Good Morning. It's Wednesday 3rd November, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road It will be very difficult to stay up - Radrizzani Speaking from the Web Summit in Lisbon, Leeds owner Andrea Radrizzani has stated that it will be very difficult for the Whites to stay in the top flight next season, but should they manage it, significant improvements will be made with the eventual aim of becoming a top six club as well as renovations at Elland Road. The 47yo also added that the club supports Bielsa 'unconditionally'. "Leeds United, like Eleven and many other businesses in my life, are always a challenge,” “All my life I've been seen as an underdog, people haven't given me credit every time I've started something. People tend to say 'It'll crash, it's football so it'll lose money'. “I invested about £100m in buying and rebuilding Leeds United in the Championship. Now the club is in the Premier League, we have a lot of international players. In the first team seven or eight but not only in the senior team. The value is now probably four times higher. “People think sometimes I'm crazy to do this investment but it is rational because with the right people and management it can be rational. Give time to flourish the project and we can achieve things". “Now we are partnering with the 49ers. This year it will be very difficult to stay in the Premier League but if we stay up this year we can do much more next year. Next, the top six over time and hopefully start to renovate the stadium and grow this club.” “It is very important for the football family to stay united and connected and avoid a repeat of the Super League,” he added. “It was surprising and also fantastic to see the reaction of the fans. We have to keep the value and meaning of promotion and relegation. Meritocracy is very important. This should never be challenged.” please log in to view this image Leeds are at a transitional stage Whilst the most expectant of Leeds fans wouldn't have dreamed of achieving a top ten finish during their first season back in the top flight; nobody would have foreseen their collapse in form, just months later. Their stuttering start to this campaign has been compounded by injuries to key players, yet the remaining players who were so reliable just six months look a shadow of their former selves. These are the same players who were awarded significantly improved contracts last term, earning in a week, what many of us earn a year. According to Phil Hay, Leeds are now at a transitional stage. "The first 10 games of this season make it feel as if Leeds are moving between phases. Bielsa’s contract is up again next Summer and a difficult term would change the nature of conversations about what comes next. There is an expectation at Elland Road that the transfer of shares from Andrea Radrizzani to 49ers Enterprises will continue, potentially providing fresh funding". "There are players who, irrespective of previous years, will have to play better than they presently are if they want to avoid hard decisions about them. This squad is not done but if the past couple of months are telling Leeds anything, it is that every model needs refreshing. When footballers peak as they have under Bielsa — some of them unexpectedly — it is natural for them to question if they can go higher again". "It would be natural for them to wonder if by finishing ninth last season, they hit their limit. Some of them know that pushing Leeds to the next level will not be their job. It is entirely possible that it will not be Bielsa’s job either. The baton will pass on, possibly sooner than they would like, and a human resources drive will be necessary. But they built this empire and, to go by the performances against Wolves and Norwich, they are fighting for it". Where has it all gone wrong? Many football pundits are suggesting that the players are being overworked, and whilst able to sustain the elite levels of fitness over the last couple of years, its not sustainable in the long term! Do you agree? please log in to view this image Liam Cooper's every appearance feels like a round of Squid games Leeds journalist Phil Hay has likened Skipper Liam Cooper with playing a round of squid games; the analogy being you scrape through by the skin of your teeth, only to face a tougher test, and probable eliminated in the next. This is his seventh season at Elland Road, and whilst he has come on leaps and bounds since his Championship days, he always has a mistake in him. According to Hay:- "Liam Cooper's every appearance for Leeds feels like a job interview. Or if not a job interview, a round of Squid Games. One wobble, eliminated. And if you avoid wobbling this time, then the likelihood is that someone in the metaverse will try and take you out after the next game anyway. It was nice to hear Bielsa reference Cooper positively after Leeds’ recent draw with Wolves because, in the case of Cooper, he is like the boiler in your kitchen; only spoken about when it goes wrong and somewhat underappreciated". "A couple of years ago, I went to interview Cooper and as part of the conversation, I asked him about the nickname. League One Liam. You can never be sure about how a player will react to a question like that. They might resent the mention of it. They might pick a fight with their own supporters, which never ends well. Or as happened with Cooper, they might see some grains of truth in it. Cooper’s attitude was that in patches, he hadn’t performed well. In sustained patches, he had been at a bog-standard (and sometimes inept) Championship team. So fair enough. But Bielsa was good for him and Bielsa’s football leaned towards Cooper’s strengths. Look at the evidence since. His ability to process and rationalise the criticism explained to a point why he had been able to cope mentally with Bielsa’s regime". please log in to view this image
Morning all, Is there anyone out there who didn't think we were in a transitional phase? Pablo, Berardi and Alioski gone. Let's look at Cooper, Ayling, Klich & Dallas. All have reached the peak of their abilities and probably in their last season as first choice. Look at CB. Llorente has established himself as a first choice CB alongside Cooper. Cooper is playing his last season as first choice with Stuijk ready to take his place and Cresswell following him. Shack has been good cover at RB with, more importantly, young Drameh showing himself to be good enough as an actual rb. Firpo has come in and is a natural lb, someone we've not had for a while. He had been improving game after game as well. Yes the club should have invested in a cm in the summer. With more investment planned next summer we could be looking at spending more on the top class choice to partner Phillips. Costa has been moved on with £25million James replacing him. Not quite the finished article when it comes to the final ball/decision making but that would come with Bielsa coaching. Bamford is in his peak years but we already have Geldhart showing that we have our next star striker amongst our teams meaning we won't have to find £30+ million to buy one. This season hasn't been great so far due to injuries and players out of form but the future looks brighter, especially with more investment planned.
