Good Morning. It's Friday 28th October, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road Marsch gets his excuses in early During his pre match press conference, Leeds Manager Jesse Marsch disclosed that up to eight first team players could miss the trip to Anfield at the weekend due to injury. Gelhardt (knee), Rodrigo (groin), Sinisterra (ankle), Adams (calf) and Hjelde (illness) are all rated doubtful, whilst Captain Liam Cooper is also set to miss out following an injury to his buttocks (the mind boggles). Stuart Dallas is not expected back until the New Year, whilst we've all but given up on Adam Forshaw. Even the most optimistic Leeds fans will be dreading this one! According to Marsch “I’ll just start with the injuries. Stuart and Adam are still out, in addition questionable are Leo Hjelde with his appendectomy. And then Joffy, Rodri, Luis, Liam and Tyler are all a little bit in question, we will see how the next 48 hours goes for all those players. That’s it.” please log in to view this image Paying the price of loyalty According to Phil Hay, Leeds are now paying the price for being too loyal towards their 19/20 Championship winning squad. The former Chief Football writer for the Yorkshire Evening Post believes that Messrs Radrizzani and Bielsa should have been cut-throat in their recruitment decisions, following their promotion back to the top flight; instead of awarding new long term lucrative deals to sub-standard players. Although the Whites took the Premier League by storm the following season, finishing 9th, they were unable to maintain their high standards for long, and injuries soon started to take their toll as the players pushed themselves to their very limits. The brutal truth is that Marsch inherited an ageing squad of mostly knackered Championship standard players, who were past their best. Whilst this is not nice to hear, it's difficult to deny! “Leeds and Bielsa were loyal to their promotion squad but standing by it risked pushing it too far, which Leeds probably have,” “The failure to refresh, or refresh enough, meant that in the summer just gone, the transfer window called for a substantial refit, an overhaul that painted over the old design. “The club were not so much transitioning to Marsch as veering towards him.” please log in to view this image Bielsa on par with Revie Speaking at the Ole Sports Summit, Victor Orta has claimed that Marcelo Bielsa is on par with the great Don Revie for what they both achieved at Elland Road. It's fair to say that the Argentine made a massive impact, both at the club, and with its fans during his 3 1/2 year stay. The influence he has had on football can only be adorned by his knowledge of the game. He commanded respect wherever he went, without the need to demand it. Achieving promotion back to the top flight bought sixteen years of hurt to an end, but does this come close to what the Don achieved during his 13-year tenure? Eight trophies, including two Division One titles and an FA Cup. “(He left) an eternal legacy. I can’t add more. The greatest coach of the modern era, on a par with Don Revie, of the bygone era. He changed the history in every corner of the club: youth, the youth academy, the first team. We can only be grateful for all his work. “I took a gamble, because I believed in the way he understood his football and the way he could impact the whole club. I was right and I was able to convince the board of directors to hire him. From then on, we can only be grateful: the president himself is going to name the Ciudad Deportiva after him. From then on, every tribute will become small. “It’s difficult to detail (what he left behind). It’s more of an overall concept. We had a club model that was down here, he was up there and what he did was to bring us completely to his level. So, to put us at the level of the world elite, which is the Premiership. What else to add to that, when you drag a club up?” please log in to view this image
Morning all I bet Jesse is regretting passing judgement on the injuries we had with Bielsa. Another example of under estimating the rigours of the PL and the need for squad depth. We did great during the first season back so Phil Hay is once again spouting garbage, our best CB is arguably Cooper, Ayling is better than the new guy brought in at RB, it’s underwhelming under performing signings and a coach who’s utter useless as to why we’re in a mess Orta trying to big himself up with the capture of Bielsa and comparing him to Revie, it sounds like they’re all trying to save their asses
I wouldn't say Marsch is getting his excuses in early. Telling the press who's injured or doubtful for the next game is what every manager does isn't it ? Having said that I haven't seen the presser, only read about what he said and it didn't sound promising. I was a massive Bielsa fan and he's given me three years of some of the best football I've seen at Elland Road for decades. But comparing him to Revie is frankly ridiculous for obvious reasons. Orta's skating on thin ice with the fans there. Big up Bielsa by all means, but don't compare him to the legend that is Don Revie.
I don't think k it has anything to do with loyalty to the squad,it's more not wanting or being able to splash the cash.
The legacy was far from eternal. Every age group playing the same way, changing the setup from top to bottom, the training regime, the fitness levels etc. Within the space of six months that legacy was destroyed.
27 matches left....12 against the big boys,so on current form that leaves 15 to save our skin....9 points on board, the R word must be brought into the equation very,very shortly with nothing being learnt after last season's trap door escape.... people at the top need to clean their mirror's and have a good hard stare at themselves.....as for bielsa/revie the man has had to much sangria...clown
Morning all. Bielsa on a par with Revie, No. Did Orta ever watch much Video from back then, doubt it. Ill say no more as .Im finding the Leeds setup at present annoying to the point of putting me in bad form and no light at the end of the tunnel. Can't see myself sitting through this event tomorrow night as I absolutely detest everything about the Liverpool club
To be fair to vic… it’s really talking about the level of professionalism required. Amongst many other things, that’s what bielsa brought, a top to bottom optimisation of everything at the club. A legacy doesn’t require that everybody else that comes in does exactly the same thing. Just that the infrastructure and mindset remains. People say no one uses the marsch strategy but the same applies to what bielsa does. It’s not like any of it is a big secret… but no one in football tries to copy it. They take learnings from it. Not the same thing. As for training… more of the bielsa ‘same’ wasn’t really an option was it. The squad was physically and mentally burnt out last year. Bielsa fitness methods pushed the boundaries but in doing so, also put the objectives of the project ahead of long term player welfare. If you listen to his performance coach he indirectly says so. Some fans don’t want to hear it, but it’s the reality. Clearly we’re in sh*tsville now, but we were just in a different sh*tsville then.
Morning all. One big positive from last week was how creative Aaronson was playing a more central role which definitely brought out the best in him. Summerville also showed in his 26 minutes that he's got massive potential as an attacking player, with pace, trickery and an eye for goal. If we can defend properly, then maybe one of these two can nick something at the other end and give Liverpool a fright
Maybe just try not giving them 2 penalties in the first 10 mins then. If we're still in the game with 75 mins to go then surely that's a massive improvement ?
That's the spirit! Head in to the light @Jammy 07. Liverpool played away in Europe this week. They'll be tired. Last thing they want is Aaronson and co pressing the living daylights out of them. Some ****er has to score for us eventually and it might be this weekend.
Aaronson is a great prospect and is going to be worth a shed load very soon. What we need from him is to do what he normally does and score a few goals. So far he scored one but his average is around 8 per season, similar average to Harrison who is also not hitting the target this season yet.
Most positive news I have heard concerning Leeds in a couple of weeks is that Ollie Watkins could be on his way to ER and Villa will snap Orta’s hand off for £30m. New guy doesn’t rate him?
So when Jesse packs his bags this weekend… and trudges out of the door, can we look back and say… hey you were really really sh*t - but with Adams, Aaronson and Kristenson you had a two out of three transfer hit rate which is outstanding and way better than orta’s. How about vic out… and Jesse as DOF?
Maybe you've stumbled upon a solution that would suit all parties. Rather than sacking Jesse (and having a massive pay off) we move him upstairs to assist Orta and the board in general. Granted not as good as my idea of him coaching the womens team but you might be onto something Milky
It's positive that we're (allegedly) willing to spend £30M in January... Errr not the other bit though as Watkins is bang average at PL level.
