JANUARY WINDOW

The transfer window is upon us ... deals done, players worth looking at:

COMING IN
Georginio Rutter - Hoffenheim
Weston McKennie - Juventus
Diogo Monteiro - Servette

GOING OUT
Cody Drameh - Luton
Joffy Gelhardt - Sunderland
Diego Llorente - AS Roma

SHOULD BE ON ORTA'S LIST
Anthony Rouault (21) Centre Back - Toulouse - £10m

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Leopold Querfeld (18) Centre Back - Rapid Vienna - £1.5m

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Philipp Max (29) Left Back - PSV - £5m

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Kai Wagner (25) Left Back - Philadelphia - £5m

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Dani Ceballos (26) - Midfield - Real Madrid - £9m

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Micky Van De Ven (21) - Centre Back/Left Back - Wolfsburg - £8m

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Timothy Weah (22) - Striker - Lille - £15m

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Yunus Musah (20) - Midfield - Valencia - £20m

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Weston McKennie (24) - Midfield - Juventus - £21m (DONE)

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Diego Monteiro (18) - Centre Back/DM - Servette - £500k (DONE)

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Christian Pulisic (24) - Forward - Chelsea - Loan (£38m)

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Anyone else you think Orta should have on his list? Some proper talent and excellent young 'uns who'll only get better ... you know, the Leicester model

 

Good post Billy but I’m having a problem with with the state of what we have. My view is we were too nice to those who got us up and we left it too late. We all know we gambled and lost last season and we are in danger of losing out again this season. Bamford and Firpo gambles have hurt us however every player brought in has worked this summer, but need a fit Sinisterra to cap that off. However we are where we are and our manager needs to prove his worth yet.

Your left backs are in the main good
The strikers are great
Your CB is great

However this means spending brass and according to Eire we won’t spend, but I believe a LB and a striker will arrive but it will also mean maybe 3 players will be moved out. I also believe Marsch has shafted Klich, Drameh and Gelhardt, maybe it’s just loose lips but his communication skills are lacking

 

Hi Doc

I support Marsch, but he needs to up his decision making when trying to influence or control a match ... at Saints he ballsed it up when he made changes that allowed Saints to get control in midfield and that wiped out a 2-0 lead ... at Spurs he did pretty similar, handing Spurs the midfield and inviting them to get spare runners into our box ... all game Spurs struggled to get players into our box because we have midfield dominance, but for some reason Marsch felt the need to change, and I think I know why

Personally I think he takes on board what the media are saying, then tries to show them he knows what he's doing ... here's why I say this:

That prick Phil Hay challenged Marsch on a Plan B, you know, the Plan Hay felt Bielsa should have had in place ... in the week leading up to Hay asking Marsch that question, Hay was on his podcast with the muppets from The Square Ball where they were moaning about Marsch not doing enough with his bench to influence games ... basically they were questioning his tactical awareness

Well, if you recall, when Hay decided to lob the Plan B grenade at Marsch, Jesse looked him square in the eye and flattened the useless hack with an expert retort ... basically Marsch told Hay that he must be a complete fool, or have no understanding of football if he thought managers didn't have other tactical setups to go to during a match

This is why I think Marsch felt it necessary to change Plan A at Spurs even though it was working brilliantly ... he may just have felt that the game was in hand, and maybe it was a good time to show everyone he wasn't a one trick pony ... big mistake

And this is why your comment about Marsch's communication skills potentially having some truth to it ... if Marsch is so easily swayed by criticism from a clueless hack, are his selections and substitutions maybe influenced by things other than form or tactical requirements?

Summerville wanted to leave after Marsch bigged him up last season then never played him ... thankfully Orta understood the talent we had and Leeds gave him a new 5-year contract with the promise he'd get more game time this season ... four goals in four says it all ... we know Marsch had difficulties with Summerville, seeing him as a bit of a lad who was going to end up on the scrapheap with his unprofessional attitude ... maybe all Summerville needed was a manager to believe in him ... he's got the stones to take the number 10 shirt after all

I hope Marsch isn't starting to fracture the dressing room, although right now they look like a very tight group ... this is why Bielsa never spoke publicly about his players, choosing only to support them no matter what ... Marsch is doing it the USA way, where calling out a player in the press is not unusual ... except this is Leeds, we don't condone this being done to our players

 

Tom Rothe (18) - LEFT BACK - Dortmund - £3.5m

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Well Billy we all know what needs to happen to ensure we stay up, we will just have to see how the board do in January

 

Quick hello from Rio de Janeiro ...

Re. Plan B, I read that Kalvin spoke out at a WC presser, saying that Bielsa changed their tactics every 15 minutes. Must have been too subtle for some - including me, I might add. Was he joking, or was it simply nuances to Plan A?

Loads of Brazilians & Argies on this cruise. They ALL love Bielsa - even the Brazilians. Just the same as I found in Peru & Chile.

