I honestly don't know, Davy. Perhaps we're late because he was our 17th choice for a winger & we've been forefront negotiator for the other 16? Sounds ridiculous, but there may be more than a grain of truth in it. Is a winger a priority? Again, I honestly don't know. Unless you're Bielsa, you don't know what the priorities are. You only have to look at tonight's team to make you reset your understanding of what we have and what we need. He seems to have recategorised so many players. It's unprecedented. I must remark at the irony of the situation though. The fans have been screaming at management for years for signing rubbish journeymen. So they stopped. Now the fans are screaming blue murder because they stopped!
Don't let Glory get into your head. These are pre season games. Would supporters be happy beating sides 12 nil . Our manager knows what he wants. Give him a chance. I'm nearly speechless at the amount of crap spouted by supporters after two games and three weeks before the season starts. But if we do have a good season those same moaning twats will be the first to jump on the gravy train.
It's not just the two games, friendlies are all about fitness Tonight we played two midfielders at CB, Phillips has also said to the media that he may be converted to a CB, the squad is down to it's bare bones We require at least five quality players to give us any chance of achieving a play-off place, so far we have done nothing in vital areas of the team. Bielsa needs the tools to work with, he isn't a miracle worker
I realise that these games are about fitness and tactics etc etc But can we as supporters wait till the Stoke game and then see where we are.
Thoughts about tonight's match .... Difficult to work out the system again. Didn't help that it seemed to change in the second half with the substitutions. Vieira appeared to be the one making a 3 at the back when required. He was playing RB, unlike Phillips covering whilst playing DM on Tuesday. Didn't help that I struggled to recognise the u23s. Think binoculars might be part of my match kit from now on. Different u23 'keeper each half (Miazek & Huffer), & both made a couple of very decent saves. First half we had De Bock & Klich at CB. I mistakenly thought Klich was Rey or Diaz as my sunglasses gave him a swarthy look. De Bock had a good defensive game, surprisingly, & making a couple of great last minute interceptions. Still a bit suspect at set pieces though, IMO. Klich was the other CB & played similarly. Both were good at breaking forward, especially Klich, but unfortunately these burst-through runs usually ended with a dreadful final pass. Definitely rusty. I'm afraid my worst fears from Tuesday came true, though not so much from the long ball, but from fast breakaways by York. We got there in the end, but better teams will rip us apart if we defend with such a high line. It will be one hell of a roller coaster ride this season, I think. Diaz replaced Klich at the back for the second half, and we looked a little more assured defensively. Vieira had played a very defensive RB role, but got more involved up front in the second half, still at RB. Someone else may have taken the 'Phillips 3rd CB' role for the 2nd half, but I didn't pick up on it. May have been Klich, thinking about it, as he had moved up after his cuppa. Pearce was my man of the match. What a talent that boy is. Used as a very attacking LB. Fast as fcuk, brilliant engine, great skills, passing etc., & worked well on the left with Jack Clarke. Clarke was the Doc's tip as the next real big thing, but I didn't see it at the time. He had a good game today, & an even better 2nd half, & I doff my cap to Doc. However one good game doth not a season make, I guess. He seems to have filled out during the break, to his benefit. Shackleton, similarly had a really good second half, although quiet in the first. I can't say I was overly impressed by Baker or Ideguchi. Perhaps I expected too much. Lots of running, good technical skills, & that was about it for me. Bielsa sent Corberan over to the opposite side of the pitch to coach Ideguchi for a spell in the second half. They'd moved him out to wide right & they clearly weren't happy with him. Never seen that in my life before. Edmondson did a lot of running in the first half, but not a lot else. I don't think he played badly, just got starved of the ball. It's been often remarked how big a unit he, but I hadn't realised just how big until I saw him close up. 17?? Bloody hell! One of the first things he did was flatten one of their defenders who was even bigger than him. I thought it was a shoulder charge, but I'm biased. He obviously had instructions to run his socks off, and Dalby replaced him for the second 45. Dalby seemed a little more involved, but I think that's mainly as we were attacking better in the second half. Makes it difficult to compare them. Dalby's a big unit too. What do they feed kids with these days? Not sure that either is ready to be a regular yet, but who knows, especially if we don't sign a striker. Only guy I can't pass comment on was Stevens. He only played the 1st half & I really notice him. Can't say if he was good or bad. Didn't help that no-one had names on their backs, and most were numbered in the 40s & 50s. Final note: prolly as expected, no sign of O'Kane, Murphy, Sacko, or Ekuban. Not even subs for this 'possibles' team. If that doesn't send out a signal, nothing will. I guess it also means that Klich & De Bock have been thrown a lifeline. Edit: Forgot to mention the highlight in case you missed it. Their scorer was a trialist who refused to celebrate, then gave the Leeds salute!
That’s possibly not the wisest post you have made... If you think stoke won’t batter us we are in a disagreement situation.
Original in this context means having ones own thoughts and voicing them first. The facts that sheep then choose to accept the words and ape the original opinion are not a responsibility of mine. Just to be clear this team and coach package is worse than at the same point last season and worryingly it was only the good start last term that kept us up. It doesn’t take a genius to see why there is reason to be very concerned about Rad and his motives. Even Phil Hay is starting to see what the problem is.... https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co...a-need-for-new-faces-at-elland-road-1-9260455 In a month time he will realise the new face required us to replace the Italian con man that is filtering all the cash from the club to help fund his real business interests or provide pocket money.
I personally think you've got a little mixed up in what some are complaining about :/ Of course fans will be complain if we don't sign quality players which will help get us promoted so they complained when we signed 'rubbish journeymen'. Now they aren't complaining because we stopped signing 'rubbish journeymen', more because we still aren't signing quality players. We just aren't signing 'rubbish journeymen' which I guess it's better since we aren't wasting money but i'd still rather have a couple of quality players.
Hands up all of those that had heard of Jozefzoon until Phil Hay mentioned him as a possible signing. Ok, hands up in the air..... Now it’s all doom and gloom because Derby beat us to a potential signing. Last week someone mentioned Zouma as a possible, Mike had never heard of him, next day he’s on the copy and paste scouting list! If Bielsa wants a little time to assess the very best of the core we have, including youngsters and identifies two or three key signings, along with the two Chelsea loans it is fine by me. Many teams have started slowly and then gone up by assembling a well balanced unit and gaining momentum. We signed a whole squad full of players last summer but were never really convincing. AR was constantly lambasted for buying quantity not quality, now he is being criticised for not signing a player a day. Invest what we have wisely and we still have a real chance, in my opinion. Anyway, happy (a few of you will have to Google that) Friday one and all
Ithink Viera was tried as a centre back at first as the gaffer likes playing out from the back! This may mean Cooper is in for a shout this season as he can whip a ball about.
Piss off you negative, grumpy bollox and don't ruin my weekend boozing session, which starts as soon as the MOT goes.......approx 2.00........ We still have 4 friendlies to hone the team, try different formations and hopefully have a few new lads in before the Stoke game. We may well get battered, we may scape a win. My point is that we'll know a little more about the team after the Stoke game. Even if we were to get hammered, it's not going to define our season.
