Good Morning. It's Monday 1st November, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road Raphinha saves Leeds Leeds and Norwich all but cancelled each other out during a tense encounter at Carrow Road yesterday afternoon. Fortunately for the visitors, glimpses of individual Brazilian magic spared their blushes as they clawed their way to a narrow 2-1 win, and out of the drop zone. Although the hosts had the better openings in the first half, they were not good enough to exploit Leeds frailties. Dan James had the best opportunity of the half to break the deadlock. Dallas threaded the ball to the Welsh International as he was advancing on goal. He rounded Tim Krul, and side footed his effort between the sticks. Sadly, his effort was cleared off the line. The Whites opened the scoring ten minutes into the second half. James' cross found Raphinha deep on the right wing, after good work from Struijk. The Brazilian wizard weaved his way through the Canaries defence before slotting the ball under the helpless Norwich shot stopper. Their slender lead would last all of two minutes. An uncustomary misplaced pass from Meslier went out for a corner. Republic of Ireland teenager Andrew Omobamidele was unmarked as the cross came in, and guided the ball past the French International to gain his first senior goal for his club. Leeds reply was almost instantaneous. Rodrigo's long-range curling shot beat Krul at his far post, when he should have done a lot better. The Whites had chances to increase their lead as Norwich's resistance crumbled towards the latter stages. please log in to view this image Playing Bamford would have made little difference During his pre match presser on Friday, Marcelo Bielsa gave Leeds fans a very blunt and damning reality check when asked how much Patrick Bamford's absence has impacted his attack this season. The 66yo played down Bamford's influence due to poor distribution to the Leeds forward. The lack of potential assists was plain to see yesterday, as our Brazilian duo had to carve out their own opportunities in front of goal. If they can't create clear-cut assists against a team with the lowest points total, and worst aggregate in the entire league, what hope do they have in the next ten games? According to Bielsa: "I always try to give conclusions upon reflection. We've clearly lowered the number of dangerous chances we've created. Of course if Bamford was here his presence would be valued, but the fact we haven't created so many chances is not linked solely to Bamford." please log in to view this image Does Raph have faith in his teammates? There were several times in the game when players got themselves into good positions in the Norwich penalty area, but Raphinha decided to go it alone, even from impossible situations. Does he have faith in his Leeds teammates? please log in to view this image
Morning all, Not a champagne performance but the most important thing was the three points. A few positives. Raphinia. Do I need to say more? Struijk. Looked very assured and had a very good game. Forshaw. We just looked more organised when he came on the pitch. He did nothing spectacular but did all the simple things well which you need most of the time to allow others to do their thing. Phillips looked better than he has done but is still a little way off. Another game and then international break for Bamford to get fit.
All the media talk is if Leeds being in a relegation scrap but little is mentioned of the seven teams above us. Villa, didn't £280 million over three years and are only above us on goal difference. Southampton. Look ordinary and only one point clear of us. Watford. Look awful and only above us on goal difference. Palace. The media darlings now under Viera who just beat Man city. Only two points higher than us. Wolves. On a five games unbeaten run and only three points clear of us. Brentford. This season's Leeds apparently, only two points clear of us. Yes we don't look our best but webare getting better and important players are now returning from injury. Things will get better and we will make our way up the table
Another positive I forgot. Not that I believe we are in a relegation scrap but Norwich and Newcastle look so bad that there could be two relegation spots already sewn up. That means potentially you've got 7-8 teams fighting over one spot.
Morning all. "Although the hosts had the better openings in the first half," Did they? They had 3 shots on target the whole game. One was the goal and one Meslier parried in front of him. I don't even remember the other one.
Morning all I’ve got to admit, Norwich looked much better than us in the first half. True they never tested Meslier but we never tested their keeper either. At about 35 minutes the stats popped up, Norwich were ahead of us on everything apart from fouls. It wasn’t a great performance but we got the points. I don’t think there will ever be a worse team than this Norwich team in the PL. They’ll be rock bottom 20 points or more adrift and I’d be amazed if they score 15 goals this season
We have too much quality even on a bad day, to go down. Injuries have had an adverse effect this season but will be sorted soon. I believe Ayling isnt long before hes back. Firpo was fit but will be available next week which then gives us Dallas for midfield if required. Koch will be back in a couple if weeks and we will also have Bamford available again, maybe even for the Leicester match
First half was pretty even but we just always looked more likely to create something for ourselves and Norwich were just hoping to pick up scraps from the second ball. The reason it was fairly even was the fact we continuously gave the ball away in bad areas. It's a repeating issue and the problem is too many players playing as individuals and yes I include Raphinha. His only saving grace is that he is good enough to sometimes pull it off whereas James, Rodrigo and Harrison lose it far more often. You add all those errors up and we lose possession far too easily too often.
