Drop one of them then. Roofe is probably the best striker we have and he's pushed out wide cos he can do it, but he shouldn't be.
With the signing of Bridcutt we need to go back to 4-2-3-1 Wood up front and the three behind him would include Antonsson and Roofe. Glad Wood scored, glad we got our first point... Must admit, I missed it all, was glued to our Olympic gold run
My view: Got to realise that my views on the players (below) are set against the backdrop of a very good, controlling Fulham team. They were well drilled and pinged the ball about quickly & comfortably. They didn’t have the greatest goal threat, although had plenty of opportunities, but I think that was more down to our defence than their ineptitude. I honestly believe that if Samba was playing, there could have been a few more goals. Green was well protected by the defence. Have to say that the midfield weren’t as obliging, Phillips excepted, so it makes the performance of the defence all the more remarkable. Green: Didn’t have a great deal to do, other than be alert. Got great protection from the defence (most of the time). I was disappointed by their goal & thought he should have saved it. Haven’t seen a replay yet to determine if I’m being unfair. Perhaps one of our goalies could assess it better. Ayling: Very positive going forward, but fails to get crosses in or hit the by-line often enough for me. Also has a tendency to cut inside & play like a midfielder. Would prefer if he concentrated on overlapping & crossing. I do have a problem with his defending tonight & hope it was tonight’s match only. I don’t think he blocked or closed down one single cross. That’s a big worry for me & needs to be nipped in the bud. Bartley: More of the same, please. Haven’t seen him put a foot wrong yet. Cooper: Glad to see him back. Defended well with Bartley & treated us to a few of his excellent 60/70yd diagonals. Taylor: A bit more like it. Someone’s kicked his arse. Probably his agent. Dallas: Not an attacking threat of any note, IMO. Seems to play as a RW DM, is there’s such a role! Was knackered, understandably, due to joining pre-season late & covering every blade of grass in the first half. Not sure that he should start the next game. Phillips: Didn’t put a foot wrong IMO. Did the simple passes well, harried & hassled & won the ball back when we lost it (and as we kept losing it, it kept him busier than he should have been!). Hernandez: Can play beautifully. Didn’t tonight. Monk has to find out why. Quickly. Roofe: I was left with the (perhaps incorrect) impression that he’s never played with an overlapping FB. Taylor was often available, and either ignored by Roofe, or he simply never noticed him. Takes on too much himself. May have worked as a L2 striker, but not as a Championship winger. Perhaps I’ve got a downer on him because I expected too much. Tell you what, though – he’s a fighter, and dirty with it too, I’m glad to say. Antonsson: Seems to be doing everything right except score. It’ll come, I’m sure. Wood: Simply awful again, then he gets a cracking goal. Should he be dropped? I really can’t see who we’ve got to replace him, tbh. Subs Viera: Very lively when he came on. Seen him play alongside Phillips before & was impressed. Same tonight. A lot of energy & determination, & a clearly developing football brain. Mowatt: Still think he’s got that anvil thing tied to his back from sprint training. No young man should be that slow. Looked better than Hernandez, but that wasn’t difficult. Game was too fast for him, even coming into it late. Little boy lost. Sacko: Tried. Passing Not happy about ‘speed to market’, as they call it elsewhere. What I mean is that there is no urgency in our attack. I had a few people around me laughing at my commentary, where I had an uncanny ability to predict passes. Right along the back 4; then quick pass 10 yds forward to midfield; then back to the back 4 routine; then the odd panic, so back to the keeper; then out to the back 4….. It was like Groundhog Day. I remembered looking at the clock on 80 mins, as we were going through this routine & wondering if they really had any idea how to win a match. Cooper was the exception, but only on occasion. His raking diagonal passes were long & accurate, but even though it put us in a good attacking position, more often than not, it ended back in the defence. The passing stats of the defence will be brilliant, no doubt, but abso-fcuking-lutely fcuking useless & time-wasting. Ray Wilkins would be proud of them. Why have one forward pass when you can have 26 in a row sideways? Corners Not sure if you’re aware, but not only do we not put any players on the halfway line when defending corners (like last season), but now we no longer cover the posts either! We just seem to pack the penalty box & hope we outnumber them. Possibly there’s a science to it, & I'm too thick to understand. Throw-ins We seem to be consistent. We win a throw in, and everyone seems to think it’s time to play hide & seek. No-one is interested in the ball. And if there’s a chance for someone to take a quick throw to maintain momentum or catch the opposition out, we don’t. We wait for the FB to trot 50 yds forward. Hugely frustrating. Surely Monk notices this?
http://www.leeds.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=457126 Link above to another match rating slamming Antonnson for what is described as another glaring miss. Not defending Wood, just wondering why he shoulders the majority of the blame, is it more his control, positioning and passing or just the missed chances? Interesting comments about subs not warming up and pointing out they wouldn't be ready if called on in an emergency.
A very full match report and I can't disagree with it too much, but still feel that you are seeing some positives that arnt there and the midfield is defensively much worse than you indicate. Ohh and Hernandez should stay away from taking corners absolutely shocking! Score for the report 7/10
I've felt for Chris Wood in a Leeds shirt. He is an old school striker that requires service to score. Won't make something out of nothing more often than not (although the overhead kick could be seen like that). He needs the service, if he doesn't get it he looks ****. People seem to expect him to be McCormack which isn't the case. Also people seem to expect him to do something when the ball is lumped up to him and he is up there alone against 4 defenders. I don't think he's a 3mil striker but he is the best one we have imo. He'd probably be better in a two up front alongside Roofe perhaps but our team isn't set up to play that way so the midfield need to bust a gut to get past him which we don't seem fit enough to do.
Not so sure Josh, it's Chippy......... I don't think we need to go down that road on any level, it's bound to get out of hand eventually.
Hey guys, was just wondering if anybody at the game could give an unbiased view on our young left back Sessegnon??? We are obviously a little bias but believe we have someone special, unfortunately the big clubs are circling and he's so young he's not even under a professional contract!
I wasn't there but I was listening to LUTV. He seems to be an exceptional talent. I'd get him on a contract asap if I were you.
We haven't! I decided I wanted to. It was a metaphor for how much I agreed with WJs report. if you had gone you would be able to contribute and say how much you agreed or disagreed with it! I thought it worthwhile to say I agreed with most of it, some of it, (corners, slow from back to front. lack of a midfield) chimes with exactly what I have been saying for many months. Would you prefer wj and me to be in wild disagreement?
