Could have been worse but as Brendan said when 2-0 down you would take that, but that defence & meslier is top priority along with a proper striker to sort out. Do that and we will be a force. just need the powers at be to see that to.
Overall only 1 team on the pitch. sucker punched for the 1st goal but it's still a regular thing in us conceding. 2nd goal just switching off mixed with bad defending. 2nd half was all Leeds and deservedly got the equaliser. going to be plenty of games like this park the bus tactics at ER and its down to us to defend well on our press because today was not one of them. if we get the first goal we win this comfortably simple as. giving them the doubt being first game and all that but good signs that we will do well in this league also the tell tale signs of old are still there. Not blaming Ayling for the first goal because he was told to press high and you can't cover both half's no matter who you are. plenty of positives just need to be more alert defensively.
some inspired substitutions by Farke, i must admit when willy came off i thought wtf, so begs the question, do we actually have a coach who knows what he is doing? I think so is the answer to that.
Meslier - 6. Didn't have much to do and still conceded 2. Ayling - 4. Was obviously told to bomb forward but was caught massively out of position too many times. Sloppy with the ball too. Cooper - 6. Caught ball watching too often and dragged out of position by the lack of ability around him. Scored a really good header and subsequently off injured. Struijk - 3. Dunno why he is still a pro footballer to be honest. ****ing ****! Hjelde - 2. Left back is a serious issue if he is our go to. Buy a ****ing left back! Ampadu - 7. Decent. Mopped up the midfield well and was good on the ball. Gray - 9. 17 years old. He's gonna need some help as he won't play every game. If he can give us 20-25 games like this he'll have had a great season. James - 6. Same frustrations as we are used to. A frustrating first half but improved after the break and drew a great save when his shot looked destined for the corner. Sinisterra - 7. He should be disappointed he's not scored but we would be pretty toothless without him. First touch wasn't great today but most of our attacking play went through him. Summerville - 9. Scored the equaliser. A couple of half penalty shouts. Great shot first half. Full of running and good control. Man of the Match. Gnonto - 7. Just seemed a bit lethargic getting shots away after getting himself in to scoring positions. Linked up superbly with Summerville and Sinisterra at times. Subs. Byram - 5. Did better than Hjelde but we need better. Cresswell - 6. The crowd liked his passion and his leadership. Brought the ball out of defence well and didn't lose an aerial battle in either area. Hopefully gets a run in the side so he can settle in. Poveda - 7. Cardiff defence was tired but Poveda picked up the ball and just ran straight at them. Very impressive cameo. Might be worth moving Sinisterra to the left and playing him at 10. Gelhardt - n/a. Didn't offer too much in the short time he was on. Perkins - n/a. No time for any kind of influence.
I never expect you to but that's OK, you're usually wrong. Hope you had/are having a great afternoon on the beer.
Thought we looked much better with Byram at left back. Think you over cooked Summerville because of the late equaliser, I thought he held the ball far too long, was pushed off it way too easily and dived for a penalty on occasion. Meslier just doesn’t communicate with his defenders, he can see the gaps but doesn’t shout at them to let them know. I think he needs replacing. Archie Gray is just quality and dare I say it but Poveda needs a rum in the team. At least he is brave on the ball. Oh and how about having a shot once in a while. Thought we pissed all over them but the usual frailties caught us out. Finally, LOVING no VAR
Well, fair play guys, I'm not going to grumble about only getting a point out of that game. 2nd half was one way traffic and your lot deserved a point even if the equaliser had a touch of fortune about it with the way the ball got to Summerville. Your forward players displayed their abilities far better than ours and the difference in class was evident. They do however need to remember they aren't in the Premier League with the way they kept throwing themselves to the ground looking for penalties. This is the Championship, a proper league for proper players, not glorified ballet dancers that fall over with a slight breeze. Thanks again to Ellandback for the hospitality.
Good away point and you guys look much improved from last season. We will look to buy a few more players before our squad is sorted. Good luck.
Felt we totally dominated, 2-0 if we had a proper defence. I felt Byram was good when he came on. Cresswell we need to see more of him before deciding. Considering the disruption we’re not far off being a great team. I still believe we’ll piss this division with the right 2-3 signings James is poor, great fighting spirit from the team 72% possession and 25 shots. Get the new CB in for Farke this week, LB would be a good shout too Darlow to start next match, Cardiff 2 shots on target and two goals, when was the last time Meslier saved a shot
