I agree on the performance analysis and even in the last few games we threw away 6 points. I also agree that a fir amount of the passing looked like it was made by players who were just trying to get rid of the ball - they were scared to e in possession. We were very much a confidence team before Bielsa - as soon as we had a set back heads dropped and we folded. Under Bielsa we found resilience and battled to the end of every game. Post his leaving we've reverted to being fragile but I don't know what the root cause is - a certain group of players, uncertainty over team styles, the lack of an obvious captain or what.
What is imperative is, that we get in a quality coach/manager asap with pre-season & full season ahead of them, with the balls to drop Bamford if his misfiring continues,and anyone else for that matter who are not up to scratch, the board to sanction an all out promotion push with a proven quality striker at this level, what about this guy, would cost but would be more than worth it Chuba Akpom from Middlesborough, see link for quality finishing, or Gyokeres from Coventry we would have to dig deep and pay the rate for under contract quality strikers, but if we have ambition it must be done. Also a quality captain as their must be someone out their. then we might just might be looking to bounce straight back.
I actually thought we were fragile under Bielsa too. We should have been promoted that first season, we were easily the best team in the league. Topped every stat, started finding ways to lose games after Christmas. But yeh it is hard to pin down mate. The psychology of team sports is complex. How winning and losing become habits, in football in particular... a high chance but low scoring sport. Villa a great example this season. Poor under Emery to begin with, kept spawning results - our game being a prime example. Eventually they start playing really well.
With Bielsa he made the players want run through walls to please him, the players loved him even when not getting a game. The same players wouldn’t walk through a puddle for any of the 4 that followed.. we needs an inspiring coach
Unfortunately he was too loyal to certain players when we needed a refresh but the football at times was breathtaking to watch.
Id agree with all that. Unfortunately it looks like you can only squeeze so much out of a player and for so long. Every system has its failings and probably reason Bielsa never won a lot of silverware in his career was an unwillingness to develop a plan b. But he brought so much more to the club though. For a couple of years we were respected in the world of football and we could dare to dream of what might be
In case any of you were wondering how your former great leader was getting on, he’s back twittering Tweet has been deleted but this is what it was
I think your last couple of points are particularly relevant to our demise. I do think there were players in groups and as individuals just not putting a shift in due to something going on behind the scenes. We also needed and still do a captain to drive performance on the pitch.
Lee Utd spot on that Coming season should hopefully see Cooper gone and if Adams is still with us he should be skipper, if not Cresswell and Imdont care how young he is he’s the loudest and most committed player on the pitch whoever’s playing
We need Wober, Cresswell and two others. Cooper could be one of the two, but not an automatic starter.
How many injury spells had cooper last season. Four maybe. Extra eight games this time around. Lot to expect him to contribute a lot
The one player who actually cares about the club you want binned. He may not play all the games, but I personally think if used right that he could do a job for at least one more year in the Championship, as for Adams I think he's on his bike unfortunately.
Cooper is a decent Championship defender, he has experience of what it takes to win promotion and he’ll get away with a lot more as we won’t have VAR It’s a long season, we need depth, we will not get a more affordable option than keeping cooper for another year
If Cooper was a good skipper he would have kicked the shyt out of that dressing room. He was silent, hidden from view and not a skipper. I always thought he bled Leeds but he was invisible this season. He always injured and the last 2 seasons have coincided with our worst seasons for years. Sorry no confidence he can still do it, never mind the injuries it’s the penalties he gives away too
According to Footie Stats he’s given one penalty away in the last three seasons, I’m sure Aski will correct that if it’s wrong
Just based on Premier league games, best to worst on penalties conceded by our defenders Llorente - 51 Games, 0 Penalties conceded Kristensen - 25 games, 0 penalties conceded Cooper - 64 games, 1 penalty conceded Firpo - 43 Games, 1 Penalty conceded Koch - 73 Games, 2 Penalties conceded (average 1 every 36.5 games) Ayling - 93 Games, 3 Penalties conceded (average 1 every 31 games) Struijk - 85 Games, 3 Penalties conceded (average 1 every 28.3 games) Wober - 16 Games, 1 Penalty conceded
Cooper can't even train through the week never mind play Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday every week. Cooper was part of that failure of a 'leadership group' which included Rodrigo, Ayling and Bamford. Get em out, there's no room for sentiment this summer.
