Good Morning. It's Wednesday 19th May, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road Leeds secure top half finish after gritty win Second half goals from Patrick Bamford and Tyler Roberts secured Leeds not only three points, but guaranteed them a top half finish in their first season back in the top flight for sixteen years. Leeds would be without the services of Koch, Klich and Meslier. Bielsa stated in his pre match press conference that he had given special permission to the Polish and German International to start preparing for the Euro's. It was also disclosed that he wanted out of favour shot stopper Kiko Casilla to play the last two games of the season. The first half was dire. Southampton were clearly the better side, but could not penetrate Leeds stubborn defence. Bielsa took the strange decision to bring Berardi and Struijk on at half time for Llorente and Phillips. Although the decision did not go down well with Leeds fans on social media, the Whites began a spirit resurgence, and started dominating the game. Just before the hour mark, Leeds should have taken the lead when Bamford rounded McCarthy. The former Leeds loanee of ten years ago clipped Bamford on his way through, but the Leeds no 9 stayed on his feet. He made up for it quarter of an hour later when he toe pocked the ball between McCarthys leg from the most acute angle. Second half substitute Tyler Roberts added the icing on the cake deep into injury time when the ball broke kindly to him after Bamford's initial shot could only be palmed away. please log in to view this image Punished for not diving Leeds were denied a spot kick on the hour mark when Alex McCarthy clipped Patrick Bamford as the Leeds No 9 rounded him. It was clear to see Bamford stumble, after the initial contact, but he stayed on his feet. Should he have gone to ground, the referee would have had no option but to point at the spot. What message does that send to our kids? If there's any contact, you need to dive to be rewarded a penalty? Bamford approached the referee after the game, saying:- 'Nowadays are we trying to encourage diving then?'," "Because if I go down it's 100 per cent a penalty, whether they check it or not, it's a penalty. So surely the fact that it's knocked me off balance but I've tried to stay on my feet, it should still be a penalty. "Everyone's saying that modern day players are diving too much, going to ground too easy. But the fact is you've seen today that if you don't, you don't get anything for it. But the refs have got to decide do you want players to stay on your feet or do you want them to go down?" Bielsa's post match Interview Can you tell me how you felt your team turned that game around? At half-time the performance obviously wasn't great! It was not my influence, it was their profile of the individualities in the second half which changed the game. We noticed you particularly celebrate Tyler Roberts' goal but was that a key moment for him do you think, having scored his first Premier League goal? And what did you make of the performance overall? I was happy he scored, because he had played many games and he hadn't managed to do it. And the team in the second half looked a lot more like the team it is. And just how we unlevelled the game in the second half, Southampton could have done the same in the first half. Kiko Casilla played tonight and I understand you want him to play on Sunday as well from what you said before the game. Do you feel that he is quite a bit responsible for how well Illan Meslier has done this season? Does he push him? They are two professionals of a very high level. And of course the year was a lot more difficult for Kiko, but he was very generous and a very good teammate. You obviously decided to select Kiko and Gaetano Berardi tonight, two players we don't see very often. What was the logic behind that, why did you decide to select them both? The fact that Kiko played today and will play on Sunday is a decision that I decided to make concrete. Berardi is in an excellent state of form. Him coming on was very useful, he didn't commit errors and he added a lot. Can I ask about Patrick Bamford's performance and another goal? With the England squad being named for the Euros next week, would he bit a little bit unlucky given his form this season if he's not in the squad? Patrick had a very generous performance with a lot of effort. He has had a season in which he has shone. I'm sure he will be very positive about the campaign that he has had, be what may. Following up from that, what have you done with Patrick Bamford that has made him such an effective and prolific striker for Leeds in the last couple of years? There was a time not so long ago when we wondered whether he was going to make it at Premier League level and now he's knocking on the door of England. I think everything that he has achieved this season is because of the effort and dedication that he has put in to show all of his abilities. please log in to view this image
Morning all Last night VAR brought back a penalty for a foul on Werner which the ref missed because he thought it was outside the box. Why wasnt VAR used to give Leeds a penalty. VAR isnt a computer programme that treats every incident in a logical, precise way, its a bloke sat in front of a telly and a different bloke for every match. So different interpretations of rules which is bollox. We already have the human element with refs seeing things different but at least we knew that and accepted it, but now we get rules ignored by a remote bloke watching telly 200 miles away. VAR is crap and needs scrapping or it needs radical change. Last night was a joke and mentioned on MoTD by Deon Dublin and Ashley Williams. Its a joke, that was a penalty all day long. If VaR looks at it it has to be a penalty but because Bamford doesnt want to be called a diver or a cheat he doesnt bet it. Those were the words of pundits. Earlier this season we the same thing happen with Poveda, if he goes down we get a penalty against Chelsea. That particular match we took a beating, but if that penalty had been awarded we would have gone 1-0 up and it may have changed the way the game played out. So we could have won or even drawn, but instead we got well beaten? Last night could have been the same as it was 0-0 and if they had scored last night they could have won, but luckily Bamford scored minutes later. These decisions can affect results, so it needs sorting
Does anyone know how many goals we have conceded since Llorente came into the team properly, in recent weeks. I would also bet that our points per game average has increased too?
