Good Morning. It's Monday 21st March, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road Last gasp Ayling strike completes Leeds remarkable comeback Leeds produced a sensational second half comeback at Molineux on Friday night as the Whites came from two-nil down to take maximum points, and move seven points clear of the drop zone with eight to play. Speculation was rife before the game that Raphinha had Covid, and would miss proceedings, but that turned out to be the least of Jesse Marsch's problems as one by one, Bamford, Llorente, Klich and even Meslier had to be helped from the pitch, unable to continue. Leeds started brightly, and could have gone ahead early on, but Bamford only found the side netting, whilst James blazed over the crossbar. Disaster struck on 22 minutes when Bamford overstretched, trying to latch on to Rodrigo's through ball. In doing so, the one time England striker dropped to the ground, writhing in agony; and had to be replaced by Sam Greenwood. I'm sure most of us would have expected to see Gelhardt, but as he was recovering from a back injury, it was thought Greenwood would be the better option. A few minutes later Wolves were ahead. Trincao burst down the right wing, before pulling the ball back for Jonny. The Spanish defender calmly side footed the ball into the corner of the net, past the despairing dive of Meslier, to open his account for the season. Llorente and Klich (back and possible concussion) were the next to fall by the wayside, and were duly replaced by Koch and Cresswell, before fifteen minutes of injury time. Wolves doubled their advantage, eleven minutes into stoppage time. It was almost a carbon copy of their opener. This time, Podence pulled the ball back to the edge of the 'D' Trincao had time to take a touch before blasting the ball into the far corner to double their advantage at the break. The game turned on its head, early in the second half, when Meslier raced out of his area to clear a loose ball, and was clattered by Raul Jimenez. The Mexican collected his second yellow card of the game, and was sent for an early bath. Meslier was unable to continue, and had to be substituted for Norwegian U21 International Klaesson. Now down to ten men, Wolves began to panic, and Leeds took full advantage. Their persistence paid off on the hour mark. Saiss misjudged the flight of Koch's lofted pass, as Ayling raced beyond the left back. He chested the ball down, before firing first time at Sa's goal. The ball rebounded off the post, and into the path of Jack Harrison, who helped himself to his fifth goal of the season. Leeds were not done there. There found themselves level, just three minutes later. Ayling's long pass into the Wolves box found Dan James. His chipped volley crashed against the woodwork, but the Welsh ace retrieved the ball, delivering a speculative ball back into the box. A Wolves defender was robbed of the ball by Greenwood, after a failed clearance, and was punished after the youngster turned his man. Racing in, Rodrigo nicked the ball off his teammate and just as many thought he may have over run the ball, delivered a rasping shot across goal which was turned in by Conor Coady. Both teams had chances to deliver a fatal blow, but it was the visitors who proved more hungry (and deserving). Leeds had a dangerous free kick, early into injury time. The delivery was overcooked, but Ayling kept the ball alive heading it back, back into the danger zone. Whilst Struijk was trying to get control of the ball, Ayling nipped in, turned and blasted it, straight through the back of the net, sending the 3000 Leeds faithful into euphoria. Five goals, four injuries, a sending off, 25 minutes of injury time, and a touch line dust up - just another day in the office for Leeds!!! please log in to view this image Rest, recuperate and build individuals up There's an interesting piece in the Athletic this morning detailing what Jesse Marsch's plans are during the International break. According to Phil Hay, whilst the stamina of the players are not in question, Marsch plans to work more on the tactical side of the game, and less on the gruelling fitness regime's installed by his predecessor:- "Jesse Marsch is only just in the building and he’s had four games in the space of 14 days so this will be an opportunity for him to settle into the training ground properly, assess everything more closely and do some concerted work with the players who aren’t away for international games. There will be some downtime too because the past month has been extremely intense between his appointment, the sacking of Marcelo Bielsa and some draining results." "There’s no shortage of things for Marsch to get into, considering the tactical changes Leeds are undergoing after the Bielsa era. The formation, the pressing and the general approach are noticeably different to Bielsa’s style and Marsch has had limited time on the training pitch so far. But fitness is another major thing to focus on — not the stamina of the players because Bielsa maintained extremely high standards of intensity but the management of those who are trying to get over injuries. This is a valuable period to rest, recuperate and build individuals up." please log in to view this image
Morning all The Wolves game is certainly one that will stick in my mind for a long time to come, it certainly was a strange one and I've exhausted all I've got to say about it apart from a very welcomed three points and I am glad we have a break
Well, a great weekend, Leeds, Broncos and Lions all winners. Oh and the cricket is going OK and France won
Some rest days for the players is a good idea especially at this stage of the season. Just hope they're not all on the Klich diet of beer & pizza that's all. Does anyone know who's on international duty (inc U21's etc) ?
