Good Morning. It's Monday 3rd January, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road Leeds kick off New Year in style Leeds started the New Year in style with a 3-1 win over local rivals Burnley, in front of a packed out, albeit rains soaked Elland Road. To say the game was open would be an understatement. Continual wave after wave of attacks from one end to the other added to the excitement, yet was detrimental on the blood pressure. There were numerous chances in the first half before the deadlock was broken including an audacious chip from the halfway line courtesy of Raphinha which had Wayne Hennessey scrambling back to his goal-mouth. Leeds took the lead five minutes before the interval. Harrison robbed Tarkowski of the ball, deep in their own half and ran in on goal, with the Clarets defender in hot pursuit. Although his first effort was blocked by the 34yo shot stopper, his second attempt squeezed passed Hennessey at his near post. Burnley started the second half brightly, and were soon level. Cornet's 30 yard free kick flew past Meslier like a rocket, giving him little chance to react. Although a keeper of Meslier's stature should not have been beaten from such a distance, the wall Leeds assembled was poor. Cornet has scored six goals in his eight starts for Burnley this season, and has an impressive 7.04 rating. Leeds had identified the Ivory Coast International as a realistic target last Summer, yet did not make an offer. Leeds retook the lead on 77 minutes with a well rehearsed set piece. A short corner worked its way to Dallas on the edge of the area. He bent the ball into the far side corner with perfect execution. Whilst the Elland Road crowd were sent into jubilation, it looked as if the life had been sucked out of Sean Dyche's men. The hosts rubbed salt into Burnley's wounds in injury time with a third. Man of the Match, Dallas turned on the style before feeding Gelhardt down the right channel. The 19yo sent a long ball deep inside the Burnley penalty area, and there was Dan James who rose highest to nod the ball home, for his second goal of this campaign. please log in to view this image Klich back to his old self Leeds journalist Phil Hay heaped praise on Leeds midfielder Mateusz Klich after his performance yesterday against Burrnley. The 31yo gave his best performance of the season, and along with Dallas worked tirelessly as the integral cogs, linking defence to attack. "I also thought Klich had a very good game - much more like his old self, linking everything and getting involved in everything. Gelhardt looks like he’ll get better and better. There’s real electricity when he gets on the ball." please log in to view this image Leeds join race to sign Marseille midfielder Leeds have joined the race to sign Marseille defensive midfielder Boubacar Kamara. The 22yo has been part of structure at the Stade Velodrome, since the age of six. He has made over 100 first team appearances and has represented France in every age group from U17. His contract expires at the end of the season making him a hot commodity. Teams from all around Europe are waiting to pounce. He turned Newcastle down last Summer, but it is believed they will try again during the January transfer window. It is believed a 10m offer may tempt the Ligue 1 outfit to part with their protégé. please log in to view this image
Morning all, Well let's hope that is a sign of the year to come. Still not at full strength but as close to a Bielsa Leeds performance as we have seen this season so far. One thing that stuck out for me early on was how clear it was we have better players than Burnley but yesterday we also out worked them. Our pressing was excellent and we were getting to second balls better than any game I've seen this season. Eight points clear of relegation now. That means we have to lose three games and one of the bottom three have to win three games to catch us. We have only lost three games in a row under Bielsa once and that was last month when there were a number of well documented extenuating circumstances. Plus looking at the teams below is most of them haven't registered three wins, let alone three in a row. Is it time to start looking up rather than down?
My main worry about the hammering at Man City and at home to Arsenal was the impact on the squads confidence. Against Arsenal they all looked totally dejected and many fans were questioning Bielsa's position. Things like that can affect players mindsets and I was worried that mentally we were on a downward spiral. The cancellation of Liverpool and Villa were perfect timing and allowed our players time to recharge and regroup. Credit has to go to Bielsa and the coaching staff for keeping spirits high enough to play like they did yesterday. The players turned up and played very bravely considering the recent maulings. It certainly makes me look up the table rather than down. Also looking at the table I reckon 30 points might be enough to stay up this season. We've got 19 at the halfway point and some decent fixtures coming up.
Morning all yesterday lifted the weight off and it was a very well deserved victory and in fairness the game could have been put to bed before half time. Thats been one of the problems this season because we go one up and miss countless chances to extend the league. We have then been pegged back and lost points. Yesterday we broke the spell when they equalised and we stepped on the gas to blow them away. Felt great for Bielsa as he deserved that and also felt great for some players who have been whipping boys recently. Koch, Firpo, Dallas, Klich had fantastic games and all were MoM contenders. We need troops and cannot rely on getting the hospital ward emptied until March, so a new young left wing back wanted for the 23s who is able to cover Firpo. A top midfielder who can play DM and AM and maybe striker
How good was Koch today? Looked very comfortable up against Wood and just seemed so calm in the centre of defence. Hopefully we will see the player we thought he could be going further into the season
Just a midfielder for me. We just need a bit more strength centrally in case Dallas and particularly Klich don't consistently up their form. Hopefully yesterday is the start of an uptick in form for the both of them.
