I felt Llorente was terrible first half, he kept getting caught in possession too often. I too thought James was better than Harrison, throw in the fact he was out of position it was a strange substitution. Bielsa said after the last time he tried James central “it didn’t work” yet he tried it again? I was pleasantly surprised with Forshaw and even Roberts showed some good touches too when he came on. Agreed too about Drameh, I know it sounds bad but I was quite relieved Shackleton got a knock and had to come off as he was nearly as bad as Harrison. He had plenty of time to head the ball back to Meslier yet he messed around undecided and then a rushed pass back leading to a corner. We played three at the back yet Norwich strangled our out ball and free kicks, what was wrong with us? That is where we miss Ayling with the out ball, Ayling goes down an obscene amount of times when touched in the back. It was the worst I’ve seen Phillips play in a Leeds shirt, he wasn’t available for the triangles, his passing was poor his tackling slow and clumsy. I wasn’t impressed with Dallas to be honest, there were several worse than him but he still never shone for me.
No Leeds player deserved a 6 today except Rodrigo and Raphinha. 6 is an average rating but hope that got rid of the nerves because 4 points in the last 2 games is a big help. I have to say Meslier has been at fault for 3 goals in those games. Hey Marcello Dan James isnt a 10 but Harrison might be, so we ended up with 2 duds on the pitch again. Bielsa calling Struijk a classic Dutch CB who brings the ball out. But below par performances yet again for a few but pleased for Stuey who looks to be getting it back fk it its 3 points
I think you might be right, but it may also be because we play this system far less so the % win / loss ratio isn’t the best way to judge. I think someone else, can’t remember who, said they trust their eyes and what they watch. Maybe I should have phrased it better, we just don’t look as fluid with three at the back.
They had 3 shots on target the whole game, no more than 1 of those was first half so how could they have scored 2?
If you only play that system 17% of the time your win ratio will be much higher compared to the 83% of games you play the other system?
Got to say that’s one of the worst performances I’ve ever seen under Bielsa but very happy with the win as that’s all that was needed but vast improvement required but I’m sure they’ll work on that this week and hopefully get a result next weekend. Meslier was poor, think we actually need to go out a buy a goalkeeper to challenge him in the summer, he’s made some errors in the last few games but his distribution is poor and for a possession based teams he always kicks it out. Not impressed with Shackleton tbh, needs a loan because Ayling will get straight back in and Drameh looking like he might become 2nd choice this season and be Ayling’s successor. Cooper was okay but he did give away some cheap free kicks which weren’t helped by Pukki diving and a poor ref but won a lot in the air. Llorente had a shocker and could’ve cost us a few today but holding onto the ball for too long, his fault for the goal. Struijk looked okay. Dallas is looking better but did have a poor first half. Phillips was poor and you can see why he didn’t play last week, slow, poor in the tackle and nothing like himself, I think he needs to sign a contract and get his head back to playing football. Raphinha was okay but I can’t help he could’ve been a lot better because we know how good he is. Poor passing and gave it away quite a bit but got a goal so can be forgiven but needs to be a bit more clinical, can’t help but thinking he could’ve had 4 or 5 on another day with better decision making. I thought James was unlucky to get hooked instead of Harrison, once Bamford is back I think I’d prefer James ahead of Harrison in current form. Shame he didn’t get the opening goal early on. Harrison was terrible. Too many stray passes and could’ve cost us with his pass to Pukki in the 2nd half. Really needs to get his form back. Thought Rodrigo was pretty poor but he won us the game so can’t complain if he does that every week. 2 in 2 for the PL now, keep it up and could help his performances as I think he needs a bit of confidence. Probably not seen enough of Drameh to make a complete decision but looks a good prospect and made a good run on the outside of Raphinha in his limited time on the pitch which we’re yet to see from Shackleton. Also looks like he can pick a pass, keeps calm and gets stuck in. Keep it up and he’ll be no.2 to Ayling. Forshaw helped control midfield, played it pretty simple and slows the game now. An actual midfielder and he will help if he can stay fit.
Some observations. Our ariel ability has been awful for the last 3 or 4 years. Phillips is in poor form, and has become frustrated It looked like Struijk was playing as a second defensive midfielder today Individual flashes of brilliance won the game for us today. As an overall team, Norwich were better. Keeper should have saved Rodrigo's effort from 35 yards
Not exactly but it means if you have a small sample size that one or two freak results can effect the figures from what I recall the article suggested that as we play 3 at the back against sides who play 2 up top… we typically only end up doing so against **** sides… because the better sides don’t play 442 … so that might account for why results are ok but not necessarily aligned to better performances. I’ve said it loads of times but personally I don’t think we have the same outlets with 3 at the back and never look fluent.
Meslier - 6. No chance with the goal. Held on to one shot with Norwich players running in. Mistake led to a needless corner. Shackleton - 6. Did OK without really impressing. Llorente - 6. Solid but it was his man who ultimately scored. Nearly caught in possession a few times but that was down to limited options and a refusal to lump it. Cooper - 6. Largely untroubled but walks a tightrope at set pieces and goes to ground to easy. Struijk - 7. Never looked in trouble. Strong and composed. Dallas - 7. Better. Worked his socks off and glimpses that he is returning to form. Got stronger as the game went on. Phillips - 6. Under par for the second game running. We don't need him to be out of form too. Rodrigo - 5. Scored the winner but otherwise very quiet and stationary. Watched his man run past far too often and didn't lead the press. Raphinha - 8. Our best player. Even he made some poor decisions though. We could be in trouble if he gets injured. Tries to do too much on his own at times. James - 7. Assist. Looked dangerous. Nearly scored first half. Worked his socks off. Not sure he has much between the ears. Harrison - 4. Gave possession away dangerously. Only put in one decent cross and continuously ran down dead ends. Needs to improve. Subs. Forshaw - 7. Came on and steadied the ship. Won a couple of 50/50's. Led the press. Kept it simple and sent us on our way up the field. Just what was needed. Dramah - 6. Couple of handy clearances. Bit of a silly booking but ultimately improved the right back position. Worked hard up and down the line. Roberts - n/a. On for last few minutes. Came on and closed the game down. Great little move down the right sent Raphinha clear.
What you said about James not having much between the ears is something similar to what I've been thinking about him. Has the physical attributes but doesn't seem to have the mental ones
Seems Ridrigo is turning into Roberts for some. He has been MoM for many pundits in the last 2 weeks and has worked his arse off chasing and harrying without fk all service. But heyho 5 for him and 7 for James is your view fine
Our players need to be better in the air!!!!!!!!!!1 I may have figured out a way to make this happen......... please log in to view this image
I think Harrison's problem is confidence or lack of it, I honestly thought he'd turned a corner at one point last season but he's in the worst form he's had since being with us now. I think Roberts thinks he's better than he actually is, the exact reverse of Harrison, over confident
We are on course for 37 points this season. How many do we need to stay up considering Newcastle will spend in January.