You know after some games you lose, but it feels like a win, well after yesterdays win why does it feel like a loss?, very dispondant in the way were playing atm. A lot has been said about the injuries, but even after our first game against manure we had almost a full compliment playing and we were very poor then to, a spark is certainly missing & their appears to be no fire in our belly, I hope things do improve when Ayling,Bamford,& Koch are available, but I’m not so sure they will. Unless the attitude & desire returns to the team, I am afraid we are in for a long hard season. hope it’s just me, but I had such high hopes after last season.
Far too many long range passes being intercepted which came from everyone in defence, Raphinha many poor passes which would have been brilliant passes if any had come off. No balls from the wings cane off and no final ball from midfield. Best move of the game was a great pass from Struijk finding James who controlled it and laid it on for Raphinha who scored. The only time we got end product in the whole match. Then Rodrigo tried his luck from long range as he got sick of waiting for any decent balls. Until we recognise that shyt end product is costing us we will struggle. Stringing a few passes together will be a great help
And yet only last season this was our strong point, particularly our passing and movement, Bielsa must see this and must sort it out.
I think we are a victim of our own success from last season, most of us probably thought last seasons would have gone how this has and we would progress this season. Definitely see yesterday's result has a win though, 3 points was essential. Whatever it is, there's definitely something missing atm, different personnel each game isn't helping, get Bamford back and keep the same 11 for a run of games and it could well resort to how last season was
We have definitely got our return to the pen the wrong way round. If this were last season and we were picking up points here and there with some not great performances we would probably be accepting of it. We, however, set a very high standard for ourselves last season when maybe this was the season we should have kicked on. Realising the danger of being called a happy clapper I am gonna make a bold statement and say I still think we will improve this year and won't finish far off where we did last. (Puts tin helmet on )
I agree with hemese and Gessa and I know I have said it before but believe things could have been different if James had won the nailed on penalty at Newcastle, that would have been around 4-0 minimum and 2 extra points. If Burnley hadnt been allowed to kick the shyt out of our players they would have been down to 10 maybe even 9 men and we had another penalty not given, theres another 2 points. West hame a penalty not awarded would have seen us go 2 up and maybe win that game instead of capitulating in the 90th minute. We could have been on 17 points minimum by now if refs had done their job and we wouldn't be under the pressure we have inflicted upon ourselves. Players free from pressure perform better?
Exactly. In a sport where the marginal calls can make so much of a difference we have not been getting those calls so far. As this normally levels out over a season once we get them we will again get more points on the board
When decisions go against you and cause you to drop near the bottom of the league it can affect confidence. Confidence is a huge part of sport. Throw in a few key injuries and that confidence is dented further. Then you lose a few games and it suddenly becomes tougher than it really is.
Leeds saw a yo-yo club up close and beat them. They can’t afford to be the same please log in to view this image By Phil Hay Nov 1, 2021 Last Tuesday at Norwich City was the highlight of every club’s season, bringing news of their annual accounts. The top-line figure was a £15 million profit but as ever, the devil in the detail was not so simple and neither was the story it told about the Championship. Norwich were promoted last season and promoted easily, granting them entry into the official list of yo-yo clubs, but it was just as well that they were. Their income halved after relegation from the Premier League and their operating loss was close to £30 million. They turned a profit with money made by selling Emi Buendia to Aston Villa, reminding everyone that robbing Peter to pay the bills and pay Burnley for Ben Gibson is the run of things in the EFL. COVID chipped away at their reserves too but the financial blizzard below the Premier League is always enough to remind Leeds United that while Norwich have reconciled themselves to bouncing too and fro between divisions, somehow finding upsides to it, their in-and-out existence is not for everyone. And it does not take much in the way of conversations at Elland Road to discover that yo-yoing is not for Leeds. Leeds liked to think they were leaving the EFL behind when they smashed through a seemingly bulletproof glass ceiling in 2020, and more so again after waltzing through the Premier League calendar last season. Cleansed, rejuvenated, ambitious and, in peak form, downright unplayable — but it is true nonetheless that every team is as good as their last game, whether their tails are up or their heads are down. Norwich away on Sunday was a game they did not anticipate at this stage of their evolution, a must-win fixture for the simple reason that difficult questions in the face of any other result would be unavoidable. But there they were. Newcastle’s caretaker manager, Graeme