We're not playing with much width, but maybe the full backs can add the width, or maybe Ajose should be playing. Either way, a 1-1 draw wasn't too bad.
I thought this square ball routine particularly in the first half was rhe wrong thing to do we lacked any sort of penetration having our first shot after 35 minutes we allowed Shea far too much room and but for the fact that Silvestri was alert we would have handed the game to the home team At half time Redders should have realised his tactics were wrong and substituted what was an ineffective formation alright saying we bossed the midfield but where did it get us?nowhere, we need to have crisp passing penentrating their defence not simply square ball square ball tactics totally negative in my opinion Arter 65 minutes he decided to do something about it and bring some muscle into playat last we looked like we could at least cause them some problems Cook played well I thoght and Silvestri was ever alert the rest were non descript Bellusci was not alert for their goal having place himself at the wrong side of the attacker Mowatt ahd a poor first half and I for one would have taken him off at half time so he redeamed himself Anderotti or whatever his name is got caught at least 8 times in an offside position this must be worked on Sharp had no service and so my conclusion is scrap the diamond lets hope its not forever as we will lose more than we win using it Cellino if you want to get a loanee in get young Gray from Brum what a star hes going to be he tore us apart with his pace!When loan expires buy him!
Yesterday was the first time i have seen the new look Leeds, here are a few points i picked up on, and in my eyes we have to improve. Right Back, was asleep for there goal, basic defending not being goal side of the attacker, also gave the ball away far too often. Striker, hope this Montenegro has something about him, as Antenucci is not going to get us goals. Midfield, hope the Brazilian wonderboy is going to shine, as we did have the majority of possession but never penetrated their defence, needs someone to be creative, hope he is the one!! Had to be pleased with a point, but this was not a good Birmingham side, time will tell.
no, austin was brought in to add pace and power to the attack along with Doukara. He was well forward and in the same sort of role as Sloth played in. It actually worked though because we did start carving some chances so there is definitely no complaints from me about that sub. Fullbacks can add width and they are an important part of the attack but they are normally arriving from deep. its always nice to have a man wide high up the pitch and then still get the full back overlapping. We've got the players in the squad to play with good width. Sloth seems to naturally roam anyway so I would personally like to see a similar formation to what we played under Grayson or even the sort of formation that Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool play with these days which is very effective going forward. Perhaps playing Montenegro, Sloth and Adryan playing behind a lone striker (Doukara would probably be my option) and then they can easily rotate also, would make us a hell of a lot more unpredictable going forward imo.
About the lack of penetration lads, I think we need to remember how a team is actually built. It needs to be built gradually and from the ground up, gets the team passing the ball properly and keeping possession successfully and the creativity will start to come, I was more concerned with the lack of interaction between the midfield and the strikers which is imo. the main reason we are missing McCormack currently. I'm sure it will come. And despite it not being the best performance we have had I do actually start to believe in this team after it which I didn't really before. We could seriously build a really really good team from these youngsters that will last for a long time to come.
Have to disagree Josh, I don't think we have the players in the squad to play with good width. Ajose is not a natural winger, he has neither the pace or the ability to get to the byline and put crosses in. He's a striker being forced to play wide, a la Welbeck. Not a natural winger. Doukara looks like he's going to be the same, a striker being forced to play wide. Montenegro may be the answer but from what little I've heard he is, again, predominantly a striker who has been forced to play wide in his career. Asking strikers to play wide means they will inevitably come inside, congesting the middle of the pitch even more and riding us of an outlet. Other than Aidan White (god help us!) I can't see any other options out wide. Pushing Byram up into midfield could be an option, but I really don't like the look of Berardi at RB...
Exactly, as recently as three weeks ago w e were bossed by Bradfud. We can't turn into Barcelona inside three weeks. I think some if you have short memories or unrealistic expectations. We need some time to blend and gel that's all.
