Good Morning. It's Monday 19th December, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road Has Rodrigo earned a new contract Good strikers are a rare commodity, even in the Premier League. Finding one, that can put in the ball in the back of the net on a consistent basis can be both, a lottery, and a very expensive exercise. Leeds have been fortunate enough this season, that they can rely on Rodrigo. The 31yo has been on fire since pre-season, netting a total of 15 times (which includes his cool finish against Real Sociedad on Friday evening). The league is what matters, and with 9 finishes and one assist, the Spaniard is fast become the go-to guy to get Leeds out of trouble. Without his input, Jesse Marsch would almost certainly find himself back in Wisconsin, looking for another job, not to mention their periless position in the league. How has Marsch managed to get goals from Rodrigo on a consistent basis, when Bielsa couldn't? With 18 months left on his contract, (by which time he'll be 33) has he done enough to earn himself a contract extension? please log in to view this image Next 8 games are crucial Although the victories over Elche and Real Sociedad have been a welcome distraction from the hustle and bustle of the Premier League, we need to remember that the visit of Manchester City is just over a week away. If that's not difficult enough, their upcoming fixtures in the next couple of months should cause concern. In their next eight games, Leeds face three clubs in the top five, three relegation six-pointers, and difficult, yet winnable games against Aston Villa and Brentford Manchester City (H) Newcastle Utd (A) West Ham (H) Aston Villa (A) Brentford (H) Nottingham Forest (A) Manchester Utd (H) Everton (A) We all know the problems that Manchester City will offer, but we also need to remember that Newcastle have only lost once this season, and are third in the table. West Ham and Everton are both currently one point below the Whites, with Nottingham Forest two behind. They maybe everyone's favourites to go down, but Steve Cooper's team have 8 points from their last five games, including victories over Liverpool and Crystal Palace (and credible draws against Brighton and Brentford). Aston Villa and Brentford could go either way, whilst we always seem to bottle it against Manchester Utd. How many points can you see from our next eight games? How long has Marsch got to turn things around? please log in to view this image
Morning all. Not looking at upcoming fixtures to closely personally as recently our best performances have been against the supposed better teams. We know it'll be a struggle as we've seen over last season and a half we don't seem capable of putting three wins together which would get us to hell away from the bottom half of the table
Would love to sign Cunha but as usual West Ham, Everton and Newcastle are also sniffing but Wolves will probably get him. prefer not to look at the next 8 fixtures as there are no easy games in this league and there is still a false look to the table right now as West Ham will climb the league easily and so too will Wolves under Lopertegi and even Everton could do something as they are now able to spend on a top striker. I think when we see the league table after those 8 fixtures it will decide the fate of the manager and the club this season.
Last season we got 7 points from the 12 games in what I considered to be around the mid point of the fixtures (this is based upon a discussion in pre season on points and position after 16 games). Back at the start of August, I think I said I could see a maximum of 11 points from those 12 games, I have now upgraded that to a maximum of 13 points, which means on the 8 fixtures listed by Ell, I can see 8 points as being our maximum points total for those 8 games, with at worse a total of 5 points. This has us finishing potentially anywhere between 40 and 43 points (42-46 was my prediction at the start of the season)
Seems to be a good shout and plenty of logic. My fear however this season is that the 3 clubs who came up were supposed to be favs for relegation fight. However Bournemouth did well and and may stay outside the zone until later in the season and Fulham have and are doing great. It’s feasible to see Leeds drop into the relegation zone unless we do average more than a point per game. We have to hope the clubs around us fare as bad or worse than us. I have a feeling averaging a point per game will not be enough this season
Morning all World Cup now over back to the important ****. Has Rodrigo earned a new contract? Yes or no it really doesn't matter to me. He's 31 years old and there are better and younger rappers on the come up. We spent £30 milli on him. I want to sell him and get some money back off him.
Manchester City (H) LOSE Newcastle Utd (A) LOSE West Ham (H) DRAW Aston Villa (A) LOSS Brentford (H) WIN Nottingham Forest (A) DRAW Manchester Utd (H) LOSE Everton (A) DRAW 6 points
Manchester City (H) LOSE Newcastle Utd (A) LOSE West Ham (H) WIN Aston Villa (A) DRAW Brentford (H) WIN Nottingham Forest (A) WIN Manchester Utd (H) DRAW Everton (A) WIN 14 points and a charge for Europe.
Think it all depends on how the break has affected each team. I hope Man City beat Liverpool in the Cup, so that they are not having to prove a point, against us. I reckon we can get something out of all the matches, but realistically if we got 12 points I’d be delighted. Hopefully we won’t get less than 10. Hopefully the youngsters are all keen to impress, when given the chance, and Rodger’s and Cry have their scoring boots on. It’d also be nice if a few others would score a few. MOT
Going to be interesting now. I have a feeling that the second half of the season is going to be totally different now that the World Cup is over, players not worrying about getting picked for their country’s, or worrying about getting injured and missing out, plus whatever it took out of players away at the tournament. I can’t think beyond Man City and what a fresh and hungry Erling Haaland might do to our central defenders
Whilst that would be wonderful it's not how we do things down at LS11 and to be honest if i didn't know better I'd say you've been at the sherry. The more likely outcome is around 9 points and I'd happily take them now if offered
Have to disagree with you there Rich as I've been saying for while that Rodrigo wiil be one of those players that improves with age. He's our next Pablo Hernadez and that's why I'd offer him a 2 year extension now and try to get him signed up.
I don't think that's quite right. Pablo was a creator, ok he scored some as well, but his main asset was seeing the pass and the accuracy of that pass. Rodrigo is a goal scorer and will, like the rest of us, slow with age. In 3.5 years time he will be 34/35 and while this wasn't old for Pablo I'm not sure, with a few obvious exceptions, it is a good age for a striker. I'd like to be proved wrong but with limited funds is this really the best bang for your buck option?
Agree, we should sell Rodrigo while he's worth something. We need an out-and-out striker, not a second striker (Buying back Wood should absolutely NOT be an option). We have never replaced Pablo either, so we really need a creative midfielder too. And of course, we need a left back too.
Fair observations, however I'm not sure Rodrigo game is overly reliant on pace. What were seeing now is his experience and movements putting him in the right place at the right time.
Interesting view though I tend to agree with Ristac, let him run down his contract, he’ll be 33 and 35 if we extend, which is quite old for a CF particularly in the prem. We will never make a profit on him and I honestly don’t think he has the vision or work ethic as Pablo. Also if his form does drop as he ages, we won’t be stuck paying wages unnecessarily. At the end of the contract if he’s still doing it, which we hope because he’ll be playing for a new contract somewhere, we offer him an additional year or he goes on a free with our blessing.