Jones, announced on Saturday that the ship he is navigating through looming icebergs is in grave danger of sinking and 10 games into the season is an appropriate point to draw conclusions about the treachery of the water around a club. Newcastle are in trouble, no doubt. Which meant that Leeds — three points better off before arriving at Carrow Road, with seven in total — were watching their backs too. They have seen disappointing individual scorelines turn into more prolonged form since August. And, without the 2-1 win they dug out at Norwich, Leeds would have been far enough into the season for people to categorise their predicament as relegation form. They played with that weight for a while at Carrow Road, where the determination to resist Halloween puns surrendered to a genuinely scary first half. Whatever else Leeds had under Marcelo Bielsa at their zenith, confidence and self-assurance underpinned it all. Why those traits have diminished, only he can say. The early passing was timid and the balance of his line-up felt wrong. Jack Harrison started up front but soon swapped positions with Dan James, presumably because James was feeling the heat whenever Norwich went down his wing. They were interchanges which said that Leeds need Patrick Bamford back, and rapidly. The attacking model was keep calm and pass to Raphinha, though nobody bar him was calm enough. As an isolated fixture, Leeds had to win it but the path to a concerted streak of positive form felt much longer. The second half was all of that wrapped up in 45 minutes. Raphinha’s supreme touch and control allowed him to drive in the opening goal 13 minutes after half-time. Miscommunication between Illan Meslier and Jamie Shackleton allowed Andrew Omobamidele to equalise with a free header from a corner almost before the scoreboard had changed. Two minutes later, Tim Krul dived over a well-hit shot from Rodrigo and Leeds were ahead again. The flurry had a calming effect and, in gradual stages, the contest gave Leeds the confidence to think that Norwich were indeed a level below them, soft and utterly abject. City’s paralysis was exposed by Max Aarons waiting to take a throw-in and no one running to receive it. Leeds, to put it plainly, have too much at stake to let this season get out of hand. They have a wage bill which looks like PAYE on steroids compared to the salary costs Andrea Radrizzani inherited from Massimo Cellino in 2017. It is understood to have doubled or thereabouts, up from £50 million during Radrizzani’s first Premier League season. The club have majority and minority shareholders who have seen enough of the EFL and it’s flagship, loss-making division to know that they have no business there. And much of their future planning is predicated on the construction of a bigger stadium, something which has always depended on continuing Premier League football. Hell, in the minds of the directors at Leeds, is another set of Championship accounts. Bielsa can see himself that his fourth season has not gone swimmingly to date. Are Leeds in trouble, he was asked, before yesterday’s match? “What’s concrete is that we are where we are, we play how we play and we need to improve that reality,” Bielsa said. Or to put that bluntly, Leeds cannot meander for 38 matches. Bielsa does not like to predict the future but there is danger in ignoring what the tea leaves are telling you. The defiance of their previous league game, a 1-1 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers, suggested that everyone was starting to smell the coffee. Within the four walls of Elland Road, Bielsa’s position remains solid. There has been no discussion about it at a high level and the prevailing view is that he will find the straight and narrow once certain players dig up their best form and injuries stop biting so deeply. He was able to call on Raphinha at Norwich and it was Raphinha who promised salvation on the day. Reliance on individual names is not the Bielsa way but no one would think less of him for employing some pragmatism. A few knockdowns have left him building his squad back up. “Players always live with the uncertainty of making an error,” he said. “Within my possibilities, I try to go with them.” For Bielsa, Norwich shot straight into the top 10 of pressure fixtures he has dealt with at Leeds. How to analyse two points from 10, 25 goals conceded and three goals scored, apart from to say that Norwich are indescribably awful and, after publishing Championship accounts last week, have more of that fun to come next season? There are no medals for edging a match like this and no excuses if you don’t; not quite a hiding to nothing but a contest with nowhere to hide. It will do Bielsa’s dressing room no psychological harm to see that in a moment where they should unequivocally deliver, they still can.
I think it’s down to the side as a whole being totally devoid of confidence. When that happens under this system the whole thing breaks down. Only way to build the confidence back up is to gradually scrape some points together, and a scrappy win yesterday will go some way towards getting our mojo back. Hopefully
We could be pessimistic and say we are averaging one point per game which is nearing relegation form. You could be optimistic and say we have won 7 points in our last 4 games which is 1.75 points per game average or 66 points and well safe. Or you could be super optimistic and say we have won 4 points in our last 2 games which means we are averaging 2 points per game which equates to76 points and maybe Europish
