Good Morning. It's Tuesday 8th November, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road Leeds have looked mediocre for 18 months In a damning article in the Athletic this Morning, Elland Road journalist Phil Hay has laid into the Leeds board, claiming the squad have been mediocre for the last year and a half, and have lost their right to be looked upon as genuine top flight material. He also criticises the board for refusing to accept their shortcomings for which there have been many. Hay also begs the question whether the relationship between the ER faithful have deteriorated that much, that a parting of the ways is the only solution (and with respect, I can't see the ER faithful going anywhere!) Radrizzani has done a fantastic job in stabilising the ship, but has he taken the club as far as he can? Leeds, unfortunately, have looked like a mediocre side for a year and a half now. And they are so far on from the best of Marcelo Bielsa’s tenure that they can no longer claim to be here by design. What they face is a battle to demonstrate what comes next and explain to people why they should believe the promises. But where Orta is concerned, nuance has gone out of the discussion. The grey areas have disappeared, which is the game in a nutshell. Leeds, for their part, are not good at admitting fallibility. In judging Orta, I find myself on the fence, inclined to wonder if this is all bigger than him. The relationship between the crowd and the board at Leeds has been in decline for a while and that is usually when criticism becomes most vociferous, when the appetite for change starts to grow. One of the problems, from this vantage point anyway, is that the prospect of change is not a figment of the imagination. The possibility is there, precisely because Radrizzani and Leeds’ minority shareholder, 49ers Enterprises, have been in a holding pattern where a future transfer of ownership is made to feel inevitable. please log in to view this image Where did it all go wrong The date was 23rd May 2021, and Leeds had just beaten West Brom, courtesy of goals from Rodrigo, Phillips and Bamford. Not only had we just earned a fourth successive win, but Marcelo Bielsa had secured a ninth place finish in the top flight of English football. Euphoria swept across West Yorkshire as Leeds fans dared to dream of what the club had in store next for their long-suffering fans. When you're riding on the crest of a wave, it's a lot easier to continue the journey; unfortunately, the club decided to jump off and just enjoy the swell. Consolidation is one thing, but if you are standing still, your competition will eat you up! That Summer, the club (Bielsa included) were happy to rest on their laurels. They made Jack Harrison's move permanent, and Bielsa bought in Junior Firpo and Dan James, expecting to coast to another top half finish. Bielsa's training methods were brutal. Not only did it shorten the player's sustainability, but their bodies would soon begin to break-down as we would soon find out. Last season we saw unprecedented injuries. Players were dropping like flies, as their bodies finally gave in to the harsh daily work-outs that they were put through. Due to a lack of investment that Summer, there was little Leeds could do to plug the gaps. Looking back, the audacity of the decision makers not to buy another striker that Summer (in case Bamford got injured) is difficult even now to understand, but to then refuse signings the following January transfer window is incomprehensible! In truth, Marsch had an uphill battle, both clearing the decks and bringing in enough new talent to stem the tide. It's going to take another couple of transfer windows to rid the club of the stragglers, and start again. Whether the club can sustain it, is another matter! please log in to view this image Gnonto - the strongest 19yo I've ever seen Football pundit Garth Crooks hailed Wilfried Gnonto's performance against Bournemouth at the weekend, claiming, he's the strongest 19yo he's ever seen. “Jesse Marsch must take some credit for this exciting comeback,” “The Leeds manager made important changes to a side that was struggling and those changes worked especially Wilfred Gnonto – who looks like the strongest 19-year-old I’ve ever seen,” please log in to view this image
Morning all Lots to agree with in the Hay article. Yes it was the summer before last where we didn’t improve the squad. £100m spent the summer before for our first prem season then just Firpo and James which turned out to be a waste of money anyway. A season abusing the young starlets of the 23s which caused them to be relegated, the U18s also had a dire season as they were plugging gaps in the 23s. The whole season was a disaster for the whole club. Survived relegation just and as a fan it was a nightmare. And now to see us still not buy a striker or a LB is criminal. How do we get the money the team needs, because the 49ers and Radz don’t have it. Sir Jim Ratcliffe who is linked to buying Man Utd is now also linked to buying Liverpool, come on Jim buy a one city one team club and do what you are trying to do at Nice. Failing another rich buyer coming in we will drift about without big investment
Morning all I can't believe I am agreeing with Phil Hay, it's only taken him a few months to catch up with everyone It went wrong because of the success Bielsa brought to the club. Remember Monk left as he didn't want a director of football dictating signings, yet we brought in Bielsa, and we listened to every request he had. It was however totally understandable and when we were winning the championship so easily who would have thought Bielsa should not have had the control he did Bielsa was like a magician working with the group he inherited but the majority of the signings since we have been in the PL under Bielsa were poor or not really needed. We activated Cosa's loan, we activated Harrison's loan, we brought in Poveda and James, we signed Rodrigo as a replacement for Bamford then tried squeezing Rodrigo into a squad due to the fact we needed Bamford for the "other stuff" It went wrong because we are halfhearted when it comes to a director of football, we brought into Bielsa's style and gave him too much say then Jesse comes along so we invest £100m into his style as he couldn't work with the majority of the Bielsa signings. When it was time for Bielsa to go I find it even more strange that we have replaced him with someone who has a completely different style of playing.
