The #LUFC Breakfast Debate (Friday 15th January)

Good Morning. It's Friday 15th January, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road


Bielsa leaps to Casilla's defence

Marcelo Bielsa leapt to the defence of Kiko Casilla at the Brighton pre press conference yesterday. The 34yo shot stopper has been subject to much abuse since completing his eight game ban for allegedly racially abusing Jonathan Leko during a league match at Charlton in September 2019, where Casilla apparently called Leko a n*****.

I use the word apparently as the Spaniard was convicted on the balance of probability. No Court in this land would or could have found Casilla guilty as the British judicial system works on facts! Since coming back from suspension, some of the former Real Madrid's performances have been questionable to say the least; none more so than his performances between the sticks against lowly Crawley Town last weekend. However, yesterday Bielsa was quick to point out what an important part of the squad Casila has been.

“No, I fully trust in Kiko,” he said. “And I will do the utmost possible to help him. I think the treatment Kiko has suffered ignores the fact he is a player who played 40 games for Real Madrid. “Apart from whether his performances were good or bad, we forget all the things he has done to get the team promoted.

“People also don't consider how he's being treated publicly given the situation he had to go through when he was suspended for eight games and what he went through. “I believe in him, his team-mates believe in him and we are close to him because we value him as a person and as a footballer.

“We accept what people think of him in different parts of the media and the people, but we know his past and we know his conditions and we care about him a lot as a human being.”

“If someone says Caprile should be in goal ahead of Casilla they ignore Casilla’s whole career,” he said. “And everything Casilla has suffered since the eight-game ban until now. “The same treatment that was given to Casilla is similar to the same treatment the questions that have implied meaning.

“A player that’s serious, that has trained, that is experienced like Casilla. A player like Casilla, who has had 40 games for Real Madrid, one of the biggest clubs in the world, and whether he can be replaced by someone who has never had one minute in the first team. “What this question is looking for is to merely humiliate Casilla, because it really has nothing to do with Caprile, but of course, this is part of football.

“One day, [Illan] Meslier, who is 20-years-old, gives a bad pass and it results in a goal and whether it was a good idea to replace this 20-year-old and put an experienced player in like Casilla, and in the next day the question is if a 19-year-old who hasn't had any minutes is going to be in goal because I might have lost confidence in Casilla.”

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Leeds eye up Rams duo as Derby face Administration.

Dark times lay ahead at Pride Park. The Championship club is hemorrhaging money, lie 22nd place in the Championship and have not paid players or staff their December packets. Short of selling their ground, and re-buying it again at a far inflated pri............ hang on, they've tried that already; their backs are firmly against the wall.

Their saving grace could be Derventio Holdings, a company owned by Sheikh Khaled bin Zayed Al Neheyan, part of the ruling family of the emirate of Abu Dhabi. They have a family net worth of 150 billion.

His cousin is Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, is the owner of Manchester City. Al Neheyan has been strongly linked to a takeover at Pride Park, but as of yet, no monies have changed hands.

This has led interest from several Premiership clubs including to potentially snap up the likes of Louie Sibley and Jason Knight at a fraction of their value.

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Morning all,

I am just gonna say one quick thing about Bielsa and Casilla then I am gonna move on because I do not want to give that useless cnut any more of my time.
Bielsa isn't stupid. We all agree that he knows more about football then all of us combined will ever know. So in my opinion he knows what the problems are with Casilla.
Bielsa defending Casilla publicly is based purely on the fact that he is refusing to throw a member of his playing squad under the bus. This is not something he does as much as journalists would love him to.
Bielsa will continue to defend the clown and then, Meslier injury aside, Casilla will never play for us again and will move on quietly either this transfer window or the next.

 

I wouldn't expect anything else from Bielsa with regard to the clown, he is far too a respectable man to criticise him in public.

Couldn't happen to a nicer club or fans than Derby, not a shread of sympathy for either. Minus 10 should see them relegated but they seem to have the Houdini touch with the EFL, so wouldn't be surprised to see them escape it.

 

Unfortunately the contract he's apparently on and can't see anyone else matching it, I think he will be here until its end.

 

I've heard two differing reports. Both state LLorente will start but one source says Cooper will take Phillips place in defensive midfield, the other states Cooper and Llorente as centre backs and strujk as defensive midfield.