I know I'm out on a limb here, but I would love it if he came back. Love it!! Wouln't care a whit if we got relegatd, just as long as we played exciting football.

 

Think Phillips was meaning his and everyone’s position changed every time his man moved. Phillips had to play DM, CB, QB and AM in almost every game at some stage.

Hearing Bielsa is in the running for Belgium, Brazil, Uraguay, Spain, Columbia and a few more plus a few clubs too. Yes I would love him back too mate because I knew what we were and what he said he meant

 

Very well said

 

This is the 3rd report I have heard on this! Marsch says Meslier I’ll, is he? If we go for the Croat it’s not as a stand in, he starts……


LEEDS UNITED AND BAYERN MUNICH LINKED WITH CROATIA’S WORLD CUP HERO DOMINIK LIVAKOVIC
Livakovic has spent the last seven years at Dinamo Zagreb, winning five Croatian league titles. According to Made in Foot, Leeds United have identified the 27-year-old as a replacement for the much-admired Illan Meslier. The Whites have already contacted Livakovic’s agents regarding a potential move to West Yorkshire. The 39-cap international is likely to cost a minimum of £9 million.

 

The Meslier story still doing the rounds today. Rumors about Spurs wanting him which is old news, but Man Utd, Leicester and Chelsea now? If anything I think it will be back to France or somewhere else in Europe. But why because that would mean something has happened at the club, Otis this story bollox? Or maybe the club cashing in and making £20m profit to help with buying a striker

 

There’s definitely an argument that marsch’s mouth is too big, but all this second guessing that what he’s said has upset player A or undermined player B is complete conjecture.

Everyone knows that managers support players in public. It’s completely irrelevant to what is discussed in private. Take the Klich situation, what did he really promise him to his face? Did he promise one thing and then do another? Did he intend to give him more game time but circumstances didn’t allow? We don’t know do we?

All we know is that Summerville wanted to leave last year and is happy now. That Harrison who is apparently very disgruntled at his new position… is seemingly about to sign a new deal. That all the feedback on marsch from players at other clubs - Haaland etc is that his man management skills are good.

 

A lot of conjecture there Billy.

Maybe Marsch just likes to go 5 at the back as a way of seeing games out. On the spurs game it did cede control of the midfield, but the goals came from individual fck ups. Best laid plans and all that. Psychology of sport is such that winning teams tend to sit on leads and losing teams throw men forward - so there's nothing to say that what happened might have happened regardless.

Or yeh, maybe he was trying to prove Phil Hay wrong

Summerville wanted to leave under Bielsa. So maybe the manager who believed in him was Marsch. Or maybe his development was such that it simply wasn't the right time under MB and now it is.

 

The love would soon stop, when he brought Tyler Roberts back

 

No smoke without a fire, Chelsea keep on getting mentioned when it comes to Meslier. Cash plus Christian Pulisic would be fine by me.

 

The Spurs link as well rings true simply because their French club captain rates Meslier and wanted to finish his education off so that he takes over for his country and Spurs when he goes back home? Man Utd are trying to get a No2 for De Gea and have been since Ten Hag arrived, Chelsea want shut of Aza and Mendy, Leicester need to replace Kasper S……

 

Hard to see mes going anywhere he wouldn’t be first choice, surely? Is he quite ready for that at a top club? Interesting to see if there’s any mileage in this one

 

It wouldn't be a good deal

Pulisic looked very ordinary, at the world cup, for the USMNT.

 

The Meslier thing came out of the blue for me, even though I had seen him mentIoned in connection with Spurs and other clubs. However things have heated up and a lot more is going on here. Marsch stopped Meslier from joining up with the French U21 squad where he was first choice, so was he upset By that? Lloris is a big fan and Meslier looks up to him plus Lloris expects Meslier to take over from him as France No1, plus Lloris will probably leave Spurs in the Summer and finish his career where he started, so is there more to it with Spurs. Why have Leeds started looking at the Croatia keeper when we have heard nothing about any other keepers anywhere, ever since Mes took over the gloves. You dont look at a keeper who is a starter and expect him to sit on the bench. Maybe it’s just Orta firing a warning shot to Meslier?

 

Cunha gathering pace - He is more of a false nine, or second striker, similar to Leeds forward Rodrigo, rather than an out-and-out number nine, but given that Marsch knows the player, he will be well-equipped to judge whether the Brazilian would be a worthwhile addition.

Cunha, who has been hailed as a ‘magician’, ranks in the top 5% of European strikers for tackles, blocks and interceptions, highlighting his strengths, but also ranks in the bottom 14% of strikers for goals.

 

This story has been around since the summer as its a player that Marsch knows well. The US season is over now and young Jose has posted a tweet saying goodbye to the LA fans and saying he will always watch their results and think about the LA fans….. a tweet from the Ecuador FA reposted the tweet with the Leeds Utd shirt badge, so who