Good Morning. It's Tuesday 19th April, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road Bamford faces race against time for season finale After rupturing his plantar fascia against Wolves a month ago, Leeds Striker Patrick Bamford faces a race against time to overcome his latest setback. He has barely kicked a ball since pulling his hamstring during Leeds 1-1 draw at St James' Park, back in September of last year. He returned as a second half substitute against Brentford, but injured himself during a goal celebration in the dying seconds of the game. His latest injury was thought to spell the end of his 21-22 season, but according to Jesse Marsch, he is on track to return to action, against the Seagulls on the 15th May. Leeds find themselves eight points, and two places clear of the drop zone with six to play (7 for Burley and 8 for Everton). It will be a massive boost if Bamford is fit to play against Brighton and Brentford, though it is hoped Leeds will be mathematically safe by then. please log in to view this image Firpo fit to face Eagles There's better news on the fitness front for Junior Firpo. It was thought his season would be over after being stretchered off with a knee injury at Villa Park at the beginning of March. The former Barcelona defender has made a great recovery, and even retuned to training a week ago. He'll be fit to start against Crystal Palace next Monday if selected. please log in to view this image Being at Leeds was like being in a washing machine Former fitness coach Benoit Delaval has been talking to Phil Hay about his time at Elland Road. The Interview took place days before Jesse Marsch outburst on talkSPORT, yet, afterwards, Hay asked the Frenchman whether he wanted to respond to Marsch's comments, Delaval refused to comment as there was nothing to be gained by getting into a war of words with the American (Hay also commented it was not Delaval's style to get involved). Delaval had worked under Bielsa during his reign at French outfit Lille, and was only too happy to swap the Northern Region of 'Hauts-de-France' for West Yorkshire on Marcelo Bielsa's say so, back in the Summer of 2018. He looks back at his time at Elland Road with fondness and Happy memories, proud to have been part of something special over his time at Leeds Utd. “Being at Leeds was like being in a washing machine, turning you round and round,” he says. “You keep being spun, over and over again. And then, one day, it stops and it’s so strange. You’re at home, and you don’t know what to do. You drop off your children at school and you pick them up. In between, you try to keep busy. But there is something missing.” “I couldn’t watch the first three games after we had been sacked,” “It’s difficult to explain how it felt. The first three games were against Leicester, Aston Villa and Norwich, and the only way I can describe it is that I was not ready to watch. “It was the first time I had ever been fired — I was still so emotionally involved. “It was strange and frustrating to be out of the club. I knew the games were on, but it was too difficult for me to watch. So my family watched the games downstairs while I stayed upstairs and did some work on my PhD (doctorate).” “The idea was to be as fit as possible, and fitter than our opponents,” “We wanted to be a proactive team. The idea was to impose our football on the opponents, rather than the other way round. We worked a lot. If we weren’t able to make a difference from a technical or tactical point of view, we knew there might be a moment when our physical qualities could help us win a game. We had a demanding style. And it was important for us to be the fittest team in the league.” “I have so many memories,”. “When I go back to my first season with Leeds, I think about the time we were losing 2-0 to Aston Villa at half-time and came back to win 3-2, with Kemar Roofe scoring the winner in added time. That was very satisfying because if we didn’t have a good fitness level it would have been difficult to lift our game like that from two goals down." “I remember us going to Birmingham City (in December 2019) and winning 5-4 and, again, it told us a lot about the team. Birmingham made it 4-4 after 90 minutes (had been played). We scored the winning goal in the last minute of added time. This was something special, too.” please log in to view this image
I'd rather not risk Bamford if we are safe. Only in an emergency. Hope Firpo fails a fitness test. Doesn't every team aim to be the fittest in the league? So many great memories from Bielsa's team. Some absolute cracking wins and some heartwrenching losses. It was mental.
Hopefully we’ll be safe by the time Bamford plays in the last two games. He can then show he’s fully recovered. And then we can sell the half man half biscuit - no room for injury-prone players in a small squad. As for Firpo being available for selection, well that ruined my morning. No point in playing him just to put him in the shop window - the games are too important. Get rid asap.
Good morning and there you have it from a member of bielsas elite staff. They were not able to use tactics... Unbelievable to think a so called genius did not try these new fangled methods. The team talk must have gone like this.... Ok boys same as last week..... Chaaarrrgge. Surely marsch will change the way we play to suit the opposition. He must have got a good idea how palace play by now. I am predicting if we do well against them we will go on and survive easily. I my opinion we are safe already and its between Burnley and Everton who go down. Watford and norwich have gone. Bielsa would never have got us in the top six with his total lack of tactics. We beat man city last season because the lads played their own game.
I like the Firpo comment. Carried of on a stretcher and then suddenly rises at Easter. I tell you the man is made of chocolate.
Bamford cost us little in fees so will be kept next season. I Believe he already has the coaches ear along with Cooper. True we need a proper striker to climb the league.
what he said was “If we weren’t able to make a difference from a technical or tactical point of view, we knew there might be a moment when our physical qualities could help us win a game. We had a demanding style. And it was important for us to be the fittest team in the league” I’d interpret this as them seeing it as an edge, not the only edge. Ie on the days where the tactics weren’t tipping the balance, the extra fitness might.
Morning all… As I watch this season start to fizzle to an end, I start to wonder what players might sign and who might leave. It doesn’t excite me like our seasons under Bielsa, not because Bielsa was better, not because I think Marsch will do a poor job but the reality that even £30m doesn’t buy you much. Unless you have a billionaire owner the PL isn’t much fun, I’d rather be in it than out of it but we’ll all be using Wiki come the end of the season. A few of us will build the unknown signing up because we supposedly beat 54 other teams to him, a few of us will moan it’s underwhelming or why that position.
I get what you’re saying Ristac but there are exceptions to the rule, like Raphinha for £17m. Still had to wiki him though
Probably the biggest disappointment for me, over the last 12 months was the summer recruitment. We had a great first season, but most of us knew we needed to build on the squad, more importantly improve the first 11, being one of the division paupers we also knew it was only going to be 2 or 3 signings, which is fine but the club had to get them right, unfortunately we didn't. Now we're in a position where we are most likely going to lose Raphinha and Phillips, which this time means we're going to need at least 6 new signings, the fees we get for those 2 should cover that but I don't trust Orta to get it right with the new players required whether Marsch gets any input and has a list I've no idea but hopefully he has and it works out otherwise next season could be worse than this one.