I'm not saying that yet need to be moved on but their roles as first choice will revert to back up in the near future. Also they needed rewarding after promotion and it helps that if we do get rid of them it ensures we get a little bit more money for them.
Because they all have a transfer value and when the time comes to move them on we will get a fee for all of them as they step back into the Championship and do a good job for some club. If you didnt they would walk for free at the end ofbtheir contract
Phil Hay can be an annoying Scottish twot because when things are going well he is all over it and the first sign of a problem he writes headlines that are just for clicks. When you half half your first team squad on the treatment table any club would struggle. So no real headlines we are just awaiting our best players back.
So long as Phillips and Rapha stay fit I think we should be OK this season. The real test will be next season possibly without both Rapha and Bielsa.
Afternoon all… I find Radz words most strange, surely it’s not what fans or players want to hear? Hardly words of confidence when trying to get Phillips to sign a new contract and why significant improvements next season? Even if we had £100m to spend it feels an almighty task expecting us to source 2-3 players that will fit the Bielsa mould not to mention a few players who will surely only get worse with age. I see us as being in a 2-3 season transitional stage, the progress this season is surely about the U23s. Maybe Radz and Orta feel a bit stifled in Bielsas stance on players and they know he is exiting at the end of the season and the plan is to bring a few players in before appointing a replacement? We’re all armchair managers and I expect Orta is no different
So Coopers is now on almost 40k a week or £160,000 per month - the equivalent of 2m a year. What fee are we going to get for him?
Ffs mate he is now an International CB, hes now classed as a seasoned premier league CB and a captain who won promotion from the hardest league to get out of in the world. He will go for a good dew million and will be given a 2 or 3 year cintract where er he goes. What championship club would not want a player like him?
Dallas Klich, Ayling and Cooper will not just hang up their boots when we dispose of them, they will all go onto play for a championship club to try and win promotion again. Klich may go back home to Poland or go back to Holland. 3 Internationals and Ayling who was spoken about as deserving an England call last season
Not only does Bogusz score goals of the month but he also creates and is already in line for leagues player of the season
He's Scottish.... They're 4 or 5 place above the likes of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Canada. To put it in perspective, the USA are 29 places higher than Scotland in the rankings. What championship club would not want a player like him? - One that wants to get promoted Am I being harsh?
Cooper's wage equates to £8m over the term of his contract, if we sold him now we'd get that sort of fee for him, we want an upgrade, cost £15m-£25m for the next level, plus a minimum £3m per annum wages, it's all about cutting your cloth accordingly. I don't begrudge the lad a penny of it, he has moments of madness but does some great things too, most go either unnoticed or the haters refuse to admit it. We could get an upgrade on virtually every player in the squad but how much would that cost just in wages and signing on fees alone, even if they were freebies. Just think what you could do if you won £25m on the lottery, absolutely life changing for you friends and family, in football terms, it gets a half decent player.
Lets not forget that we already have Struijk, Koch and Cresswell waiting so no outlay for a replacement and a saving on his wages, we also have Aylings replacement that only cost us £1m, so by the time he moves Drameh will be the main man and already on the fringes of England U21 like Cresswell.
I forgot to include Bate in my earlier post about transitioning. Hopefully wont be too long before he can step up and get some first team experience.
