Good Morning Everyone, The International break came at exactly the right time for Derby, and absolutely at the wrong time for Leds it seems. Whilst Leeds were gaining momentum, and putting together a straight run of wins (with one noticeable blip) Derby were given time to rebuild, and rebuild they did. Unfortunately I had to work til late so was unable to listen or watch the stream, so can only make comment on what I've heard on here or similar social media outlets. The first contentious issue is Chris Wood. Some say he did what was expected of him with next to no service, others say was a waste of space. Must admit the app on my phone gave Wood the second poorest rating. Right or wrong? Next- Mowatt. Can he cut it at the level? Does he have a fitness problem? Could he suddenly improve? What was he doing a few seasons ago that he is not doing now? Taylor... Is he giving 100% Is he ducking out of 50 / 50 challenges? Hernandez Is he the type of player that is inconsistent, that can only play well some of the time? Green Was he at fault for the goal? Phillips Heard he had a bad game. Don't we all sometimes? Perhaps Viera should have taken his place at half time? If Bridcutt had been playing, should we have won? I understand Barkley hit the bar from the last touch of the first half. Should the ref have allowed play to continue until the ball was cleared out of the area? Was Jansson unlucky with his strike? Did we do enough to get something out of the game?
Morning all... Just my opinions, I did watch the entire game on TV with Croatian commentary... If a keeper doesn't have a save to make all game does it mean he has played poorly? If a striker doesn't receive a single decent ball to feet or cross to his head does that make him poor? Three players far worse than Wood were Mowatt, Hernandez and Sacko. Mowatt hasn't got it, a few seasons ago he was still slow and generally poor, difference was every 3-4 games he would score a blinder, play half decent and live off the 'hope' he would do it again. Has he ever put a decent corner in? Taylor is not giving 100% Phillips wasn't stand out bad, again three in front of him were awful We maybe deserved a draw, our defeat was all down to Mowatt, Sacko, Hernandez, the rest did okay. O'Kane, Bartley, Ayling and Jannson played very well, they stood out for me. Their goal came through a crowd like a rocket, Green fans will say he was unsighted no chance, his critics will say should have saved it. I think it could have been saved but it would have to be a world class one with lightening reaction time. Their goal was from a poorly cleared corner, that corner was given away needlessly by sloppy Taylor play.
Morning all: So if Green didnt have anything to do that must say something about our defence, well done them, so was Taylor that bad? Wood needs service so whilst he moves in and out of the box hes just wasting effort unless Mowatt, Sacko Hernandez give him service. Some say Mowatt is out of position but many more want him gone? Things seem bad when a few have a bad game a the the same time. We started to play in the last 20-mins so what did Monk do, did he try 4-4-2 or stick to the same formation and tactics that hadnt worked? Loved the comments from Pontius yesterday: 'Come on Tuesday as Wigan will suffer for that poor performance'
Morning Doc & Elland... Taylor wasn't awful, the corner conceded was him losing the ball and not wanting to go in on a tackle. I think Berardi will replace him because Ayling shone on Saturday. Ayling, Bartley and Jansson were all very animated, barking orders, pointing around and giving a look of disgust if the movement ahead of them was not there, very organised as a unit, superbly impressed (watch us concede 5 now I have said that). O'Kane popped up everywhere, we were a bit unlucky first half as our defensive players got a foot in on everything, totally disrupted Derby but all the 50/50 balls fell to a Derby player. Was it luck or was it Mowatt, Sacko and Hernandez not making themselves available or getting into the right position? Sacko reminded me of Aidy White but worse when it comes to losing the ball and tracking back. Monk needs to either adapt a system where Sacko is never expected to track back or drop him as you can see he is trying to because he has been instructed to but he hasn't a clue how to do it properly. Nail on head Doc, three important positions all having a bad game at the same time, it was like we had 8 players. Sacko was replaced early second half for Roofe who tried but looked desperate to impress, give him a good run and I'm sure he will score. Mowatt was next off closely followed by Wood both with about 10 minutes on the clock and6 minutes of injury time. I think it was more fresh legs and strong replacements in Roofe and Antonsson and Derby protecting their lead. Grimes didn't do anything wrong, Antonsson gets his special mention as he curled a shot on to the post. Derby could have had three, a goal on the counter maginally offside and again on the counter a world class tackle by last man Jansson preventing a one on one with the keeper. Again though, I would give Mowatt 5 Hernadez 4 Sacko 3 out of 10 they were honestly the difference in the result.
Morning all. Will catch up on weekend events later on. Always disappointing to lose but when we put it right against Wigan. all will be well. Fair play to you lads that voted for Brexit. Had a dirt cheap weekend in Glasgow thanks to our lovely valuable Euros and the near worthless sterling
Cheers Ristac, I wonder how Monk responds? does he bin the 3 for Wigan as they dont deserve to start or does he persist with his tactics and hope they work this time. Is Mowatt playing in his best position as many say not.