 

I cannot see Cooper playing defensive mid. Would Bielsa try something new like that in a match like this? Struijk may not have looked his best last week in that position but he has looked good there previously and will be better with a cb pairing of Cooper Llorente/Ayling.

 

For Leeds to trash the reputation of an asset would be a Gerald Ratner moment and Bielsa isnt stupid.

Seems that Leeds are looking after their loaned out players and recalling them if not getting enough game time. Robbie Gotts coming back from Lincoln and going back out to Salford. Edmondson back from Aberdeen and back out to Northampton, Jordan Stevens back from Swindon and back out to Bradford. Bruce Hosannah is still a fans fav at Bradford so staying even though injured. Alfie Macalmont at Oldham is a regular so staying

 

Lorrente has experience as a dm. The only logic to struijk playing dm last weeks with Phillips in defence was to give struijk game time there ahead of the Brighton game. Depending on fitness, it would be a surprise to see anyone other than one of these 2 starting as DM.

 

Agreed. The reason he played Phillips at CB and Stuijk at DM last week was to give Struijk a practise run for Brighton. He was taken off as a precaution/protection so he would be ready for Brighton. Struijk was actually very effective against Crawley. He played the role quite well. Mobility is his biggest problem in that position.

Cooper and Ayling will start at CB. Other than that it will be the same team from the last league game.

Sibley would be a good signing from Derby. Hope they go bust though.

 

I’m in between wanting Llorente and Cooper at CB so Ayling can go RB and Dallas can go LB as I think that’s the strongest team we can field but one part of me thinks Llorente should be on the bench because he’s been injured for so long that we don’t want him to be out straight away again and have Coops/Ayling at CB, Dallas at RB and Alioski at LB instead.

Agreed with Emu that Struijk was effective against Crawley. It was after Struijk, Cooper and Rodrigo came off that we fell apart and we’ve have better players around them this weekend.

 

We need to get Dallas back to LB and get Alioski out of there, he's just not a quality LB. As for Derby, I recall someone on here asking how they could afford £100k per week for Rooney. Seems they couldn't. I'm tempted to laugh.

 

I'll do it for you.

 

Derby the team that gave us:

• A club session that saw car crashes, driving way from scene of accident and a captain left seriously injured still in a car.
• Club captain sacked for being injured in car crash where he was a passenger
• A club that sold their ground for £35m to the guy who already owned it
• The same guy who lied about Leeds employee having wire cutters when anyone could actually see through the fence from the main road and public footpath.
• A crooked owner devised a scheme with a club sponsor to pay a players massive wages and promised the player would have number 32 on his back
• The same bent twat owner is on the main EFl Board and that board are a corrupt showerifshyte

 

Everything you point out is superb and couldn't happen to a nicer club but I used to enjoy going to pride park,these new arenas are soulless now, hope the temple doesn't go the same way...still tough luck rams maybe fat Fwank will lend a hand eh? As for tomorrow ayling back to RB llorente/coops CB Dallas at LB struick DMF...bucket man ain't going to slag Coco off to vulture press I just hope some Spanish senor has lost his marbles and takes him home..adiós amigo

 

It was even better when it was the Baseball ground and go there with the train mob, arrive about 2.30 at the ground, the older on here knows what happened next

 

I dunno, something sounds fishy at Derby.

 

Always remember the time I was sent down to Burton on Trent to take over an operation for the company. First day in the office and a bunch of lads complaining about the match on Saturday, “Everything was alright until the bastard Leeds fans turned up....” laughed my arse off and told them I was from Leeds ahaha

 

Afternoon all

Zero sympathy for Derby

Wouldn’t expect Bielsa to not defend a player

Ayling and Cooper at CB with Struijk DM is what I’d expect

 

What do fish sound like?

I'd rather the sounds from Derby were the screams immediately prior to drowning

 

I would like to think that it is Bielsa just being respectable to one of his players, and that his statement is the kiss of death for The Clown and he's on his way out.
Apparently he was ruthless with Pablo when he wasn't happy with his substitution and he got rid of Jansson because he didn't want to roll over for those Vill ****s, and **** me could we do with someone like him now. So yeah, maybe he's just being respectable to the useless bastard
Here's hoping