Good Morning. It's Wednesday 4th January, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road Leeds line up bid for Moroccan Midfielder Media reports from Italy are suggesting that Leeds are lining up a bid for Sampdoria midfielder Abdelhamid Sabiri. The Moroccan International is versatile, and can play as either an attacking midfielder or forward. He joined the Serie A outfit only twelve months ago for a fee of just €1m, and has played 25 times, scoring four times. After his impressive displays in Qatar, Sampdoria want around £8m for the 26yo, though it is believed that Leeds value him at £5m. Marsch is keen to find a replacement for Mateusz Klich, who is finalising a move to DC United this month. Lazio, Fiorentina and Torino have also expressed an interest in Sabiri please log in to view this image Saints striker back on Leeds radar Southampton's Che Adams is back on Leeds Utd's radar as the Whites go in search of a goalscorer. Everyone will remember the embarrassing fiasco, this time three years ago when they last made a beeline for the former Birmingham City frontman. Leeds refused to take no for an answer, and kept throwing offers at the Saints board, until they stopped taking Victor Orta's calls. Out of desperation, Leeds then turned their attention to Jean-Kevin Augustin, and we know how that ended.... Adams is 26, and has 18 months left of his five-year contract. What he lacks in natural ability he makes up in hard work. He puts himself around a lot, and is very much a team player. In 112 appearances Adams has netted 24 times, though we have to remember that distribution isn't their strong point. He has four goals and one assist in 14 starts, and two substitute appearances so far this season. A fee of around £15m should be enough to prise him away from St Mary's. please log in to view this image Must not lose tonight With only two points separating Leeds and West Ham, the result of tonight's game could have huge ramifications on both club's seasons. West Ham have lost five on the trot; only a superior goal difference keeps them above the drop zone. Should they lose tonight, David Moyes could be on his way. Leeds' are not much better off. Their home form (11 out of 16 points) has kept them afloat this season, but only just. Both clubs will look at this fixture as winnable, which heaps the pressure on both Marsch and Moyes. Would you settle for a draw tonight? please log in to view this image
I said on the match thread that it's a must not lose. We don't want to give West Ham a leg up. A win could potentially be season defining. It puts us well clear of the bottom teams and releases the pressure on the players going in to a run of winnable games. Lose and the pressure is ramped up and those same games become cup finals.
We definitely need more starters , whether Sabiri is good enough, I've no idea but he seems to fit our price structure. Adams looked a great prospect at Brum, never really lived up to the billing at Soton, whether that be the way he is used or he never had the ability to improve to the desired level but at £15m he is probably worth a punt, better value than the CDK's and Cunha's of this world , who are treble that price but are still only potential, CDK so far been very disappointing, at least Adams has the knowledge of the PL. Definitely a must not lose tonight, a win would give us a nice cushion from the bottom 3.
Morning all. If we can’t win tonight then we better get ourselves set for a similar battle to last season. A point at home is two dropped no matter who you are playing
I watched this video earlier... its the west ham presser but done after the newcastle game. A few papers have picked up on the 'hate my job' comments from Marsch. Thought it might prompt some debate. The comments were delivered with a wry smile buts its obvious he's feeling it. I suspect all managers feel this... it's unusual for someone to say it whilst in a job and i guess is part of marsch's 'open book' personality. I personally don't have a problem with the comments, though i'm sure some will feel he has a job loads of people would love, gets paid loads.. so if you don't like it fck off! What was noticeable to me, however, and more concerning was how drained he looked, he was nervous and fidgety, didn't look well. It's a post match presser and we'd been backs to the wall for a large chunk of the match, so maybe he was just knackered. Hey... form your own view:
As aside, before the WC,Marsch said something on the lines of, he was happy for the break, it would relieve some of the pressures and he needed a little break, taking his family to South America. During some of the pre WC games he did seem to be a man on the edge at times, seemed to try and lay any blame at the feet of certain players, the take the heat off himself,not to Heckingbottom levels but he was getting there, that starting little alarm bells going off in the back of my head, now wake up to read this, this morning. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/64156099 Edit, Milky beat me to what I was alluding.
Re the presser i just linked to... jesse quotes 'winnable games... if there is such a thing for us' ... and 'every game feels like a cup final' Are you Jesse in disguise?
I do think Marsch underestimated the standard over here. There aren't any **** teams. Southampton sit bottom of the league but would probably be top 10 in Italy, Spain, Germany.
I'm fast on the draw Gessa ... watch the link... it's more telling than the 'hate' click bait in my view
The "if there is such a thing for us" quote is worrying. I always feel we can get something out of any game. I posted above about the level of the PL. There are no bad teams. Every game is difficult. Look at Bournemouth at home, should be one of the easier fixtures of the season but they were brilliant on the counter that day. We were lucky to win it.
yeh i think he's said that himself... i guess as a manager you focus on your own teams and matches... you don't have a lot of time for watching other leagues in the kind of detail required. From my own limited sporting experiences i think it's difficult to sometimes assess quality between opponents when the opposition has a similar level... ie there's a cancelling out effect. The differentiator is often pace of the game, athleticisim. That's hard to see until you face it.
Morning all. I still think he is out of his depth, and now is realising that at last. Regarding tonight's game, its a must win IMO. A point would also be ok, but not ideal. A loss however could possibly be one of the nails in the coffin for Ted. On a different note, I frantically opened the BBC Sport app this morning and expected (wanted) to see a Fat Frank's been sacked story. Imagine my disappointment when there wasn't one.. ffs.. A final note, off topic. Did anyone watch the darts final last night? Wow! What a game that was!
At the top level it's mentality and capitalising on mistakes. Sometimes we are mentally fragile and I'd say we make more mistakes than any other team.
The pro I know who’s played in the top leagues, tells me it it’s a mix of things, but the primary difference at PL level v say league 1 is professionalism and attitude of the players. Not that the lower league guys don’t have a professional attitude, just they don’t live and breathe it 24/7. Obviously talent and athleticism is a given, but it was the major difference he noted. don’t disagree on the mental fragility either…
So Jesse hates his job, simple answer go get another but first learn when to keep your gob shut He finds life at LS11 stressful does he If we don’t win tonight he’ll really find out what stress is Wonder what the players think of his comments What about the stress levels of the fans Let’s all have a cry in for Ted
