please log in to view this image It was lovely to see the Wish Advert appear on the Leeds United website and other social media outlets this week that I’d been asked to take part in. As usual, I am grateful for the opportunities that come my way with my support for Leeds United. With it being a 2pm kick off today, it certainly messed up my timings before the game. We didn’t get into the Peacock and whilst queuing to get in the Kop realised that Chris Kamara our former player was already on the pitch. As I said to my daughter that I was surprised they had brought him onto the pitch so early and not just before kick off, I was surprised to learn that it was already 13.53 and it wouldn’t be long until the start of the game. I was sorry to miss Kamara though but good to see him get the opportunity to get back onto the pitch here. A stalwart played for us in the past that’s for sure and I’ve always liked him. Team: Meslier, Ayling (Captain), Harrison, Struijk, Wöber, Adams, Aaronson, Rodrigo, Roca, Koch and Gnonto. Subs: Sinisterra for Aaronson (70), Bamford for Rodrigo (79), Greenwood for Roca (88). Subs not used: Robles, Gelhardt, Kristensen, Firpo, Llorente, Rutter. Leeds drew the game 0-0. Attendance: 36,360 with approx. 1,000 Brentford fans. Referee: Peter Bankes. Booked: Rodrigo, Koch. After the games played yesterday, it was imperative that we started to pick up points today as we went down to 16th place, where it is very tight with a number of teams on the same points or only one between them. As it was the point gained today moved us back up into 15th place, but our position in the table is too close for comfort for me. Leeds had lots of possession today and it was a while before Brentford got into the game. Gnonto was seeing plenty of the ball but Brentford had done their homework and were putting men on him to thwart any attacks. He did get the better of them at times but it was more of a struggle today. When Brentford had their first attack, there was always the fear that despite our possession that they would score against the run of play. A few times they had three men spare on the wings but we had tightened things up by introducing Wöber into the back four which had a knock on effect across our defence. We had Koch to thank for making a great tackle to deny them a shooting opportunity. Despite that, it felt like our attacking and finishing had been affected with not many clear chances for us as we went in level at half time. No changes were made at the start of the second half which carried on in similar vein to the first half. Leeds kept trying to break Brentford down but they were standing strong against us. We were limited to many direct chances and the nearest we came to scoring were an Aaronson shot and a Rodrigo shot that were easily saved by their keeper. Despite some quiet periods on the terraces, there was plenty of atmosphere with the fans willing the team on. It was quite frustrating not making any inroads as the game went on and I wanted to see changes to the team but the first didn’t happen until the 70th minute. It wasn’t that I thought anyone was performing badly as there was plenty of effort from our players, we just weren’t making any clear goal chances. Rodrigo was booked for slamming the ball down in disgust, whereas when Brentford were time wasting and kicking the ball away, they weren’t given the same treatment from the referee. Koch also ended up in the book so will miss our next away game at Nottingham Forest just when it looked like he was building a strong partnership with Wöber. The best saves of the game from their keeper were from Rodrigo and Gnonto. Rodrigo started playing further and further back but I was sorry to see him subbed as I would have liked to have changed our formation to two attackers, with him and Bamford together. Whether it would have made a difference I’ve no idea as the game ended goaless. Despite it being a frustrating game, the positives are that we didn’t concede a goal and got a precious point. With my hip operation postponed until 14th February, at least I don’t need to worry about how much pain I’d be in trying to get to Boreham Wood or Accrington Stanley on Saturday. Fingers crossed their replay goes ahead on Tuesday and we find out who we will be playing. See you then, LUFC – Marching on Together! please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image
