Good Morning. It's Monday 18th December, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road Leeds feeling the Sky Blues There were ugly scenes upon the final whistle at Elland Road on Saturday afternoon as tempers frayed and frustration turned to anger, after Leeds failed to hold on to Crysencio Summerville's 58th minutes lead, and close the ten point gap between themselves and Ipswich Town in second place. Coventry were content to park the bus, get ten men behind the ball, and kick seven shades of you know what, out of their opponents. To their credit, they had a game plan, and stuck to it. It may have been as aesthetically pleasing as Nottingham Forest Manager Steve Cooper at a beauty contest, but it was effective, and the perfect tonic to Leeds free flowing football. When Leeds finally broke the deadlock on the hour mark (after a sublime finish by Summerville), it looked like they would be heading towards their eighth consecutive home win of the season; a feat last achieved nearly thirty-three years ago, but the Sky Blues had other ideas. Although rarely venturing out of their own half, when they did, they were afforded free reign at goal, and with twenty-five minutes left on the clock, Bobby Thomas equalised. By this time, Leeds reeked of desperation, and even with six forwards on the pitch, were unable to inflict much damage on a Coventry side content to hack the ball (or anyone else in their vicinity) out of their way. please log in to view this image Does Farke need to rotate the squad Leeds are half way through their busy festive period, which sees nine Championship games in thirty four days, and in truth, it may have started to take its toll. Over the past few games, we've seen normally reliable players make uncharacteristic blunders, much of which may be attributed to tiredness. Daniel Farke has 27 players at his disposal (minus injuries) but just like Bielsa rarely deviates from the same starting XI week in, week out. The Whites are only ahead of Southampton on goal difference, ahead of the visit of Ipswich Town at the weekend. They need to re-find their form, and quickly, or risk slipping out of contention for automatic promotion. please log in to view this image Lazy and disinterested. Fans rip into Spence The Elland Road faithful were never going to be happy after Saturdays performance, and took to Twitter in their droves to express their dissatisfaction. A host of stars including Meslier, Ampadu, Gray and Rutter received pelters, but this was nothing compared to the criticism aimed at Djed Spence. The 23yo was enjoying just his third start of the season in a Leeds shirt, having overcome a serious outer ligament injury which had kept him sidelined for ten weeks. He didn't have much of a pre-season either, having picked up a knee injury towards the end of last season whilst on loan at Rennes (with Joe Rodon). Injuries to Stuart Dallas, Sam Byram and Junior Firpo has meant that the gaffer had to switch Spence to the left, not that he'd need much persuasion - nobody loves an inverted player more than Farke! However, his performance at the weekend had many reaching for their keyboards, to express their dissatisfaction, labelling him as lazy, disinterested, having negative body language and no urgency. please log in to view this image
Morning all. Interesting we were supposed to be carefully minding Archies game time given his age. He must have played every minute of the season so far
Morning all Anyone see Summerville refusing to shake hands with one of their guys at the end, he got shoved and a mini spat ensued
Afternoon all, We were guilty of trying to walk the ball nhs to the net Saturday. We needed to be more direct and try more shots on goal. I was calling for Gnonto to be brought on earlier as he seems to be the one who just sees the goal and wants to have a go
So last week Phil Hay told us we wouldn’t be bringing in anyone next month. Today Hay says we are bringing in 2 players. Well I have it on good authority that if I had asked Emu last week if he thought we would bring anyone in he would have said yes and if I had asked him again today he would have said YES. Emu what position do you think we need to fill? ……. Agents talking to media outlets today are: Ben Brereton-Diaz to Leeds from Villareal Archie Brown from Gent to Leeds Kerem Akturkoglu from Galatasary. Anyone believe we would buy a player from Gala. A winger at that ffs. Archie Briwn is a LB and a very good one
To be fair we need a number 9 which Diaz would be and someone who could step up into the PL so seems sensible. If we’re getting a winger maybe Anthony is going back or Gnoto leaving? We need a left back so hoping all this is true and could give us the edge.
Leeds United are in talks to sign Turkish star Kerem Akturkoglu from rivals Galatasaray in January, a player that won the praise of Barcelona boss Xavi in the past, prior to a 21-22 Europa League clash. The 26-time Turkey star is on fire for Galatasaray. This term, more so than in the past. He has 15 goals and assists in just 27 league and cup games. Two goals vs Manchester United in the Champions League.
Beale new manager at Sunderland, why? Not great at QPR when he left Gerrard and was sacked at Rangers. Strange owners at Sunderland sack Mowbray who is proven in the championship and had them contending for play offs.
