I was referring to the fact that there were post celebrating us going 2-0 prior to Norway posting about the 1-1 scoreline
Delighted with the win and another 3 points, but my God that was a painful watch. They look utterly **** and played most of the game with a man down. We should have put them away emphatically. Unless we improve we're looking at a mid-table finish at best.
I hate to be so negative particularly after a 2-0 win but we made such hard work of it that we are going to have to improve shed loads if we think we are aiming for promotion. Really disappointing to see that Joseph not on the score sheet again.
From what I saw Joseph wasn't involved much, Piroe chased more than he normally does when he came on, Gnonto was poor, wayward negative passing, Firpo passed back or to the side all the time, Schmidt looked lively for the couple of minutes he was on and Ampadu was good again. Meslier did all he needed to do and probably played the most progressive balls from the ack. we may get a lot of possession but we fk about too much and we're too slow going forward. We give them time to get set. To break a low block you need to move the ball faster. Forwards were making runs but rarely got the ball. oh and SHOOT ffs.
Well, not much to say. Positives are 3 points, clean sheet, completely dominant professional performance. Negatives are that it was lacklustre, negative, not clinical, boring, slow and tedious. I don't mind it as long as we win games but if we had drawn that today even I would be calling for change. We don't shoot, we don't cross in to the box. Ramazani eventually bucked the trend by cutting inside and shooting and the fans responded. He was quickly substituted. Very frustrating but hopefully that's the end of the Struijk penalty experiment.
They did mess with his head but it was a **** penalty. I really don't understand why they don't try to hit that square top corner. Even if the keeper guesses right he won't save it. It takes practice, more, practice and more practice but it would be worth it.
It's depressing that we're still struggling to find an out and out goal scorer. Bamford seems done and I though want Joseph to succeed I'm not yet convinced by him despite the opportunities he's been given this season. Piroe's just an enigma. His finish today made it look like he's the most natural striker in the squad, yet too often he looks like a static lump who's barely interested in the game.
Disclaimer - didn't catch large parts of the first half due to Ellands dodgy streams. Meslier - 6. Had nothing to do. Made two standard saves that even he should make. Distribution was fine but nothing adventurous. Bogle - 7. Probably his best performance for us. Criminally ignored on the right wing as Leeds continuously kept the ball playing ticky tacky football. Won the penalty and at least tried to get in behind. Rodon - 6. Very comfortable. Had little to do. Very slow on the ball. Struijk - 6. Solid defensively but another who was slow at releasing the ball and content to play safe. Missed a penalty which should be his last one on that showing. Firpo - 6. Supported Ramazani on the left but refused to cross the ball on numerous occasions. Gave the impression he was trying to attack but often ignored the forward pass and reverted to passing the ball back to the defence. Ampadu - 7. Always in the right place at the right time defensively. Also showed his passing range on a couple of occasions but needed to do it much more often given the space on the wings. Gruev - 6. Another one who played like a crab. Safety first. No offensive passes although did manage to get a shot on target. Aaronson - 7. Tried to get us forward but wasn't quite his day. Still managed to get an assist for Piroe. Missed a chance at the near post 2nd half that he had to score from. Gnonto - 7. Showed glimpses of positivity but was another that too often spurned attacking opportunities to play safe. Ramazani - 8. Man of the match. The ONLY player that was positive throughout. A great debut and a great finish. Seemingly subbed for trying to score a 2nd goal. Joseph - 7. Link up play was decent. Got another assist. Missed a good chance in the first half when the keeper saved. Subs. Piroe - 7. Wasn't involved too much but had one half chance and finished superbly. If we are to continue to be negative, maybe he is the answer at 9 as he is the most clinical striker at the club. Byram - 6. A disjointed cameo. Doesn't have the pace of his youth and looks a yard too slow. Rothwell - n/a. Has an annoying habit of getting the ball stuck under his feet too often. Offered nothing of note all season off the bench. Tanaka - n/a. An impressive 5 minute cameo showcasing his passing ability. Felt like he played more forward passes in his spell than Gruev and Ampadu put together. Schmidt - n/a. Only put on at the death but made his debut and got a couple of touches. Feels like he is a project player who will have to wait for his chance. Farke - 3. After a tough week with a bit of pressure he doubled down on questions about Leeds playing style with the ultimate safety first performance against a bottom of the league team with 10 men. He'll get away with it as long as Leeds keep winning. If we start losing, he won't have much of a leash with the fan base to play with. Needs to find a way to create more with all the possession we enjoy.
Piroe is without doubt the best finisher at the club. What he isn’t (either because he can’t or doesn’t want to be) is a workhorse who chases around closing down defenders. It goes back to the age old argument about how as a team “we looked better when Bamford plays” but arguably his inconsistent finishing held back our promotion and cost us our premier league place. My question, do we look a better team or do we just press from the front better with players Joseph and Bamford up top? Ultimately you need to score goals and from his record at this level, we have bought one of the best goal scorers in this division, it is usually why these type of players get paid the most a most clubs. We have only conceded one gaol in the last four games is it, so it is the missed chances that will cost us promotion. It also heaps pressure on the defence. We dig out Mes but ignore the fact that often the game should be dead and buried by the time the opposition score against us. This division is bang average so if we can get on a run, there’s every chance we can be there or thereabouts at the end of the season. Burnley scraped through today with a couple of late gaols. WBA only managed the one goal against Plymouth at home. We will know better where we are about 15 games in, particularly as we have the disruption of another international break coming up in a few weeks.
Not saying he is the answer but this is pissing me off now. Give him 20 mins or so to get going. Tanaka - n/a. An impressive 5 minute cameo showcasing his passing ability. Felt like he played more forward passes in his spell than Gruev and Ampadu put together.
Didn’t watch or follow on phone as couldn’t be arsed. But reading a few reports it seemed to be the usual borefest. Anyway onto next week and I’ve managed to grab a handful of days in center parcs so will happily miss next weeks as well
It was a bore fest but here are the highlights. As it shows, we were well worth the win and should have scored more.
