for the YEP Phil Hay believes Leeds need to rediscover their mojo if they are going to have a positive outcome in the Premiership this season. The Whites have yet to win this season having drawn twice, and lost once. They have netted 4 times, yet conceded double that amount! It's fair to say Bielsa's side showed guile and intensity at home against Everton following their humiliation at Old Trafford seven days previously, but again looked way off the pace against a physical Burnley side. In contrast, the Lancashire club showed far less skill and ability than the Whites, but made up for it in heart and determination. Sean Dyche added the finishing touches by outwitting his counterpart on the tactical front - not exactly difficult if you never change your tactics! Quoting Hay : "At the point where Burnley opened the scoring in the 61st minute, Leeds’ possession had resulted in less than 18 per cent of the match being played in Burnley’s final third. Bamford’s finish was a first shot on target and a welcome shot in the arm". "Out of possession, Burnley succeeded in blocking off passing lanes through the centre circle and limiting sieges around their box. When precision mattered it was often lacking; Bamford’s heavy touch wasting a quick first-half counter-attack and Raphinha’s shot across goal doing the same in similar circumstances". "In the build-up to Bamford’s finish was a little piece of skill from Raphinha, enough to cause the unbalancing of the opposition, as Bielsa likes to put it. Some of Leeds’ better traits were under the surface — Bamford poaching, Raphinha scheming, Bielsa’s team possessing the stamina to make Burnley sweat briefly in injury-time — but if styles make bouts then Burnley’s devotion to street-fighting made this one for them". "Dyche’s side pressed, hassled and dived in when the opportunities arose and if there was any doubt that referees are taking a lighter touch in the Premier League this season, the evidence was all over the pitch. The shift in officiating is still to find the balance between encouraging players not to simulate and encouraging players to steam into each other. Parts of this campaign will ask Leeds to scrap as hard as they play". "Bielsa’s squad, in their defence, have the physicality to do that. And they can play considerably better than they have either side of a spirited draw with Everton, a match which showed far more of the traits commended by Klopp and Guardiola". "These are the weeks of the season where Bielsa’s squad routinely go to town, with vigour, flamboyance and a refreshed outlook. The opening forays of this term have given him more to think about, a swing in the balance of who is bossing who. In part, it comes down to the thing that has always lit the fire for him at Leeds: spark". please log in to view this image
Sean Dyche and his Burnley animals stopped Leeds by being a dirty bunch of bastards aided by a weak referee - that's hardly 'outwitting Bielsa tactically' That's like saying America outwitted Japan militarily in WW2 by dropping a couple of A bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki - effective but no tactical skill required.
Not liking the start to the season but not slashing my wrists about it. Main priority is to get all the lads back healthy from this stupid 3 Internationals in 2 weeks crap. We need them all fit and firing and Im sure things will click pretty quick. Raphinha seems like a great guy and has said some very nice things about the fans, the club and Bielsa, but ultimately hes an ambitious lad and fair play to him. We need to have a very good season to show progress again and he wont have his head turned. If he does we will get a massive profit just like Leicester do, and we are following their model. So not worried about it and to be frank nobody else should yet, we’re only a month into a long season
"Leeds’ possession had resulted in less than 18 per cent of the match being played in Burnley’s final third". If you can keep a team away from the final third (which is a massive area of the pitch) they won't score!
Not just Raphinha. Bamford, Harrison, Llorente, Meslier, not to mention Bielsa. If we finished below mid table, would Bielsa stay?
I was reading an article from Paul Robinson. He reckons we are still 3 players light. Most importantly, a back-up / game changer for Bamford and a central midfielder. If we had sold Rodrigo in the Summer transfer window for 20 m, and reinvested it in two players, would anyone have minded losing Rodrigo?
Tbh I wouldn't have been surprised to have seen him go, and half expected it. He has obvious abilities but just doesn't seem to fit in here.
Surely Rodrigo is that game changer replacement for Bamford? I really believe we will see Rodrigo on the bench more going forward with Harrison, Raphinia and James being the obvious starters.
Everyone has a price at any club it's a revolving door. Bielsa also holds a key once his watch is up. can see a few Players consider their future's We need to talk more positive lol. Transfer window just finished. Now we talk about who's leaving in the summer lol Nobody is going nowhere till January period ! let's enjoy the ride until then.
Reading this morning that Nketiah and his agent priced themselves out of a move to Palace. The fee was agreed but the agent fees and wage demands weren't viable alleged one Chief executive. Also just read this which ties in. One Premier League chief executive said the problem with the Crystal Palace deal wasn’t Arsenal’s asking price. “It was the demands of his agent, in terms of agent’s fees, and it was Eddie Nketiah’s wage demands that have priced him out of a move from Arsenal this transfer window.”
On Rodrigo Bielsa was gobsmacked that Orta was able to get him if Bielsa wanted him. He was raving about getting him because he was top if a list if players Bielsa would want if it were possible. Then a couple of weeks ago he was raving about Rodrigo again saying he was by far the best player in pre-season training because he had come back sharp and fit. He said Rodrigo found it hard last season through Injury and illness and felt he had shortchanged the Leeds fans. Bielsa said Rodrigo is one if the best pro’s he had worked with and knew he would have a massive season for the club this year. I am staying with Bielsa and looking forward to Rodrigo silencing some.
Morning all Firstly, Beren Cross is an attention seeking prat who regularly comes up with complete tripe to get clicks ... I've had a few run-ins with the cnut on twitter where I've called out his idiocy & asked him politely to fk off to Scum where he'll have a guaranteed audience of idiots As for Phil Hay, he also likes to stoke negative fires to try and get subs for Athletic, because their business model is busy failing ... what Hay failed to focus on was that the team was unbalanced, the ref allowed Burnley to get away with GBH and it affected the flow of the game ... once they sat back and defended, Leeds were allowed to settle into a rhythm and deservedly equalised ... a well earned point at a tough place to go early in the season ... Burnley are easier to play against at the back end of a season when they know they've achieved 17th place here's the thing, Leeds will sell Raphinha for £50m+ either next summer or in 2023, that's not a secret and there's nothing sensational about it happening, because this is the model Leeds will probably follow for the next five years as the club consolidates itself as a top ten Prem club and the bank balance grows ... after this expect Leeds to push on and become a Prem powerhouse, aiming for top five every season with an established squad and the ability to be really competitive in the transfer market ... this will do a lot of damage to all those deeply in debt Super Six clubs, and we could see a disaster or two happening amongst that lot very pleased with our progress so far, another season of Bielsa Ball and an exciting, rapid front line ... good times!! thanks Ell for another good debate