Morning all gnonto reminds me of wayne rooney who was a man and strong at the same age. Before anyone points out they play in different positions i was only comparing stature. So phil hay has been reading my posts after all just as i suspected.
It does seem youth are getting more of an opportunity under Marsch. Darko Gyabi (18), Leo Hjelde (19), Archie Gray(16), Willy Gnonto (19) Mateo Joseph (19), Joe Gelhardt (20) and Cry Summervile (21) have all been involved with the first team this season thus far. Now we hear, Alfie McCalmont & Keenan Carole have been training with the first team.
Are Southampton idiots or an inspired board of directors. Nathan Jones did a great job at Luton first time around and got them up to the Championship, but Stoke City found out after 38 games that he was actually shyt and had a win ratio of only 15% compared to the 50% he had at Luton. He went back to Luton but has only got a 40% win ratio this time so not pulling up any trees. What makes Southampton think he is able to take them to premier league safety and premier league security for the future?
On the subject of Stoke City a serious question. They are owned by real billionaires and have been for years. Tony Pullis was in charge for years and got them up to the premier league and kept them there for years and years. The owners then thought as well as the fans, that they deserve to be in Europe so sacked Pullis and ever since they pulled the trigger they have gone backwards and were relegated and been in the championship for years now. My question is this: are the owners happier been in the Championship and not even competing to get promoted, do they see that not getting involved in star players, big wages etc makes them more money and not have the pressure of dealing with the whole superstar, promotion thing?
Doc. i think the board at Southampton are doing a descent job, we have only two more teams to fill in the other relegation spots.
Looking back it certainly looks like bielsa was better at improving players than picking them. But I think it’s a rough with the smooth thing. We bought into the project, accepted the parking space bollox etc in order for him to stay onside. It worked… until it didn’t. Re playing styles though, I can’t agree Risty. No one has a playing style the same as bielsa’s. I don’t see that marsch couldn’t work with bielsa’s signings. We were just short of players. You don’t buy players just to play a certain formation, you buy a type of player. Bielsa played a high intensity high pressing game looking to hit sides in transition. Marsch does the same. The press is structured differently but it’s still a high press. Ignoring man 2 man all over the pitch which no one other than bielsa does, the Main difference is a preference to width in attack v narrow and vertical. So you can certainly argue we don’t need the trad wingers that bielsa loved but you can also argue that some of that is more about tactical positioning than type of player. Both coaches commit a lot of players forward.
Bournemouth seems to be the team dropping like a stone after the new manager bounce. Hopefully they’ll take up another of the spots.
Bielsa's success also contributed to his downfall. The man marking system and high press was great, but when the team desperately needed a plan B, Bielsa refused. Even when his back was against the wall, he would not deviate an inch.
So really then the DOF / Bielsa model should have worked. Maybe Marcelo should have stayed out of the decision making on the signing of players, let Orta get on with it and work to his own strengths. Problem was that the personality of the player also meant a lot to him.
Towards the end it didn’t seem to if reports were to be believed with regards to Bielsa turning down Orta’s targets and we didn’t seem to strengthen well second season in. As all said, when he joined he basically worked with what he had and transformed them.
