Match Day Thread Leeds Utd v Derby County

Well by all accounts his new bird's a Greek tragedy so that's a good start

 

Watched the highlights last night to see if there was anything I missed. There was. Harrison. OK, crossing terrible, but I hadn't noticed that he had 3 shots on target. 3!! Almost more than the rest of the team put together. More than any other player has managed this season. Right place, right time.

Also had the chance to re-review Bamford's performance. Re-affirmed that he did all the lone striker bit very well. But the bit he's usually slated for - final product - amounted to hitting the post, winning a penalty & providing an assist. He also had several chances which he failed to convert. Right place, right time.

Discuss.

 

Not sure which highlights you watched WJ but Sky had some excellent footage/angles of the goal we conceded.

You can clearly see Klich is on the half way line and Costa is about 10 yard into the Derby half when we lose the ball. Firstly why is Costa so advanced as it's an unnecessary risk at that stage, he's roughly 40/50 yards in front of his full back (Dallas). However with his pace he still has time to get back and effect the play. What he decides to do is saunter back half heartedly and is seen appearing just outside our box as the goal bound shot is struck. Klich never moves from the half way line. Ultimately it's a run on the outside of Dallas which creates the two on one over load which we just don't have the numbers back to deal with.

Why we were so stretched out as a team with 91+ mins on the clock and a one goal advantage to defend ? It was obviously extremely poor play and positioning. There were other players who didn't cover themselves in glory on the goal who were much closer to the ball, namely Douglas, Phillips and Shackleton but what I'm attempting to highlight is how we were unforgivably open to what was essentially a counter attack.

 

Not aiming it at you directly wakey but reading around the forums anyone would think we're bottom not top.

 

I worry about their declining level of intelligence

Research from Stanford University has shown that complaining shrinks the hippocampus—an area of the brain that's critical to problem solving and intelligent thought. ... A half hour of complaining every day physically damages a person's brain, according to research from Stanford University.

 

Hope you managed to type this up in 29 minutes or less!

 

29 minutes and 59 seconds

 

It was the Quest highlights I watched. If I'm honest, I didn't dwell on it. Was looking for the positives, as they say. Re. Klich, I'm wondering if he was acting under orders. I remember when Bielsa came at first, the 3-3-1-3 system was explained to us ad nauseam, and one of the surprising features was that the #10 was the only player absolved of defensive duties, as he was supposed to be on alert at all times for attacking opportunities. Now I know we're not playing 3-3-1-3, but I wonder if this instruction still remains in certain circumstances? I have no idea - just speculating. As I'm typing it, I realise that I've watched Klich getting stuck in defensively loads of times each match, so scrub all that!

Costa is another matter. To put it scientifically, he's playing Bielsaball in Beta wave mode (as is Eddie), rather than Alpha. Not his fault, he simply needs to practice, but I must say that even in Beta mode, he should be asking himself what he should be doing - and knowing the fukkin answer! He didn't, or if he did, he didn't, if you see what I mean. This is precisely why he & Eddie aren't starters. They're still at the stage where they think about what they do, but with practice, they won't have to think about it - they'll be in Bielsaball Alpha mode. Btw, this is not a new method. Big Jack, for example, was famous for his 'repetition, repetition, repetition' mantra when training teams - for exactly the same reason, even though he didn't know the science behind it at the time.

(For the uninitiated, I got the Alpha/Beta thing in a BBC Horizon program donkeys years ago. Think I may have (badly) explained this before, but they used that winter sport where you cross country ski & shoot at various targets around the course. They measured people doing it & found that the more accurate shooters were in Alpha brain mode, which meant that they were shooting without consciously concentrating. They found that those who consciously concentrated more were in Beta mode, & there was a correlation between that & poor accuracy. Bottom line - the more you practice, the less you have to think about it. It's like driving on the motorway & thinking 'how did I get here', & not remembering a thing about the last 50 miles).

 

I don't believe it anyway. I'm already brain dead & manage to whine quite comfortably, than you very much!

 

Because of your comments I took another look regarding Klich. He actually attaches himself to Huddlestone, who doesn't join the attack so you could say he has picked up. Which leaves only 2 players who could have tracked the goalscorer, Shackleton and Costa. Both had the opportunity to do so and decided not to put in the hard yards which would/could have made the difference.

Shackleton is in fact the main culprit as he actually drops off Chris Martin just inside Derby's half allowing him to turn and lay the ball off. He should have pressed him and not allowed him easy possession. Shackleton then fails to track Martyn's run, he does run back but never senses that his priority should have been Martin especially as he was his man from earlier. Costa can see all of this and could sprint back and across to help out but fails to take the necessary action and seems to just hope for the best rather than actually contributing anything defensively.

The more I watch it the more annoying and frustrating it becomes, although Derby did work the ball well, so credit is due in that regard.

 

Pretty sure that they left their post-match debrief session with their arses bleeding!

 

Great analysis of the goal but had Bamford put his chances away and Klich his penalty all this would be immaterial.

 

Yep

 

And if yer auntie had baws she'd be yer uncle!

 

Re your final point.... you can find defensive fault with any goal. Had we scored this one, we’d have been raving about the build up. They only put 1 good move together all game and made it count.

 

Are you reading this wakey? Or should I say... can you still read this wakey?

 

I know you didn't ask, but here's my opinion of Bamford...

Good all round movement, exemplified by the fact that he's been able to get one on ones with the keeper a few times already this season. Both the one against Forest and again on Saturday involved quite exquisite first touches as he pulled through balls out of the air with his left foot, this is no easy feat when playing as a lone striker. Also worthy of note his movement into the inside left channel for floated crosses into box from Alioski or Harrison, he's been very close to either glancing or lifting a header over the advancing keeper from these situations. In fact his goals/chances are of a huge variety showing that he's striker who knows what he's doing.

This season he's added a more robust style to his hold up play and is not easily knocked off the ball as before, sometimes he's dropped deep and again has held the ball up well and brought others into play.

Considering his age and amount of games played I consider him yet to reach his prime. His goal scoring record is actually excellent and if he does improve, as hopefully he will, then it will turn into a phenomenal record. People comparing him to barn door Billy can't have paid any attention whatsoever to his actual statistics or have any appreciation of what makes a good footballer.

Finally there is only one striker in the Championship I'd swap him for...see if you can guess which one ?

 

The poor team shape and defensive discipline after substitutions though is a recurring theme in my opinion.

It's perfectly natural to want to see what other players can bring to the team, especially as they are flair players. Unfortunately the facts show that the same 3 players came of the bench against both Swansea and Derby and we are now 5 points worse off than we hoped for.

Yet all I read on here is change, change, change...

 

Aleksandar Mitrović?