In a different universe Javi Gracia gave Georginio Rutter his head and told him to go smash it. The result was Gracia is still at Leeds and we are still in the prem. I remember reading some stuff from back in March and April 2023 where Gracia states that Rutter is a genius on the ball and going to have a massive future in the game. I looked back at these articles and they just made me want to smack Gracia I then found pieces of an interview from a few weeks ago in the South American sports media, where he says my biggest regret was not picking Rutter and giving him time to do his thing. He now feels Rutter could have been the difference. I remember the first time Gracia started with Rutter and it was I think March down at Fulham a mid week cup game. Fans were not very nice to him and he was getting the blame because he was a waste of money etc. that kid under so much pressure gave us a glimpse of what could be. He scored a good goal that was ruled out but after the match it was agreed to have been a good goal. That goal would have put us 0-1 up. He was creating chances and scaring the Fulham defence to death. Their keeper pulled off a worldy and Rutter hit the post and crossbar. He then gets subbed and we ended up losing again. Gracia lost his job, fat Sam comes in and all he and mates did was demean Rutter, relegation and more gobbing off from fat Sam. wonder what would have happened if Rutter had been trusted? I remember at the time Rutter was topping data and stats for every league in Europe as only 2nd in running and ball carry to Mbappe, that out him ahead of Messi, Olmo and countless other world class players. Another player Leeds were trying to sign was teammates with Rutter in the French U21s, Kalimuendo. The young PSG player said Rutter was the scariest thing he’d seen. So it makes you wonder or did you have your mind already made up about him being a waste of money?
We lined up Jesse as he was a tweaked version of Bielsa, we gave him a lot of spending money as he couldn’t actually coach the players we had, that’s where it all went wrong
And his tactics were nothing like Bielsa who liked to play wingers, Jesse was the complete opposite and wanted to play narrow. Have to wonder what Orta was watching if he tracked him as long as he said he had.
Rutter was THAT good that he scored 6 goals in 57 appearances. That's nowhere near Messi level or "the scariest thing" someone has seen. He was good at Championship level. That much he has proven. He wasn't quite good enough to get us promoted though. Also, Jesse didn't spend lots of money. He had his best two players sold after narrowly avoiding relegation WITH Raphinha and Phillips. He had to reinvest that money to build a squad which had been very small under Bielsa. The injuries during that 2nd season in the PL were the reason we were in the relegation battle. That's firmly on Bielsa wanting a small squad.
All a moot point as neither are at the club but we will never know whether Bielsa would have kept us up as the injury situation eased because the club baled on him at the first sign of a difficult situation. Jesse might well be an excellent coach despite giving the impression of being completely incompetent, but he should have insisted on moving out our wingers and bring in players that suited his style of football. I’m trying to remember if any of the players brought in for him turned out to be a resounding success (I am getting old so I could have forgotten one or two).
So he spent £35 million. 105 million in. 140 million out. 35 million isn't alot in the PL. Certainly on a rebuild.
Oh disrespecting the messiah will get you blind loyalty abused. I would have sacked Bielsa after he refused a bigger squad while still stating the same players would not reproduce the same form.
Rutter failed to get us up last season and his goal tally is pathetic. He is just a show pony and the 49ers have banked a good profit as he will be yesterday's man at the bumboys.
My opinion on Archie Gray is he is nothing special. Caught out at fullback far too often and i thought him a less than average midfielder. He may improve but i have no interest in him now. We has Spurs pants down with the hype about him. Can't fault the 49ers on the player sales and i am giving them time this season.
You cannot say Rutter wasn’t any good. Not because he wasn’t but all Leeds players must be criticised for being rubbish after they’ve left
Quite the opposite. Players seemed to be remembered as better than they were after they left imo. Must have not remembered last season correctly as we must have won the league with the superstars Summerville, Rutter, Kamara and Gray. Someone was saying the other day that the French think Cresswell is the next Maldini after one game and that Dramah was mistreated because of how good he is. Rutter and Summerville went AWOL when it mattered most. I'm not saying they are poor but I reckon there are players out there capable of getting us up.
Wakey isn’t wrong with his analysis because it’s all true especially on Archie. For me rein lies the problem with FARKE because he preffered to play a 17yo kid out of position before playing an established RB who showed he was streets ahead of Archie in that role. Yes the kid had a few good games at RB but he was made to look silly when playing against top LW types and was caught out of position a lot. Rutter was never a No9 but he should have scored a lot more than he did, but his creativity should have had him playing at 7,9,10 or 11 instead of Piroe. Someone mentioned earlier that FARKE set his team up perfectly against Norwich in play offs and it was brilliant to watch, so wtf did he squander that against Southampton. Farke had just seen his season implode and then for some reason pick up for that match and then inexcusably let it collapse again in the final. How can a whole team be uninspired for a final and especially one that would make all of them legends. Rutter never came back fit from his op, and some who had played constantly may have been tired but……
This constant theme of being tired. So tiredness caught up with them in the run in, they were then fresh as daisies for the Norwich playoff games, then tired for the final against Southampton? Maybe they just bottled it under pressure?
Would ANY coach have dropped Georginio for the play offs? He looked way off the pace in the run in. Who would have played in his place? Piroe? Gelhardt? Imagine the uproar. Alot of people seem to be glazing over the fact that we equalled the winning run in the Championship without conceding a shot at goal. It wasn't broken all season. Southampton, Ipswich and Leicester all had bad spells during the season too. Ours was just badly timed.
Cannot fault that view Emu. It was great even through the difficult summer for FARKE. It got better and better and we were top of the league and we beat Ipswich and Leicester home and away so we’re odds on for winning the league or autos. I and others argued that some players were overused and needed a rest but he didn’t he just carried on and then the International break saw some of our players used again and after Easter we were shyte, so who’s fault was that. Rutter needed dropping, Archie was 17yo and needed managing properly. The manager fooked up and cost us promotion either by his shockingly poor tactics, his team selections, his substitutions and wrong timings of subs. Nobody is taking any blame for that abortion from Easter onwards and then the 49ers give a big speech about sticking with FARKE, backing FARKE and he will get us promoted this season. If we lose tonight watch the fans turn, even a draw won’t be happy clappy fans. I suggest tonight’s game is the toughest FARKE has ever had
We couldn't drop Archie after Easter because Roberts came back from Wales with an ankle injury that needed to be managed. I agree that Rutter needed resting in the run in due to his op but there was nobody else to play at 10. Hindsight is a wonderful thing but at the time I think the vast majority of fans would have done something very similar to what happened.
Was Byram injured at the same time as Roberts, could Ampadu or Rodon not been rested for at least a game when we had Cooper and Cresswell available. His treatment of Cresswell was a joke and shows him for the stubborn dick he is. Anthony could have given a rest to Summerville especially in some of the games we should have won and didn’t, which ultimatley cost us promotion. Plymouth, Preston, Huddersfield for a start imagine getting max points from those three games alone. We have only won 2 games from the last 12 and one of those was Norwich so look at all those points dropped from the others.