Too slow did it myself 15 games and only conceded 10 goals and we received 24 points which equals 2.4 points per game, and we had a fairly tough run-in. We conceded 53 goals this season but 43 were without Llorente
Morning all, Another somewhat comfortable win. Soouthampton were on top most of the first half but I have to say I did not feel paticualry worried even with Kiko in goal. My two main talking points- Bamford- First off he showed how officials are causing the problem of diving in football by staying on his feet. There was a clear foul as Bamford ran on goal. The touch from the keeper out Bamford off balance allowing the ball to get away from him and a defender to get there to close him down. Take away the foul and there is a strong chance Bamford scores. Therefore it has to be brought back for a penalty. The on field ref could have done this as it was obvious from Bamfords wobble that he was caught. Secondly VAR should have brought it back but did'nt. This is why players dive/go down easy. One other thing consequence of that not being given as a pen was seconds later in the next phase of play Bamford was clattered and could have been seriously injured. That would have been the officials fault. It was similar to the way Patricio was injured in the Wolves Liverpool game. The linesman did not raise his flag for a clear foul and Salah chased the ball and collided with Patricio causing a bad head injury. Sooner or later a player will be seriously injured during play that should have been stopped. Roberts- I was pleased to see him get his first goal even if it was sloppy in the build up. I know he is not everyones cup of tea. On here the criticism is for the most part constructive and I have no problem with that. However I deleted a few people on twitter last night because the criticism was far from constructive. Comments such as "Leeds playing with 10 men for the lasty ten minutes." or after he scored "Hes still a ****ing ****er" & "**** ****". This sort of abuse was not even leveled at Kiko. You can be critical of players without abusing them. It says more about the mentality of the person than it does about the player. No wonder helooked so pleased to score, he must know the abuse he recieves.
TV companies are waiting to divvy up the matches between them. I would imagine Sky & BT will get first picks so are waiting for tonights round of games to be completed. Once they can see which games might mean something ie Liverpool pursuit of Champions League and others fighting for Europe they will pick the prime games. The others will then pick up what is left. I would not bne surprised if we end up on the BBC or Amazon prime as ours is most definitly a dead rubber.
I rarely read anything anymore spouted from posters claiming to be Leeds Utd fans on twatter or fb because most of it is just hysterical ****e. No problem with conctructive criticism. I hate players diving, so I can't have a go at Paddy, but the refs need to step up. The other thing that winds me up is the way a players gets a kick on the ankle, but rolls around holding his head, wtf is that about.
I see Fulham have called out Stephen Warnock on their offical social media account for him accusing one of their players of faking an head injury. They have shown the comment he made, with his name and photo, and then a picture of the player with blood dripping from him. Will they see the same anger from pundits and commentators for calling out a pundit like that and potentailly causing a "pile on"? Probably not. This is where double standards kick in, He has done exactly the same as Carney did, made an outlandish comment that was proven to be false. Fulhan have done exactly what Leeds did. So far no recriminations. Is it becasue he is a man? Is it because Warnock will not make a big thing of it and delete his social media? Without sounding arrogant is it because it is Fulham and not Leeds?
You're right, if it's a bloke it's ok it seems, this is what boils my piss, they bang on about equality, but it's all hypocritical The same with race, Irish player called a thick paddy no big deal, black player cries racism different story. Also, pointed out by OLOF at HT at the Burnley game. All banging on about online hate, then the female pundit says Leeds Utd are/were hated by everyone. Beggars belief.
I see your point but it's a little different. I didn't see the Fulham match or their tweet so I can only reply based on the info you've provided, and it seems like Fulham have every right to pull him up for that if the player was clearly injured. In Carney's case, it was her opinion, albeit a ridiculous one. For the record I don't think our club did anything wrong in their tweet putting the record straight, it was the neanderthal reaction from some of our supporters that is the problem, some of the messages she got were vile. Was the pile on driven by the club's tweet ? That's debatable, but some of our fans are a disgrace and that my friend, is a fact.
I thought we were 2nd best for most of the first half and nothing clicked into place. The Saints put in a shift as well. (must of told too as they laid on the grass quite alot throughout the game lol). but 2nd half they couldn't keep that intensity up. we went up a gear and everything then seemed to click into place. I thought Kiko didn't do to bad and these two games will put him back in the shop window which is good for the club overall. Great to see Bera back don't think he did anything wrong in his 2nd half cameo. Really don't know what to do Sunday don't have a ticket but I have itchy feet on going to the ground hoping to see the boys after the game. Not going to lie I will have a tear in my eye after the game. Pablo deserves a proper send off it's heart breaking how its went for him this season but I guess that's football sometimes. That goal at Swansea last season is probably one of my most passionate celebrations. Thank you Pablo THANKYOU for everything.
