Afternoon all. Late night after the match last night but it was a great evening and just bloody nice to see us winning comfortably. No complaints from me as we did exactly what we needed to do and blew them away.
Overall thought Firpo had a good game. Understandably tired a little in the last 10mins but as he’d been bombing up and down the wing all evening I’m prepared to overlook any perceived errors at 5-0 up. What did you think from watching on TV ?
Just seen your comments on the other thread it would seem most people have made their minds up about Firpo and are not for changing no matter what he does.
A steward came from behind him to stop him and later he pushed one of them. Maybe it was the same one who looked to be over zealous.
Guess regarding Firpo people will always see what they want to see. First half and he’s on the edge of their box (right side) and tries to thread an intricate little pass through that goes wrong. The crowd groans and Firpo holds his head in his hands but I see a left back trying to be creative and doing something different. Second half and he showed great pace and energy getting forward all the time, as well as winning tackles and playing good possession football in tight areas….others see us conceding late on and immediately point the finger at Firpo even though Ayling should have dealt with the attack all day long.
It’s marsch’s fault firpo can’t defend though surely? Good to see the players ignoring Jesse’s instructions and doing their own thing to go 5-0 up, before returning to his game plan and fckg up
My honest assessment of Firpo from last night? Thought he started well. First 20 minutes or so he did well. I think he started to unravel earlier than you though. I wasn't really paying attention to Firpo himself but was trying to gauge Wober as it was his first start. Therefore I inadvertently had that left side of defence on my mind all game. My conclusion on Wober was that I thought he read the game quite well and that he was very aggressive in his decision making and also his tackling. Then it became apparent that the decisions he had to make were largely at left back. He had to constantly cover the whole of the left side of defence on his own and at times he had to dive in and give fouls away or pray to God that the ball didn't somehow bounce Cardiffs way. That in turn made me wonder where the **** the left back was. Usually 5 seconds or so later Firpo would trundle in to the picture. So what I did then is ask myself whether Llorente had the same issue with Kristensen so started watching that side. Seemed to me that Kristensen was busting a gut to get back because not only was he offering a threat in attack he rarely left Llorente exposed. I don't know that was a tactical thing or not but the good thing for me was seeing Wober put under pressure and have to make decisions. He didn't get it right all the time but he seems an old fashioned centre half. I reckon he'll get a suspension or two a season but he'll let the man go past, he might let the ball go past but he won't let the ball and the man go past together. Attacking wise, I've always said that Firpo looks useful and he tries to pick difficult passes which os to be applauded. I just wish he could defend.
My honest opinion of Firpo is I groan inside every time his name is on the team sheet. He has had some howlers for us and, mixed with a good sprinkling of injuries has never truly got going. The problem is, he is now battling fitness, trying to find form and fan opinion which he must know is skeptical at best. Apart from glimpses, I have never truly been won over by Rodrigo until this season and wouldn’t have batted an eyelid if he had left for a reasonable fee in any of the last 4 transfer windows. This season, he has been sensational and proved me wrong (although I still suspect he and Bamford are not best mates so will be interested to see how that pans out). Was going to post last night I thought Firpo played really well (compared to the pretty low bar he has set) and saw he was slaughtered on here so kept my counsel because I wanted to see what Jammy thought. Not necessarily because I think he is the expert but, he goes to every game, I know he understands the game having spent many hours with him but, crucially, he doesn’t base his assessments on favourites. So, I thought Firpo was decent and can’t see the value in our own fans making it harder for him to prove that he has just had a very tough start in a very uncompromising league. Also, whether you are a Bielsa disciple, Jesse fan or just Leeds fan, since he has arrived both have tried to play him when available even when their own necks are on the line which either makes them stupid or him better than I have given him credit for. Having said all of that, I wouldn’t cry if he left next week
I did see Firpo play for Betis years ago and I've said a few times on here that when he signed I thought he'd be great. He looked a proper beast at Betis. Somewhere along the line he's gone backwards. As an attacking threat I actually don't mind him. His defending is about as bad as I've seen and his positional awareness has not improved. I'd forgive him a bit if I saw him go down with cramp or had to come off cos he'd run his race but he just doesn't seem to work hard enough. I'd have to bow down to Jammy's view on that as he's watched it live last night but certainly the few times I've watched him live he's been very lacklustre. Sometimes it just doesn't happen for a player at a club and I think with Firpo that it's one of those situations. A bit like Marsch I suppose. He isn't Bielsa, his results haven't been great and the fans are quick to turn.
I too didn’t think Firpo had that bad a game as some on here have said. I don’t see how it’s helpful having the crowd make his head drop every time there is a small mistake that just makes him more nervous. He’s certainly no world beater but if people are blaming anyone other than Ayling for that first goal then they need to give their heads a shake. It wasn’t a difficult a cross to clear. Felt sorry for the bloke watching alongside me, he had Leeds to win 5-0 at 33/1. Should have cashed out as we never keep a clean sheet
Until we sign someone better, he is our **** so, I for one will be willing him on to prove me wrong every time he pulls on the shirt in the meantime
Being a Firpo defender (it is a shame that he isn't) I think he's more suited to LWB because he can pick a pass and does overlap. I don't think he has much pace so getting back must be a problem but the biggest problem I saw with him last night was his positioning. He was very often in no man's land, he invariably wasn't wide enough to challenge for the ball played to the winger and his challenge once he got there was poor. In his defence he doesn't go to ground but is easily beaten anyway. I think with Wober covering him he looked better, once Llorente moved over he was exposed.
