Good Morning. It's Thursday 3rd March, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road Are Leeds overthinking the Luton task Leeds travel to Kenilworth Road on Saturday desperately needing a win to reignite their promotion push. A disappointing return of six points from their last five games has seen them relinquish the top spot to Sheffield United, and they now cling to second place only by virtue of goal difference over Burnley. Luton, on the other hand, are enduring a season to forget. Relegation from the Premier League has been followed by a difficult Championship campaign, leaving them languishing near the bottom of the table. Currently nestled between Plymouth and Cardiff, a victory against Leeds could provide a crucial lifeline and lift them out of the relegation zone. While Luton's struggles are evident – they've scored the fewest goals in the Championship (35) and conceded almost twice that amount (60) – they possess specific threats that should make Leeds fans wary. A significant portion of their points have come from set-piece situations – long throws and free kicks launched into the penalty area. This is an area where Leeds have shown vulnerability recently. Add to that the notorious curse of the lunchtime kick-off, historically a difficult time slot for Leeds, and the recipe for a potential upset is brewing. However, despite Luton's potential to cause problems, Leeds undeniably possess the strongest squad in the Championship. The key to success on Saturday lies in avoiding overthinking the task at hand. Analysing Luton's strengths is important, but focusing too much on their set-piece prowess and the lunchtime kick-off jinx could lead to unnecessary anxiety and disrupt the team's natural flow. Ultimately, Leeds need to trust in their own abilities and let their football do the talking. They need to impose their game plan on Luton, control possession, and create scoring opportunities. Farke's men have consistently topped the performance charts and statistical rankings throughout the season. They need to trust in their abilities, play their attacking brand of football, and let their skill and dominance on the ball do the talking please log in to view this image Dallas throws his support behind Darlow Former Elland Road favourite Stuart Dallas has thrown his support behind Karl Darlow, believing he's "more than capable" of stepping into the Leeds United goal should Daniel Farke decide to replace Illan Meslier. Meslier's errors against Hull City, Sunderland, and Swansea City have cost Leeds valuable points, putting his position under scrutiny. While Farke has so far maintained faith in the Frenchman, the pressure is mounting. All eyes are now on Farke's upcoming press conference ahead of the Luton Town match. The goalkeeping situation is sure to be a key topic, with many wondering if a change is imminent with just seven games remaining. Dallas, a respected figure at the club, believes Darlow, the current Wales number one, possesses the experience and ability to perform well if called upon. He's confident that he can handle the pressure and deliver for Leeds during this crucial stage of the season. Whether Farke will heed the calls for a change remains to be seen, but Dallas's backing will surely boost Darlow's confidence should he get the nod. "Illan's obviously been here a long time now and he's done fantastically well up until this point. It's been a difficult season for him I think, simply because of the mistakes that he's made. I know the boys will be rallying around him because at the end of the day, he's a footballer, but he's a human being as well, he has feelings, and it's not nice to see somebody going through a difficult time. "But there's huge pressures of playing for this club, and obviously the spotlight on them is intense. I'm sure the manager will deal with it in the right kind of way, [Illan] needs an arm around him as well, but I know you're hinting to take him out of the team - he's done really, really well and he still is a fantastic goalkeeper but for me, they've got Karl Darlow there as well, who is an experienced goalkeeper. "He's not an 18-year-old kid with no experience. He's a really, really top, top goalkeeper. It might be time to take [Illan] out. I don't know. Obviously, only the manager will make that decision. As I said before, he's had a difficult season. I said it a number of weeks ago, after the Hull game, obviously, Karl played in the Harrogate game and I was asked about it on ITV for the Sheffield Wednesday game. My point then was that Karl is a more than capable replacement, so it'll be interesting to see what Daniel does." please log in to view this image
Morning all. Proper footie begins. Games every four or five days till end of season. Re the Darlow Meslier thing, to be honest Im sick and tired of it. Time to move on and get behind whoever on field in white. 32 of us booked up for last home game and Ill guarantee Ill not be booing anyone, regardless what happens
Morning all We should beat Luton but we all know what the game plan will be unsettle Meslier, look for free kicks high into the box and long throw ins, crowd him, stand close and wait for him to make a mistake. It doesn't take a genius coach to fix and combat that gameplan, take Meslier out of the limelight and play Darlow Not even the ref
Luton play that way every week so don't really have to create much of a new game plan. They also aren't as bad as their position in the league suggests... especially at home. Not suggesting xg is the be all and end all, but its a rough 'guide' to fairness of results. Here is a site that attributes the number of points sides 'should' have got this season. It defaults to the PL. If you pick the english championship from the right hand menu, first of all you'll notice leeds should be 19 points clear. You'll see Luton should be comfortably midtable... if you select 'home' from home/away tab you'd see them towards the top. https://footballxg.com/xg-league-tables/ I watched them batter Sheffield united and lose, they battered boro and drew. They are a handful for anyone at Kenilworth Road, they just haven't taken their chances. Sides have a habit of taking them against us. This is, perhaps along with Boro next Tuesday, the hardest game we have on paper - if you look beyond the obvious league position disparity.
Good news Darlow starts Saturday. If he drops a clanger and we lose whose next gonna be next between the sticks
What's Paddy Kenny up to these days Also believe The Square Ball podcast have Nigel Martyn as a guest for tomorrow's show, I'm sure he could do a job for us
Hello miseries ... fkn Leeds really do know how to keep things tense LUTON Having watched their last two games, I can confidently say they are woeful technically ... their forwards are slow and inept, and they struggle to create much ... however, they fought and fought in both games, and burgled six points ... they are desperate for the points, and have suddenly realised that if they battle they can get results ... going to be a handful at Kenilworth Road, will need Leeds to get two ahead to break them and then fkn go destroy the wasters DALLAS It takes a lot for the Irish Messi to say anything negative about Leeds players, but he must be as frustrated as everyone else at Meslier's costly errors ... backing Darlow publicly is huge, but right that someone has finally spoken up
darlow in....if he drops a meslier so what? you cannot expect to keep getting the nod for your position if you err shall we say are quite consistent at dropping clangers! darlow surely deserves a go, he's an experienced keeper who although mostly used as a second choice in his career is the current welsh international who are fairly high in the fifa rankings,they ain't no andorra ffs ......he also has welsh international team mates in the side who must know his psyche and temperamant ....one can only hope we put the swans game behind us for the final push, surely last seasons collapse will motivate them or are they bleeding sadists
Afternoon all. Took a few days off as still fuming about the last minute Swansea goal in particular and the last few results in general leading to a 7 point swing between us and Sheffield Utd. Looks like we’re choking in the run in again but I can’t get out of my mind that the Meslier howlers have cost us so many points, we’d be comfortably past 90 but for those errors and home and hosed. Mes should never be our No. 1 again and Farke should have dropped him ages ago. I think his poor management of this situation, openly defending the indefensible performances, now just heaps pressure on Darlow during this crucial part of the season instead of bedding him in earlier. Think I might just lie down in a dark room on Saturday and reemerge when it’s all over
Talking about sky, that twat who interviewed Spurs manager is a total disgrace, his questions were total disgrace, I would have chinned him after the interview, that cock snogger Rednapp is no better, sky are a disgrace….. viva my magic box.
