Bielsa deserves a lot of credit but I think the way some of the media goes about it shows how little they understand about what he's doing. They can only mention pressing so many times before they're rambling about how he moves on the touchline for the rest of the game.
Anyway, good game for us. Played tactically right into Mourinho’s hands as ceding some possession negated Leeds’ most dangerous attacking threat. What we need to see - and Hoddle mentioned this in BT commentary in a rare case of a pundit actually hitting the nail on the head - is more openness from the team going forward when we’re drawing or only a goal up. We’ve got more than enough in the locker to hurt teams when we commit bodies forward. I think what holds us back is Jose’s lack of confidence in the midfield and defence combination defensively, especially on the right side. I hope the attitude changes but that might only happen if we get some changes in the squad. Let’s see. 4 points off the top 2 with a GD only bettered by Liverpool, and still in all the competitions, is not a bad situation to be in in the new year though. I just want to see the game plan tweaked a bit.
Any coincidence that a week’s rest and Hojbjerg, Kane and Son looked back on (near) top form? Who’d have thought running players into the ground would reduce their performance levels... Good result for us though and it could’ve been a lot more. We played some decent football in spells albeit also found ourselves under pressure at times too. Leeds’ style makes them very easy to score against even if generally they’re a team that scores a decent amount themselves. They’re like a much ****ter version of us under Poch whilst also lacking any defensive cohesion that we once had during the prime Jan and Toby partnership.
cheers mate and thanks for bringing that beautiful brand of football to our football starved stadium all the best till we meet again
You defended superbly. We had plenty of attacks and possession around your penalty box and created **** all chances. That has to be a good sign for when you're playing better sides than us and hopefully you can have a proper tilt at the title built upon that solidity
The Corona chaos may have been a minor blessing. God knows what the mood would have been coming into today if the Fulham game did not result in a win. Conversely we're so close to ending the uniquely horrible fixture schedule for the first half of the season, so now having the Fulham fixture in the queue is a pain.
Sorry, but this is week in, week out now. Just looks totally unsettled. Is it the change of role he's not adapting to? Would say the COVID may not have helped but he was pretty awful before that. There is a player in there somewhere, just well hidden.
Can’t afford to have Jose win anymore Manager of the Month awards Good result after a disastrous December
BT sport must have had 1 camera on Bielsa crouching for the whole game with the hope that he would **** himself while down there
With the way his season's going I wouldn't be surprised if Doherty is a one and done type of signing. He's not a young kid so we know his best football won't be ahead of him and his failure to just do... well... anything really doesn't look good. It's not always easy settling into a new club and even a new-ish role but it has to be said he's been nothing short of a disaster so far and it's not like he's adjusting to a new climate/ language/ league style. For a guy that played RWB at Wolves I think I've found his lack of attacking ability to be the most disappointing, it's hard to believe he was knocking up impressive numbers in the past couple seasons. I think we'll definitely be seeing a move for a new right back in the summer.
Yeah I agree, it just looks like he totally hasn't settled. Doesn't seem to show a lot of quality in the final 3rd when he gets there and his lack of pace or outright physicality means he's not the strongest defensively either. Sometimes good players just don't work out. At least he's made Aurier raise his game but I agree with you, I'd be surprised if we didn't go back for Aarons or look at someone like Lampety at Brighton over the summer. Bissouma at Brighton might be the kind of player we could have alongside Hojbjerg as well actually, or so I hear, but I haven't watched him enough myself to say that with any confidence.
Yeah I really like both Lamptey and Aarons though it's hard to see if they're Jose-type players, neither are physically big and strong which he likes but from a work rate perspective they both seem happy to graft, especially Lamptey from what I've seen, so there could be a compromise.
Well that was a bit better, but they are a very easy side to play against and seem to be happy for that to be the case - A bit like Keegans Newcastle, less talented players but a similar we will score more than you philosphy. We got a few more minutes out of Ndombele, but we really are the Kane and Son show, Bergwijn needs a goal desperately to cap off otherwise decent performances, Hojbjerg was his usual self and I thought that 3/4 of the back 4 did well today, but RB remains an issue Doherty is still not proving to be an upgrade on Aurier, though his sending off today was more than harsh as neither challenge really warranted a yellow card. Pleased with the much needed win, but we will need to be significantly better to beat Villa in 2 weeks time.
Yeah I’m hopeful that the experience we’re seeing with Regulion, who is a rapid, more attacking fullback who I think has surprised us all with how tenacious and frankly solid he is in defence, will open Jose’s mind haha. Might be wistful thinking though.
The look from Jose was a classic...made me chuckle. Can't be bothered to analyse the match - I'm just pleased that we got 3 points! Nice to see Winks assisted towards getting the penalty with a forward pass.
