Wood is just not a naturally gifted footballer. Take Viduka for instance, another lump, but had the ability. Sheringham, another big lump, but as people rightly said, he had it upstairs to make up for a lack of a yard or two. I think we should cash in on Wood if we have the opportunity.
Keep your players , ditch Monk but keep his staff and let Clotet run the team . Maybe Monk can pull out of this but I've a bad feeling
Monk can be blamed for a lot of things (although its all Cellinos fault) but signing wood he is not guilty although if it was up to the courts to decide Cellino would probably lose
Yes, know how much it hurts. Can't begin to tell you the respect I have for all of you that always go, the club would die without you. Always said to billy (who's posts I really enjoy). It's all based on hope. So is this reality for the season or early days as the team gells
It's not wrist slashing time just yet guys. Look at Newcastle finding out what life is all about in the Championship. It doesn't help us that we practically have a new team trying to gel again and our umpteenth new manager/coach. I just hope Monk is serious with his 'take no prisoners' spiel. Players who don't want to be here should be shipped out. Players who can't give 100% effort even if they don't have a lot of natural ability need to be shown the door. We have heard all this before though. It's a bit like McDermott widening the training pitch and and a few other little token gestures. If the players can't by their own admission string a 2 yard pass together, then just maybe they shouldn't be playing for Leeds or maybe the coaches need to pull their finger out as well and take some responsibility. Anyway, early days and time to put things right.
Sorry monk(ey) you pick the team and the tactics, You've bought players,but maybe the team talk about desire etc should be before kick off.
Leeds captain Sol Bamba has called for the club to bring in players “everywhere” across the team. Let's start at CB replacing a guy who (by his own admission) can't pass a ball 2 yards.
Match thoughs: Green: Been given a chance, but hasn't taken it. Sadly, I think Monk will persist with him. I honestly believe Silvestri can do a better job than him, faults and all. Also offers more potential. Personally, I'd put Turnbull in on Tuesday & see how he goes. Can't be any worse. (Silvestri has been injured & returns to training on Monday, so can't consider him). Ayling: Did ok. Can't really fault him other than a general FB comment I'll make later. Pass marks. Bamba: How much for a Mafia hit? Bartley: Much more like captain material than Bamba. Did the simple thing well. Can't ask more of a CB. Pass marks. Taylor: Think we would have got a better performance out of Taylor Swift. His head's gone & body is just going through the motions. Their 1st goal illustrated this perfectly (covered later). Sacko: Energetic, fast, linked up well (in the first half), had his moments, and of course, scored. Pass marks. Viera: Has lost his confidence, I think. Did not too bad, but not good enough. Needs direction from an experienced DM like Diagouraga. Return to U23s or loan required. Hernandez: Brilliant 1st half, but fairly anonymous in the second half. Saying that, though, he probably offered more creative spark than anyone else in the second half. Some of his passing didn't make it, as he doesn't know player capabilities yet. Example is that a number of passes failed to get to Mowatt as he was too fcuking slow to run on to them. Mowatt: I wouldn't say he ran the show in the first half, but he did play a significant part in it. Cost us 2nd goal (will explain later). Lumbered more & more as game progressed. Knackered mentally & physically. No surprise he was hooked. Antonsson: Played well, & I get the feeling he'll get better as he settles into this league & gets to know the team around him (and dare to dream - possibly a partnership?) Wood: Asked to play a totally different game today & wasn't up to it. Supply wasn't what he's used to (will explain later). Subs Roofe: Lively & threatening when he came on. Lots of aggression, but his passing was right off. Some of it was absolutely awful. Phillips: Provided a surge of energy & enthusiasm for his 20 mins. Was clearly brought on to win ball & did. Thought he was getting a red with a cruncher of a tackle that Billy would have been proud of. Guy was on the deck getting treatment for a full 5 minutes. Not even a yellow! Loved it! Dallas: Only on 5 mins, so unfair to comment. Oh bugger it, why not - don't think he deserved to come on, & did nothing to convince me otherwise. Goals 1st: Last season, Taylor would have prevented this. Think he was working out his new wages instead of doing his job. Certainly wasn't concentrating, and wasn't too swift with his sprinting either. Ended up on wrong side of goalscorer & simply failed to do his job. Was it deliberate? I wonder .... 