Morning all. I was of the opinion that we needed a change. I don't know exactly why we were being hammered by everyone but I lost a little faith when, in a post match interview, Bielsa said that he had tried a defensive formation in the first half and we'd conceded 3 goals. He went back to his formation and we only conceded 1 in the 2nd half. My problem with that was that it wasn't what I wanted to hear from the man pulling the strings. If you didn't think it would work then why did you do it? After the Liverpool game where we huffed and puffed while they ran rings around us without breaking a sweat I thought we were definitely going down. I was uninspired by the appointment of JM. I didn't see any credentials apart from pleasing the 49ers. I'm going to eat humble pie. He's given this team some teeth. Bielsa is an honourable man and we are an honourable team. Wolves fans asked why Struijk didn't complain when given a yellow for Jiminez dive? Because that's how he's been taught. Players are getting stuck in now and rattling some cages which is exactly what we need to get out of the ****. I was concerned when Villa beat us so easily but I wasn't being fair. He hadn't had very much time with the team. A manager is judged by results and he's got them. Some may disagree but I don't think we'd have beaten Norwich or Wolves with Bielsa. That is just my opinion after the horrible month we'd had leading up to it. We haven't really played much better so far, the passing is still woeful and we're still like headless chickens in the final third but I do think we look better defensively. I'm pretty confident we'll stay up now so he gets a big tick.
Good Morning from a sunny Bardsey What a week we witnesssed the greatest jump jockey I have ever seen win the gold cup giving a superlative displaywinning by 14 lengths those I must say not all the jockeys were pleased not congratulating her a wonder woman who is so modest about her achievements Then we got 2 wins in a row I don't think that anyother team would comeback afterlosing 4 injured players.It just shows what team spirit Bielsa brought about .This in total contrast to Everton who were great for the first 20 minutes but then totally fell a part .THEY lack leadership and unless something improves will get relegated Finally anyone watch Jayne Macdonald at Whitbywill seeher having a meal at the Magpie which she decribed as you only after follow the crowds to know a good thingand of her meal she said it was fabulous.I am going soon
Everton boss Frank Lampard speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live: “Average. Average performance. Average cup tie in that we allowed them to win 4-0 when the way we played it should never have been a 4-0. “We allowed goals to go in, we allowed our heads to go down, 4000 fans travelled down to watch the game. “We started really well for 20 minutes and we controlled the game. The first or second time they got out of their half they score. Players heads go down and then the second goal we’re a little bit off and they score. The third goal’s an absolute fluke, ‘oh they’ve scored again’ and that’s in-game character. “We didn’t show enough. It’s the quarter-final, we didn’t show enough. “It was a theme before I got here. We’d won one in 14 games before I got here. It’s more than a theme, it’s character.
Everton boss Frank Lampard speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live: “Average. Average performance. Average cup tie in that we allowed them to win 4-0 when the way we played it should never have been a 4-0. “We allowed goals to go in, we allowed our heads to go down, 4000 fans travelled down to watch the game. “We started really well for 20 minutes and we controlled the game. The first or second time they got out of their half they score. Players heads go down and then the second goal we’re a little bit off and they score. The third goal’s an absolute fluke, ‘oh they’ve scored again’ and that’s in-game character. “We didn’t show enough. It’s the quarter-final, we didn’t show enough. “It was a theme before I got here. We’d won one in 14 games before I got here. It’s more than a theme, it’s character.
Hopefully Lampard has now lost the dressing room thefatfuk. Everton have some great players and they all earn a big wage. Frank brought in Delli Ali big mistake and looks like Donny VdB is also a huge mistake. Hope they go down
Totaaly disagree with Lampards assessment they lacked bottle team spirit and the willingness to fightthe cause yes I can see disaster on the horizon Burnley know how to escapeand yes Charlie Taylor would be a good re[placement for Fripo