Hopefully I dont fall in after all that casting. I cant swim and the balance is not the best this morning
Hey'up Elland..............are we changing allegiance to Leeds Utyd now..... After the loss to Derby I think there's going to be varied differences of opinion. Like Ristac, I watched the whole game on net but with English commentary. The game was pretty fast from both teams from the whistle, it looked like both teams were playing with a grudge against each other. Both teams seemed to be passing well but looked like Derby shaved the edge in first half. Like Ristac I think Mowatt's lost it, and I agree with his comments on him; I don't understand why he gets picked, maybe Monk is hoping he comes good. Is Taylor giving 100%?...he certainly isn't shirking his duties as the LB imo, then again, depends what's in his head. If there's a team he can go to in January, and it's being kept secret, then it's possible he's holding 5 to 10% back, then again, if there isn't, and he still wants to go then he needs to put himself in shop window. I don't think he's playing and letting team down though. Hernandez, it was a fast passing game and Hernandez was doing alright, some of his touches and passes were a bit short though. I think he did alright but we have seen better. Sacko, he was off his game and you could see it, I personally think he should've been subbed at halftime, same goes for Mowatt. Green, he should've stopped that goal, he didn't have to move and the ball went in off his hand/s, he should've parried it away. I don't think he was unsighted, he was watching the ball. Phillips didn't have a brilliant game and looked a bit lost at times, and again we have seen better from him, but it was a quick passing game and maybe Phillips wasn't use to that type of play from opposition. Maybe some of the players weren't use to it and is the reason Derby nicked it. We went into overdrive for last 20 mins or so and Antonsson put in a beautiful curling shot, but as usual, the post wasn't caught out of position. I think a draw would've been fair, we were passing the ball around well but lacked the execution, the final kill. We were unlucky with Bartleys header and a shot that lacked power, but we were lucky Derby didn't have their second goal allowed, buy the linesman a pint Elland....
Are we good enough to play 3 at the back to give Wood a strike partner. Ayling - Bartley - Antonnson (Cooper for Ayling?)
Morning Doc, tbf Monk was in the stands.... Easy to say now but square pegs in round holes - playing Mowatt wide on the right. Shows how much we miss Dallas. Perhaps Wood had jet lag. Even in first class it takes it out of you. Should have played Antonssen or Doukara.
Morning all, Ristac's written my posts for me. 100% agree. Couple of things to add - if Taylor hadn't pulled out of chasing down the ball, the scoring shot might have hit him, or the scorer might have bottled it. We'll never know. Fact is, Taylor did not give 100% and in these situations, it can be costly. And it was. Should be same team tomorrow night. Give them the chance to redeem themselves. Oh, apart from Mowatt, that is. How many chances must he have? Too many this season IMO. Finally, I wasn't happy with the ref when Bartley hit the woodwork. The ball came out to us, still in the danger area and with a packed goalmouth, but he blew for time. He should have done what the egg-chasers do - play on until the ball goes out of play. (Guess it's not really his fault, but the rule-makers, however, he does have discretion).
So Leeds hit the post twice and rattled the crossbar once, whereas Derby's chances sound like they were well defended. One offside One great tackle One save by keeper
Mowatt lacks pace and stamina, if you pick Mowatt you know he isn't going to last 90 minutes so you always need a substitute up your sleeve. Apparently, Monk wanted Mowatt to cut inside more from the left, he reminded him of that at half time and he had a slightly better start to the second half but that is me being kind, it still wasn't good enough. Yes he was out of position but I still think he should have done better. It is fair to say, Mowatt would not have started if we had a fit Dallas. Hernandez looked incensed from the word go, he went down and rolled about when touched he just didn't show up, he did however have 2-3 moments where his ability showed through. My biggest concern was Sacko, you know how much I am against 4-4-2 but if those three played like that every week then I would be all for dropping the three of them and getting Dallas, Roofe and Antonsson on the pitch. We did everything well apart from create good chances, that for me is down to the players in the final third and when you think the best two chances fell to Bartley that is poor. What I did like is how Bartley goes up for corners and set pieces, Jansson sits back, Bartley is a big lad and the defenders don't like having him and Wood in the area. I wouldn't drop all three against Wigan, I would give Sacko another go on the hope you can't possibly be as bad as that again and he should be fit as he did nothing for 55 minutes.
I watched it on TV thanks to the tip off by WJ and it being shown on Croatian TV (IPTV with PLEX) I could have watched it on Arena sport as well but I think that was in Russian. I just don't like watching games on a PC screen As for chances, I only remember us hitting the post once and crossbar once, on paper Derby have a very strong team and their scorer wouldn't have been on the pitch if it wasn't for an early injury to Anya It was just a game that you could be positive in how well half the team did, or negative about 3 very arguably 4 of them were. Derby just edged it if there had to be a winner, again arguably edged it. For their offside decision, we would be going mad if it were the other way around, they didn't show it enough on the replay but it was close.