Just some points... Formation - We keep blaming the coaches, McDermott, Hockaday and now Redfearn, I am convinced that Cellino is the guy dictating the formation. Passing and Penetration - I have to agree with Josh and Chippy, it will start to come, yesterday was the first time in 18 months that I have seen a Leeds team which looks like it will actually get better and develop in the right direction. When the season started I would have bet money on us being relegated, several signings later and we are looking promising. A solid looking foundation that needs to bed in, look at where the weaknesses are and where improvements are required and who knows, next season we could be 2 signings away from a promotion challenging team. A shame this group of players were not all in place for a full pre-season together or we might just have pulled off a surprise this year.
Good arguments from all, here's what I saw: Brum signed an out and out winger in Shea, and Berardi was isolated against him, and lucky for us Shea is average otherwise we would have suffered ... all a winger asks for is space and to be one on one with the full back, and Shea got this at will ... once again the lack of width meant Brum had an out ball every time, and their wide men had acres of space to travel into with the ball ... easy to relieve pressure and build attacks ... we were constantly trying to build from deep, which meant slow build up play and therefore Brum could organise their shape and blunt our attacks ... Berardi is a good player, but just like Byram in previous games, he was far too often left facing two men running into his channel ... this two men attacking us wide then allowed their wingers to drift infield into space, as Shea showed when he had the freedom of St Andrews to fire in a bullet that fortunately for us went straight at Silvestri ... we need wide men to keep the opposition full backs honest, and to work back and help the full backs, rather than committing a centre back to drift wide to cover and thus exposng the penalty area to midfield runners Mowatt was shocking in the first half, off the pace by a distance, couldn't keep the ball, and although he scored and started to play in the final ten minutes, he needs to have a good look at his performance and step up from the off ... Sloth is a player, but the diamond restricts both him and Bianchi badly, passing options are usually well marked and the middle of the pitch is congested ... Cook is wasted as a defensive midfielder, this kid can play, and I would swap him and Bianchi around as Cook will happily go past players and create space for others to get into Austin, oh Austin ... some people feel he was great and made a difference, and its easy to think that in a turgid game ... I say he came on with Doukara and they had the opportunity to run at a rapidly tiring Brum midfield that started to lose its shape ... Austin was still all hustle and bustle as we know, but jeez, he once again underlined his lack of quality and composure ... he had two opportunities to set up the win and he messed up badly, the glaring one being the three on three break at the death when we should have gone and won it Our forwards must be the most frustrated players in football ... this was a fragile Brum defence, and they showed it towards the end when they were all at sea, yet once again we struggled to create anything at all for the front two ... it's difficult to assess our strikers when they are forced to run and run with no killer pass coming into the box As it stands, it doesn't matter if Adryan or Montenegro starts, or if we play Ajose in goal, the diamond is simply too predictable to defend against, and it creates so much space out wide for opponents to play into ... our formation stifles us, and let's face it, Brum and Bolton were poor teams we should have hammered, but our lack of width made both games very hard work ... take all your notes on the diamond Mr Coach and Mr Cellino and burn them, it will hurt us in the Championship where 4-4-2 trumps it most of the time and even the poorest of teams can relieve any pressure and drive us deep into our own half Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
You don't need the natural wingers for width, we have enough creativity there. As long as players are allowed to express themselves and are free to roam which is what I have heard of Adryan and Sloth clearly enjoys doing the same as well. You still have the fullback overlapping as I say but this would let us stretch the opposition more. Currently we are very very narrow, thats the issue imo. Not necessarily someone to beat their full back and whip crosses in as you think of when you think of traditional wingers (which would be nice also but thats another entire discussion).
oh and did anyone else notice the bolshi steward who jumped over the hoardings and ran onto the pitch to stop Mowatt celebrating with the Leeds fans? The lads should have run straight over the idiot Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Normally the match would look better when I have a few on me, the fact that it didn't means it was bad. I don't care if we pass or hoof as long as we get a result. Birmingham were shocking. Jackie Charlton said what's the point in passing the ball 30 times to get in the box when 1 will do.
