James bags wonder strike in narrow victory Good Morning. It's Wednesday 6th March, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road. Dan James bagged his eleventh goal of the season as Leeds edged past Stoke City in what turned out to be a nervy second half display at Elland Road last night. Both sides had a lot at stake, albeit for very different reasons, and to be fair to the visitors they put on a display, far and above what their lowly position warranted. Roared on by another full house, Leeds started the game on the front foot, creating multiple chances, but everything they threw at the Stoke goalmouth, Daniel Iverson was equal to. It wasn't until the 33rd minute of one way traffic that Leeds finally broke the deadlock, thanks to a fabulous solo effort from Dan James; celebrating his return to the starting line up, with his eleventh goal of the campaign. Stoke gave it a real go in the second half, and if truth be known there was little to choose between the teams in the last 30 minutes, but Leeds held firm. Frustration began to set in as time wore on, and with four minutes left on the clock, Stoke were reduced to ten men after Ben Pearson elbowed Ethan Ampadu in the chest to deny the Welshman a goal scoring opportunity. At this stage of the season, all that matters is the result; and with Leicester City and Ipswich Town also both winning (and Southampton playing tonight), Leeds must continue to churn out results. Leeds are back in action on Friday night, with a visit to Hillsborough; its hardly ideal, but if all goes to plan, at least they can reclaim second spot. please log in to view this image Farke delighted win hard fought win A delighted Daniel Farke was full of praise for his young side following their hard fought victory over Stoke City last night, and who can blame him. In 2024, Leeds have picked up 31 points out of a possible 33, conceding just three goals in the process. The German thought Leeds sat behind the ball too much in the second half, playing counter offensive football, likening it to a game of basketball. Even so, he labelled the victory as the best kind of wins especially after taking into account their manic schedule:- "In the first half, I was pretty happy," We created so many chances but just scored one goal out of our dominance. In the second half, we were a bit too concentrated on our transition moments instead of dominating the game more with possession and being rock solid against the ball. "Obviously, it was tempting because we had so many good counter-attacking situations and great chances, two or three times we were one against one with the goalkeeper. If you don't score the second goal, it's a bit like a basketball game - transition, transition - they also had their spells and some good shooting positions. "It was a hard-fought win. These types of wins, especially when the schedule is like this, are the best wins." "Having this schedule and to be unbeaten in 2024 with this amount of wins -10 wins and one draw, eight clean sheets and three times we have just conceded one goal - it is remarkable. We are pretty happy with the lads. "The only problem is we have to recover again pretty quickly - in two and a half days we face another opponent and we have to be on it again." please log in to view this image Aidy White: Leeds were 'a little leggy' Commentating on BBC Radio Leeds, Aidy White hailed Illan Meslier's last gasp save last night as the Whites secured 'a vital three points'. The former Leeds defender (part of Leeds colourful era, along with Paul Green and Michael Brown) thought Farke's men were 'a little leggy' during the second half, but praised their 'grit' for hanging on to the victory. "I think that Illan Meslier save - last kick of the game - sums it up for me. Second half, Leeds looked a little bit leggy. They had to grit it out but the timing of the substitutions was really good. Sometimes you've got to have those performances - sometimes you've got to grit it out. They ground it out to the end for a vital three points." please log in to view this image
Morning all. Great result for us, ruined by Ipswich late winner. Im not so sure about this talk of our manic run of fixtures. Forgive my ignorance, but don't all teams play same number of games and some with smaller squads than ours. As for having to play Friday, so do Sheffield. Ridiculous nonsense
Mes and James were superb. Joseph continues to look bright, and I'm happy the way Farke is managing him right now We need Rutter and Summerville back to there best ASAP as I feel they've just slightly gone off the boil, but as we know they can both change a game in an instant so I'd still stick with them. Morning all
Morning all 3 points is 3 points we just need Leicester to lose a few more games and we can take one of the 2 top spots however I think auto promotion will go down to the last day of the season. As for looking 'leggy' I don't think the Cup run has helped at all. As for Eire's comment about the amount of games we've played you need to remember not all the teams around us did 3 rounds of the FA Cup with a replay in that run. I'm not making excuses, On a personal stance I'm not a fan of this glut of games were made to play at the end of the season to fit in to this 38 week run of games (with international breaks included).
I think we did look tired, mentally and physically. The former showed through poor decisions, usually hanging onto the ball. I wonder if Rutter is feeling all the knocks as he's in the top 5 (I think) for most fouled in the league.
Leicester are still in the cup and did some of the contenders go further in the Caraboa cup. We know the cups are nothing but a hindrance but the managers are damned if they do and damned if they don't ie putting out a first eleven or second string. Think there will be a lot more performances like last night as the pressure ramps up
Morning all. These are the games we should be winning, even if it’s badly. A win is still a win. They looked tired yes, hence why a few were rested. Go again on Friday night. Just keep our form going and one of these teams will drop off the pace. Just hope it’s not us.. my guess is it will be Ipswich. Either then or Southampton need to drop off ASAP!
Morning everyone Farke needs to be clever on friday night. He has options in gray/gnonto/piroe and joseph. Anthony too may be avaliable. Roberts and james should start as they worked well according to reports. Make the subs early enough to keep the pressure on Wednesday who have won 5 from 6.
Morning all. Great night again at ER with a very tense atmosphere all throughout the second half. Sometimes those hard fought wins are more enjoyable than coasting to a comfortable 3-0 win and quite a few of the players collapsed to the turf at the final whistle showing how much effort had been put in. Not concerened about what anyone else is doing as still 10 games to go and in any case what will be will be
Probably worth mentioning that originally Poveda was going to Sheff Wed on a permanent transfer but then it turned out we'd only allow a loan until the end of the season when he's then out of contract. Good management as this means he's now not eligible to play against us on Friday.
Poveda has been on fire for Wednesday and it's no coincidence how they've been winning matches since he signed.
The one thing I am really pleased about is we didn't end up with leicester in the QF as we would have done if we had managed to beat Chelsea - that would have been music to Ipswich and Southampton ears.
Hang on a cotton picking minute here.... Weren't you the one who chose an FA Cup win over staying in the PL (relegation) ? Yet now you're prioritising promotion over the FA Cup and a fantastic opportunity to get to the semi final. Answers to confused.com please.
You are spot on there Eire. We can't complain about playing in two days time as it is the same for Shuffield Weds. Neither team should be expected to play in that time frame.
Just a thought... So Soe He was someone with bags of potential especially if you look at his Youth career sadly he was one of those unlucky few that never really made however he could be one of them who claws there way up to the Prem
Dear confused.com - you are completely correct. I have learnt the benfits of the Eire swerve and use it as suits me depending upon current hormonal position
jeez marcos… do you really need to justify a pragmatic approach to a position on a given topic to Jambo? The guy who wrote the book? Just quote the relevant chapter/page next time and save yourself the trouble.
