Arsenal v Leeds United 23rd August 25 at the Emirates please log in to view this image Well, my pie in the sky hopes of three points from every home game and a draw at least away from home came crashing to the ground today with a heavy defeat in the capital. I still maintain that we have to aim for a win rather than write us off before we even kick a ball, as it means you’ve lost before you even step onto the pitch. That said, the gulf between us and Arsenal today were very apparent but our formation did not work for me, and we needed to change things at half time. Farke has to accept the blame for the third and fourth goals with not making the changes in my opinion. With having to get to the ground two hours before kick-off for parking, I went straight into the ground and put my flag up in front of my seat not before having had three photographers taking photos of my beret. They could have warned us about the fireworks at the start as I nearly jumped out of my skin when they went off as I wasn’t expecting it. Our ninth signing is 25 year old Swiss, Noah Okafor, an attacker signed from AC Milan on a four year deal. Team: Perri, Struijk (Captain), Bogle, Rodon, James, Gnonto, Piroe, Gruev, Stach, Tanaka, Gudmundsson. Subs: Nmecha for Piroe (58), Longstaff for Tanaka (58), Aaronson for James (66), Okafor for Gnonto (66), Byram for Bogle (83). Subs not used: Darlow, Harrison, Bijol, Bornauw. Leeds lost the game 5-0. Attendance: 60,110, 3003 Leeds fans. Referee: Jarred Gillett. Booked: Bogle, Gudmundsson. Arsenal took the game to Leeds from the start as it showed it would be a tough game. As I can only make my judgements by what I see on the pitch, we missed Ampadu and his leadership today as there was no leader on the pitch. Looking back at the great Don Revie side, if Billy wasn’t playing, we still had a team of leaders who were able to step into his boots. The only real chance we had in the game was a Stach free kick delivered into the box and Struijk’s header pushed over the bar for a corner. As far as I was concerned, the way we were playing wasn’t working as we kept playing deep, kicking the long ball giving our players up front an impossible task and to be honest, no fight on show. We succumbed to the set piece from a corner once again, but I was hoping the score would stay at 1-0 until half time then we had to change things. Sadly, they scored a cracking goal for the second which I thought had gone behind the goal at first, but it was in the back of the net. As we came out to the second half with no changes, I was gob smacked as I couldn’t believe Farke had kept things the same when they weren’t working for me. If I could see it, why couldn’t Farke? At 2-0 we stood a chance of getting back into the game but with a quick brace of goals to make it 4-0 that was it, we had no chance. Although there was a VAR check after their third goal for suspected handball, the decision was made very quickly. As someone said to me, there’s no chance it will be disallowed as its Arsenal! With a penalty given after their young player who had come on as a sub was brought down, they sent Perri the wrong way to rub salt into the wound. Personally, I was glad it wasn’t Meslier in goal with this defeat as social media would have been in overdrive by the time the game had finished. The gallows humour of the Leeds fans changed the outlook of the game for me as we ended the game singing our hearts out. When the Arsenal fans started singing Leeds were falling apart again, this was thrown straight back at them with - second again, ole, ole. The impact this had on them was very plain to see. We carried on then with 4-0 down, who gives a f**k, we’re super Leeds and we’re staying up which changed to 5-0 down when they scored their penalty. I don’t think even our players could believe what they saw as they stood there clapping us. How the reactions will be on social media may be a bit different, but I’ll take the positives! Before I end my blog, my thoughts are with the families and friends of John and Iain who have battled their illnesses for so long but are nearing the end. I’ve been there and know what they are going through and I wouldn’t wish the pain on anyone. Please reach out to the Leeds family for support when you need it as this is what has helped me through my own traumas. With Carabao Cup action on Tuesday with our visit to Hillsborough at Sheffield Wednesday, we need to bounce back and take this game seriously before our home game against Newcastle on Saturday. The defeat today isn’t the be all and end all of our season but capitalising on our home games is a must as far as I’m concerned. See you on Tuesday, LUFC – Marching on Together! https://www.followmeandleedsunited.co.uk/ Sponsored by Clearwell Pest Control https://www.clearwellpestcontrol.com/ 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 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