The kid Kamara oozes quality and I fear that he will be too rich for us. He is out of contract in the summer so fee is no problem, but he is wanted by top clubs in Italy France Spain Germany and as a freebie in the summer will massive wage. He is only 22 yet played well over 100 games for OM. He has played 50 times for France at all age groups including U21s. He has been at OM since he was 5 and captained the U19s in a cup triumph. He is quality Why Leeds when you live in the South of France and can go play in sunny climes anywhere? Well Bielsa was the boss of OM and is still a legend there. Present OM manager is also a Bielsa disciple and has followed Bielsa 3 times in jobs. Most players want to play in the Premier League and fish and chips in Yorkshire is ……
The only worry there Emu is that Dallas, Klich and Forshaw are all over 30yo and Klich is 32ish, we also have an ageing Cooper, so we need to start to planning for these players to be very good subs. Klich will probably be in Poland next season anyway and not forgetting Ayling who is also in the 30 club
Morning all klich used his experience yesterday but sadly lacks pace. We were playing Burnley who look to be slow at the back. Let's see what side bieksa puts out at the bubble blowers. Dallas and koch were my picks for mom. I would not mess with the line up for the cup as we only have one game a week coming up. I do not believe we will sign a striker as bamford is due back. A left back would be good unless we have one in the u23s?. A midfielder with pace is needed we are so short there. Bate made the matchday experience bench yesterday but never gets a go. Roberts should have got two goals and just cannot finish. It's like employing a decorater who can't gloss. Lets face it guys the Burnley side you saw yesterday is going down as they are not prem standard. Brighton have moved up the table nicely. What is their secret because surely Leeds have more spending power.
Klich i think will be gone but dallas still has the desire and fitness. We have u23s drilled in the club way of playing.
I agree but replacing those players would be easier in the summer market. I'm specifically talking this month. A midfielder is a bare minimum. Cooper has already been replaced with Koch, Llorente, Struijk and emerging Cresswell. As Cooper runs out of time in a year or two, Cresswell will be turning 21 or 22 and will just step in. I'm hoping Forshaw is a young 30 because of the two years he sat on his arse. His game is not reliant on pace. That should give Bate time to emerge. Klich is the one that needs replacing in the transfer market and soon. We need a dynamic energetic lad. Conor Gallagher was perfect.
Morning all It was a must win and we did, like Emu pointed out, the two cancelled games were absolutely huge for us, now two weeks break for Bamford and Rodrigo to get back to fitness (although I’d like us to at least try in the FA cup a loss isn’t going to impact the table).
I can see West ham putting out a much weaker side than we will. A fight for top 4 and still in Europe is where their priorities will be. A strongish side for us could see us through.
Why are Brighton doing well compared to us and our better buying power? The answer is coaching and not having half the team out injured. Brighton and Wolves are exactly where we should be but our bad luck with injuries hurt us
Two things, first squad size https://www.brightonandhovealbion.com/teams/mens-team Second we do overate players and allow past reputation to cloud judgement. Take Klich 6 good games at the start of last season, it’s been over 30 games since he hit some form, one good game yesterday and it’s all roses, he isn’t good enough simple as. Roberts, I don’t care what he does off the ball, goals win games, he is a passenger in that department, Rodrigo another who is living on the form of the last 4 games of last season. I don’t mind players having a tricky spell but when you are talking over 50% of a season playing pretty poor then they’re not good enough. Yes injuries but they’re part of the game, when you have a small squad and you can ill afford to drop a player out the limelight this is what happens
Morning all. Absolutely buzzing after the game yesterday. There were so many positives. We won the aerial battle and didn't give them much to feed on up front. We were playing 3 at the back and didn't have Kalvin. I'm a fan of Cooper but the way Llorente and Koch played he'll struggle to get back in. We have LB cover with Struijk. I know he won't make the runs that Firpo does but I thought he did well when he played there. I thought that was Firpo's best game yet. Llorente and Ayling carrying the ball out of defence really tested Burnley. I'm sure Dyche set them up to cut out the wide ball clearance which opened up huge gaps in the middle. As good as we were it was mainly because Burnley were very poor. We wouldn't have had so much space going forward against even mid table sides but add Kalvin and we're much better. I think when Kalvin gets back that Forshaw will move further forward which will mean that Klich misses out anyway. I know Roberts missed a couple of chances yesterday but he's been one of our best players over recent games. I know many won't agree but he's definitely improving and he is still young. Gelhardt is going to be a star. The way he drives into the box committing defenders he's going to get loads of pens. I think we'll give the Hammers a real test. I hope he puts out a strong side. The free kick should have gone against Cornet as he was all over Llorente
I would like to know who is our goalkeeping coach? Does Meslier know how to set walls up? Keeper Positioning? Study the opposition free kick takers, Cornet is left footed, Meslier position was poor. Taking into account the lad is very young and needs the finer details implementing from an experienced ex keeper.
Morning all. We were playing Burnley so please remember that when singing everyone's praises about yesterday That said it was a great win and at the end of the day that was the most important thing.