2nd: Didn't catch it at the game, but watched the highlights over & over. Mowatt was marking the goalscorer. Stood & watched him running into space. Totally lost concentration. Not for the first time. Tactics Well, we all knew it was going to be 4-4-2, but there was more to it & I haven't quite worked it out yet. I think it's too coincidental for it to be anything but intentional, for I cannot recollect a cross from either of the FBs. I mentioned this quite early in the game to those around me & we kept an eye out for it. Not sure what was going on, but one casualty was Wood. We've changed his natural game to make him play up front on his own, and expect crosses to be put in by the FBs. They didn't, so he had to go looking. Ayling often came forward, but cut inside. No desire to hit the byeline. Taylor seemed to hug the touchline, but again, didn't hit the byeline. He only seemed to go halfway into the opposition's half & no further, á la Ian Harte in his day. If it was a Rosler-like defensive ploy, it didn't work. Perhaps someone who is more tactically astute can explain it all to me. Monk's post match comments We've had a number of posts about a number of his comments, so I won't duplicate. What I will say additionally is that it became fairly clear that Diagouraga, Doukara & Murphy are on the way out. Perhaps he was speaking out of turn as he was so angry, but it sounded pretty clear. Which is quite a discussion point on its own, considering the widespread belief that we need more experience in MF - and here we are getting rid of 2 of our most experienced MF players. Either he's got new signings lined up, or he plans to prune an over-depleted squad even further!
I agree with a majority of your comments Jock, From a keeper's point of view, Green stayed on his line instead of coming out to collect the ball as it come over; I think Green has no confidence and his reflexes/reactions are too slow, quicker Silvestri comes back the better. Bamba, mmmmmmmmmm, get rid of Bellusci and keep Bamba, big big big mistake, also times like this we needed to keep Bianchi, he was a marshall in midfield. Agree about Antonsson, he'll get better and better as he gets his eye in and gets use to at least having Hernandez close to him, anyone else is up in air at moment. I think Woods days are numbered, about time too, he doesn't have the football brain that Antonsson and Roofe have, but even Roofe needs to pick it up, even though he's at a higher level now. Hernandez seems on a higher level compared to rest, it's the rest that can make Hernandez look mediocre at times as their brain ain't operating on same level. I think we need to keep Duke based on his performances at latter part of last season, he gets involved and can create problems for opponents defences. Good write up Jock.....
Nice one Jocko ... the cautious full backs would have been to look after Brum's counter attacking game, which is how Rowett sets them up, and lo and behold they go and open the scoring on the counter ... key thing is that EVERYONE in the team has to do their jobs to stop being picked off when losing the ball high up the field, clearly everyone didn't ... Monk's point about "growing up" is correct, because players need to stand up and be counted in this league, and Phillips putting his foot in may well have been an instruction from a frustrated Monk to get on and show the rest what needs to be done ... yes, Murphy and Diagouraga may well be "experienced" players, but it doesn't mean they are good players, and the truth may be that Monk has seen a flaw in their attitudes ... Monk wants a player he knows will work hard, be calm and do the job he's trusted to do, and in Ayling, Bartley and Hernandez he has signed exactly this ... Roofe is still learning and it's been a big jump for him from Oxford to Leeds ... Antonsson can easily become a cult figure at ER, great find ... Sacko is raw and exciting, but again still very young and learning, anything is possible ... these are not rubbish signings by Monk, it's that heavy White shirt mentality that needs to be overcome so that we can push on ... we will get better, but our issue now becomes the impatient Italian lurking in the shadows who may already be going through a stack of CVs
I think the next 3 games are going to be the telling point as to where Monk is at, I do worry about what Rangel said about Monk, and what he did at Swansea....
Billy... I don't think it will be a stack of CV's those turning us down before Monk clearly show it's not a blot on their CV that many want.
