Good Morning. It's Thursday 2nd December, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road The quality has regressed - Hay Leeds are only two points worse off than what they were at this point last season, prompting many Leeds fans to reminisce of last seasons top half finish. The main difference between the comparisons comes down to goals. Whilst the defence is a lot more resolute, goals have been harder to come by this season (we had conceded ten more goals at this point last term but scored eleven more). Whilst much of this can be blamed on injury, Leeds have lacked a creative edge this campaign, as Phil Hay points out:- "The points comparison is right and a good point but there is a very stark difference between goals and creativity last season and this. The effort is still there, no question, but the quality has regressed. Staying up is the name of the game now though and last night was a very important result". please log in to view this image Struijk doubt for Brentford clash Pascal Struijk faces a spell on the sidelines following the ankle injury he picked up during Leeds 1-0 win over Crystal Palace midweek. The versatile defender was replaced at half-time by Junior Firpo whilst his injury was assessed by the Elland Road medical staff. Unfortunately, he has been unable to train since, and has joined Cody Dramah and Robin Koch on the treatment table. please log in to view this image No fall out between Phillips and Bielsa Elland Road journalist Phil Hay has assured Leeds fans that the relationship between Kalvin Phillips and Marcelo Bielsa is as strong as it's ever been. Several sources, including Sky pundit Jamie Redknapp insisted there was a rift between the duo following Phillips being hauled off at half-time at the Amex last weekend:- "To the initiated, Phillips in the thick of battle is not how a fall-out with Bielsa works. A fall-out with Bielsa looks like Pontus Jansson flogged to Brentford or Pablo Hernandez replaced by Jack Jenkins and then consigned to the bench for months". "Phillips started against Palace and began the night by going straight through Conor Gallagher, the midfielder who Bielsa placed at the top of his list of transfer targets in the summer. It was as robust a challenge as Phillips liking an Instagram post that accused Redknapp of knowing “f*** all” about the backdrop at Elland Road. Sometimes plain English is the answer to everything". please log in to view this image
Morning all Bielsa when asked about Firpo after the Palace game said he got better as the half progressed, he did enough to be considered for the next game. With Struijk out I would imagine it will be Dallas at RB, Firpo LB and Ayling on the bench. I think Brentford might be too soon for Ayling to do 90 minutes, Bamford did a 90 minute reserve game so he might be nearer to a start. In regards to being two points worse off, in December last year we picked up 9 points, I'd settle for 9 more points in December this year but I think that is a tall order. Last season it was the last 10 games where we excelled, 7 wins one draw and 2 defeats
Morning all Stats are king and can anyone think we will play worse for the next dozen games as we did in the first 12 games? I dont even though we have some tough games coming up. I expect us to have more points from the next dozen games than we picked upso far, which puts us in the realms of safety and no more panic. Yes injuries have had a massive impact on us and that affected creativity and chances created. Getting Ayling back with Raphinha will be fantastic and watch how our XG goes up. Sorting out the deficiencies on the LW will also help and having Paddy back up top too. Struijk will be missed but getting Firpo fired up and playing regular will help, plus we always have Dallas to go to LB. Drameh isnt injured he has had a knock but now back in full training, so we have options at RB until Ayling takes over again by Drameh and Shacks. Bench is now filling up with first teamers now and Koch should be back fully this month too
We have played the 5 teams below us. 4 of them away from home. We lost 1 game away at Southampton. We still have Norwich, Burnley, Newcastle, Southampton to play at ER. Watford away. We are doing OK given the circumstances we have had to deal with. Big game at the weekend though as I fully expect Brentford to be fighting down the bottom end come May.
Phil Hay is turning out to be the biggest clickbait red top journo on the interweb. He broke the story last summer that Barcelona had put a bid in for Rodrigo. He is now fanning those flames and creating a story which starts with “I dont see why Barcelona will not be back for Rodrigo…..” so hee has no facts and yet we all know Barcelona have no money for any new players except freebies and even then they still need to get their salary levels down in a big way before they can even add another freebie. So Phil please explain which players Xavi will be selling and where would Xavi play Rodrigo, would it be as a stand-in for Memphis maybe it will be a swap deal with Coutinio coming to Leeds. Phil you have started a story which will get lots of clicks but its based upon bollox
After assessing the general mood of negativity about our performances of late I've reached the conclusion that many on here just don't seem to understand the Premier League. The standard compared to the Championship is so much higher but yet the expectations of some are similar, expecting wins from the majority of our matches is unrealistic when the reality is a one point per game average keeps you in the league and that's the benchmark to begin from. Most clubs who finish mid table will win roughly one in every three games, which equates to about 12/13 wins for the season. Add on the draws and you get sufficient points to finish between 12th and 15th as shown last season by Newcastle, Wolves, Palace & Southampton who all won 12 games. Now ask yourself seriously how many wins were you expecting from our opening 14 fixtures ? Most would probably look at who've we've played and say 7 or maybe even 8 victories which would put us in the Top 4 and is that honestly realistic given the squad/players we have ?
Post of the day Backing this up we need to look at the players the top teams have and ask how many of our players would get into their teams. Be honest and you may get 1 in Phillip 2 with Raphinha. Which means the other 9 are not good enough. So playing with 9 players who are not good enough for the best teams and face it some of our players wouldnt get into any Prem team we punch above our weight, thanks to Bielsa
Top 4 no but with our defence so much better we could get to 7th if we could score more. I am hoping bamford is back soon. He can play a bit and helps out by tracking players and keeps the ball. Plus those runs he makes on the shoulders of the opposition would have seen us higher.
So we spent a lot of money on llorente, Rodrigo,James,Koch,meslier, Harrison and they wouldn't get in any prem team !!! Somebody has made a big goof then
Err pretty sure Doc said "some of our players" and not our best players. So plenty to go at I would have thought... Cooper Firpo Shaks Klich Tyler To name just a few possibilities.
Phil Hay now stating in the media that he “Has a hunch” that Bielsa will be leaving this summer. Phil fuk off and report news not views. Are things so bad that you resort to spewing gash
We've already got far too many ex players as pundits spreading absolute bollocks about our club everyday without a so called respected reporter adding fuel to the fire without using any journalistic craft.
