LL you've made some good observations about tonights game. Do you think we have the makings of a promotion winning team this season ?
Night guys, no coverage of the alleged spitting on any of the major news feeds - Sky, BT, YEP etc. Looks like mind games/sour grapes from Brown. Sad really.
I do, but TC has to get the right 11 on pitch, hopefully that'll happen before 5 games are up. Our midfield has certainly been strengthened with a couple of attacking mids, which is where we fell down the last few seasons. Our shots on target for the PV game was 23, with 10 on target, I think we achieved that by game 10 last season.... We seem to have good back up, our possession passing has improved, and it's only the second game. Commitment and hunger for the ball seems to have improved and the players seem to be playing for 90+ minutes. What we need to do is take that momentum into the league games. I believe, at this stage a top 6 finish is on cards, once TC gets his first 11 right then I don't see why we can't finish in top 2. Our biggest tests, and learning curves are going to be against the stronger teams, but I have a funny feeling that won't bother the likes of Saiz and Alioski and Co.....
Good post LL. Know what you mean about the best 11 but the nature of the championship means you're constantly having to make changes due to injuries, suspensions and just utilizing fresh players available in the squad. Thought tonight showed how good we could be but we're still a central defender short and have inadequate cover for Wood. On the other hand we've made massive strides in the last 2 months which is quite amazing considering what went before.
Agreed Jammy, I'm hoping that TC can occasionally recognise certain players need to play against certain teams, and/or certain defenders etc, having said that, it's the first season for TC in championship as well......
Great game, wasn't it? Hopefully a lot more to come. Doc got the Cooper call spot on. I didn't think it would happen. Shows you how much I know Had to laugh at the finishing back 4. LM playing LB, DM playing RB, DM playing CB & LB playing CB. Versatile? Yes. Predictable? Absolutely not. My thoughts on the players: Wieldwald: Could have had a kip in a hammock. Anita: Good defensively, but I didn't get a warm, fuzzy feeling about his attacking prowess. I'm not convinced that he's a natural RB. Shaughnessy: I may be deluding myself, but he seemed to head almost every ball that came into our half - except for their goal, but I reckon he was sandwiched unfairly then. Great performance when you consider he's a 20yo DM. Ayling: Looked a natural CB & natural captain. Forgot he was a CB at times by carrying the ball too far forward, but hey!, he's not exactly had lots of minutes as a CB recently, so what do you expect? BJ: Was electric & worked well with Dallas & Saiz. He had at least two shots & umpteen crosses in the first 30 mins. Good ones too. Charlie who? Went off the boil a little then, though & eventually moved to CB in place of Ayling. Seemed very assured at CB too, but tbh, didn't have a great deal to do. When was the last time we has 2 20yo CBs playing together? Klich: This guy comes with a load of hype, but so far I haven't seen anything to support it. Don't recall him doing anything particularly wrong, but don't remember him setting the heather alight either. I do accept that he's behind everyone else due to his injury, & will be delighted if he turns out to be a gem too. Viera: Disappointingly flat in the first half. Sprung into life when Bridcutt came on & seemed to be back to his old self again. Over the whole 90 mins though, he only gets a marginal pass mark. Problem might have been playing alongside a lacklustre Klich, or not knowing each others' game. An encouraging finish, though. Dallas: One of his better performances in a Leeds shirt. Got forward a lot more. In fact he has every time I've seen him play this season. Which makes me wonder if this is his natural game, and Monk deliberately played him defensively. Only time will tell, but I'm encouraged. To those who think he should be moved on - behave yourselves! Saiz: What do you say about this bloke? Hat-trick was a bonus. Even without the goals he was a 9/10 for me. Involved in everything. Magic! One of the best performances I've ever seen from a Leeds player in this division. Not sure why TC played it down after the game. Seemed to imply there was still a lot of work to do with him. How can he possibly pick Hernandez on Saturday after this performance? Sacko: Oh dear. Chance to shine & it didn't happen for him. I don't think it was entirely his fault. Anita didn't offer as much support as BJ offered Dallas, and Saiz seemed to mainly play on the left & in the middle. However, when he did have the ball, he failed to impress. Ekuban: Poor sod was fairly isolated throughout the match, so little opportunity to shine. Not his fault, IMO. It just seemed to be positive play all around him & no-one really involved him. TBH, I think Wood would not have improved on his performance. Bridcutt: Got to eat humble pie here. Said before that I didn't think he could adapt to our new pacey game. He did. Took the game by the scruff of the neck & enlivened it. Covered every blade, broke things up, started things off, & generally got involved. Woke up Viera too & shook the rust out of him. Faultless, really. I've never seen him impact a game like this before. The wonder of competition, eh? Alioski: Got the space to show what he can do. Very exciting to watch, and surely must have built his confidence up. There will be bigger challenges for him, so perhaps hasn't quite 'arrived' yet. Seems to be learning quicker than Roofe did last season, though, which is heartening. Gomes: Unable to assess. Game over when he came on. Another thought to dwell on. I've was wondering about our defensive cover tonight & I'm not so sure we're as desperate for cover as we think we are. LB: We've got 2 'dependables' (BJ, Berardi) & 4 'cover' (Anita, Cooper, Gomes, Alioski). CB: We've got 3 'dependables' (Pontus, Cooper, Pennington) & 3 'cover' (Ayling, Shaughnessy, BJ). RB: We've got 3 'dependables' (Ayling, Berardi, Anita) & 3 'cover' (Pennington, BJ, Shaugnessy). Thoughts?
I definitely was but I would say by the end of last season I had warmed to him to the point of tepid.
Morning all Was out in Latchi harbour with Jan and the boys having dinner last night so wasn't following the game (although Ben did keep us updated until half time from his 'phone). Came back and had a few beers by the pool so decided to leave checking in until this morning. A few things. As the old saying goes, you can only beat what is in front of you and, as we well know many sides fail in cups against teams from lower divisions. However, have watched some highlights and we looked superb at times. Secondly, it was a joy to read this whole thread and this is meant in the right way, loved seeing LL find a new hero - suspect we might end up agreeing on this one WJ, as ever, reading your match report is about the next best thing to actually being there. Great read, thorough as ever - you could have been a journalist Finally, and LL won't agree with me here from what I have seen and read, I am relishing seeing Wood (if he is still here) link up with Alioski and Saiz. Yes he got 30 odd goals in a one dimensional team set up to play to him but I think he brings a lot more to the team. He works incredibly hard for the team as a lone striker and makes it difficult for defenders to clear their lines properly causing the second ball to land in dangerous areas. He may not get as many as he did last year but it will be real fun watching the new boys pick those loose balls up - we could cause havoc a few times this year Let's hope GBs predictions from yesterday are correct - would be awesome to get off to a flyer for a change
