OK only 2nd game in so no need to panic. However, I really don't like this creeping feeling of deja vu - 68% possession with 14 shots and they had one on frigging target. Glad to know we have Fast Eddie waiting in the wings and I hope Bielsa gives him a run out sooner rather than later to see if he can deliver the goods. We can't keep giving Barndoor more chances to prove himself when he just cannot score.
... thought costa looked a threat when he came on. Other than that it was rinse and repeat of almost every game last season. Dominate the game, win when we take our chances, draw or lose when we don’t.
Disappointed that the sub was Alioski... fine with him coming on as left back, but it blunts us when he comes on as winger.
If you don't like deja vu don't look at the fixture list... Wigan and Brentford next..... Still 4 points from 2 games - keep at that pace and 92 points here we come....
I thought Harrison was good again and I thought that showed when Alioski came on, I was suddenly wishing Harrison was about to put the cross or pass in
Thought Harrison was great myself and I’d have brought Clarke on instead of Alioski. Did Jamie Shak come on in the end, can’t remember him on the ball?
The one thing with Bamford is that he keeps getting himself in great positions to score. That's actually quite hard to do. It's the conversion rate that let's him and us down. It's a frustrating result but a strong performance. We need a bit of luck this season. The last season I thought we rode our luck was the Gary Monk season. We were outplayed plenty of times but kept sneaking results. I remember us not getting a kick at Newcastle and somehow in the last minute Wood scored in probably our only attack. This scenario played out against us plenty last season. Please not again. When Leeds are ****, then I don't mind admitting that we are ****, I really don't! But Bielsa's Leeds are sublime and promotion would be easy if we get a bit of help from lady luck. I always seem to finish watching our games cursing our luck, or a lack of decisions by the officials or a stupid mistake by Cooper. Are we unlucky or just flawed in some way that I cannot see? I mean I played at a low level of football and I am convinced I played with strikers who would love to get the chances that we create. Bamford is more than capable of finishing....just not in a white shirt it seems! Drives me crazy. Get Arsenal lad in Tuesday or Edmonson.
Couple of goals and confidence will do Bamford - last season was too many injuries and too much pressure to get back from injury or to be main scorer - so few times were both Roofe and Bamford fit so could switch during games or between games. Hopefully he gets fit, gets a couple by any means because a confident Bamford would be scoring that chip over the keeper all day long. (I mean even low confidence crap Bamfords current scoring record is not bad at Leeds - it just feels like it is)
A few comments on things that may or may not have been apparent on the telly / streams .... * There was a howling gale throughout the match, mostly blowing into the North stand, with some swirling. * At times the rain came down like stair rods. You could hardly see your hand in front of your face. * The referee was awful, as you would expect. Quite apart from missing the pens, he should have booked several of their players, particularly their #7 striker, who was ridiculously aggressive both on the ball & off it. At one stage we had 2 players brought down at the same time. Only 1 was on the ball, & Bamford was 20yds in front! * Florist played impeccable tactics. You may have noticed that they had 4 players in our half every time we had the ball. They didn't press unless we approached the half way line. Reason? Easy - forced us into long balls, which suited a team that all appeared to be 6'17" tall. That's what killed our high percentage of tippy-tappy. * Did the tv show Harrison holding his groin before he was subbed? Hope it's not serious, and I would doubt if he was a starter on Tuesday, to be on the safe side. * Dallas & Pablo worked well together on the right wing. Magic disappeared when Costa came on. I was quite unimpressed, tbh, but acknowledge you don't get valued at £15m for nothing. Happy to give him time to ease in. * Douglas & Harrison did ok on the left, but it was Harrison who carried much of the workload. They seemed to be under instruction to hit the byeline & cut back at every opportunity - & only Harrison was doing it. Douglas had many opportunities to get in an early cross, but we persisted with the byeline. I suspect he was acting under orders. The left wing seemed to die when Alioski came on. We noticed a bigger gap between the two, making short, sharp passing almost impossible. * White blotted his copybook a couple of times. Managed to recover one mistake himself, but relied on his colleagues to bail him out for the other. Apart from that, he looked just fine & I'm sure he'll learn a little every game. * I have to grudgingly admit that Forshaw played very well. Won us a lot of ball. I think I went off him when he replaced KP last season & played terribly. * Sadly, I thought that Klick was a little off the boil. Was it just me who thought so? * Would love to see the stats to see if my belief that Bamford covered more ground that anyone else. If he didn't, it must have been close. Got some awful treatment that went unpunished, but persisted manfully. A lot more aggressive than last season. And whilst he didn't score, he was in the right place at the right time to score. Important. * Cooper should be shot for missing that free header. He had enough time to chest it down & shoot if he wanted to (ok, perhaps an exaggeration ). Should have been a goal. * Finally, Forshaw needs better acting lessons. You don't get penalties if you dive 30 seconds after contact. Well, not if you play for Leeds, you don't!
I agree that Klich looked off the boil. Was hoping Shackleton would come on in his place, just to add a bit of zip and pace.
What we can’t change is that we lack height in defence, so we’ll be vulnerable from corners and free-kicks all year. Forest were huge, and could have exploited that advantage better, all it takes is a couple of concessions from set pieces any afternoon and we’re screwed. Pretty good overall though, and options still to filter through. IBWT.
Okay just caught up. Didn’t see the game. Out too late and only just woken up. Same issues it sounds like. I don’t know any of the other results.
Because we have no height in defence several Forest balls into the box were allowed to actually bounce in/near the 6-yard box. That did, and no doubt will many more times, cause us problems. I can see us scoring own goals from **** like that happening. If we start banging 'em in at the other end then hopefully it won't be too calamitous.
I don't understand this call for tall defenders. It's not how Bielsa looks at them and there are numerous examples of great central defenders who weren't giants. I'd actually say that there are more great central defenders under 6'2" than bigger. In fact, Google the top 10 of all time and you get Puyol, Beckenbauer, Baresi, Moore, Mathaus, Passarella etc It is rare that an Aiden Flint is classed as great. Even John Charles was only 6'2".