All very good & interesting points, chaps. We're deffo a work in progress, and need a Head Coach appointed asap so we can sort out the way forward. I'd like to mention 2 more points that I feel are relevant. 1. Full backs. Warnock seems to be collecting all the praise this season, but there's a very good reason for this. He doesn't go forward as often as our RB, whomever he may be, meaning we are more often exposed on our right side. This has not gone unnoticed by teams we've played to date, and they've exploited it. Not sure if it's a deliberate plan, or if it's just that Warnock is making sure his legs last until full time. Either way, it's a problem, and I think it's unfair to criticise Byram/Berardi/Wooton for being exposed so often - they could hang back too & look more solid. We need legs at LB. time for Taylor to shine, I think. 2. Another trait I noticed yesterday was that we pulled everyone back for set pieces & when we were getting overrun. Fine for getting the ball, dreadful for being able to do anything with it once it was won. How many times was Silvestri looking for an out on the halfway line, only to find no-one was there. We've got to get back into the habit of making sure that at least 1 player is always available for the breakaway. When was the last time we surprised a team with a breakaway? Can't recall. We just bore them to death by playing keepball in our own half until they reform. Surprise is essential in this game, and we've forgotten how to do it.
We have nobody in the squad (who I've seen) who is prepared to run at a defender and beat them. Doukara has pace and power but from what little I've seen of him, he'd be wasted out wide. We don't need traditional wingers per se, but I don't think strikers being forced to play wide is going to help us. Not only does it restrict them and their abilities, it means they're not going to be comfortable doing the extra defensive work required. We're getting exposed so often down the flanks, especially down the right. Byram and Berardi always push on so we have literally no protection down the right hand side, and down the left Warnock overcompensates for the lack of protection by staying back as often as he can. We're unbalanced and being exploited too easily. I hope Adryan turns out to be great for us, but I think he's subject to hyperbole based on his nationality. Yes he's young, but what has he done in his career? Tim Vickery from the BBC (who has probably seen far more of him than any of us) doesn't seem too impressed, although admits he does still have potential. Even if he does come good, I doubt he's going to adjust immediately, so to expect our creativity and penetration issues to be solved by his emergence borders on naivety. You say we have enough creativity there, but I'd argue we're not creating enough opportunities - 13 shots on target in 6 league games is appalling. We have the lowest shots per game average in the division. To me that says we're definitely not doing enough to get the strikers into goalscoring positions, and so much of that is down to the fact when they do get the ball, they've still got the entire defence in front of them.
hey Jock, flipping superb points made bud ... and kiwi, spot on with the lack of players attacking opponents with the ball ... Cook at U18 level relished this, and would often drive past midfielders into the hole and cause panic, and he also often carried on his run once he laid off the ball to get himself beyond the strikers, something we lack badly right now ... opponents are allowed to defend on the edge of their area as we try and pass our way through the centre, rarely do we turn defenders to face their own goal Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Precisely the problem. I really think Cook is wasted in the holding role - he really has the potential to do so much more - but Cellino went out and signed four central playmakers and neglected to sign a more defensive minded player to fill that position. A waste of his qualities.
Zac Thompson is a defensive minded midfielder, would've thought he'd be perfect for that role. Certainly better than Austin, who's more suited to AM
Did I not just say that we don't need wingers that can run at and beat a defender? Imo. thats not what we are lacking and not really in style with our game plan either. And just to add also, Doukara is known as a player that can play either upfront or out wide. Montenegro is known as a winger who can play upfront, Adryan is best suited to behind the striker or on the left. Its not like we are the first ones to play them out wide or anything. And plus, if you include all these players as strikers, we have 8 in the squad and not all of em will play upfront regardless. What I want to see is a more roaming formation with players starting up high and wide and cutting in when they please, still allowing the fullbacks to run outside them. From what I have seen there are a few players in our squad who are capable of that and I've also heard Adryan and Montenegro are as well.
On Cook, I think he has done very well in the holding role and it was a problem position before. Not saying he couldn't be more effective further forward but there's no need to rush him in there, its not where we need him. At the moment he has no pressure to create and gives the odd glimpses of class with the ball and I would keep it that way.
It's not in style with the game plan, I agree. But we're not getting enough chances or creating enough opportunities, and we're begging for somebody to run at or beyond defenders and stretch teams. We have none of that. Wide players with pace will enable us to do that. Hate to say it, but if we are going to persist with the diamond formation, we should take a leaf out of Van Gaal's book. That's how you utilise the formation properly. Didn't need natural width to attack teams and cause them problems.
