The debate over Rasmus and his place in JM's team is still raging on, with some calling for him to be dropped, others going so far as to say he should be sold asap I originally wrote this for one of Matty Click's threads, and after the Villa game it's worth revisiting to see if there's any change in how people see him at Leeds KRISTENSEN ISSUE Firstly, what a good signing for just £10m ... Leeds really did solid business for a proven 24-year old player ... it is clear that the lad hasn't completely settled into a rhythm at Leeds just yet, but I do expect him to come good EXPECTATION Leeds is a different beast to Salzburg ... Kristensen is now playing in the glare of the Premier League spotlight, for one of the giants of English football ... he's being seen by a global audience every week, and he knows he needs to perform ... this weight of expectation can be a cross to bear for some players, although I think Kristensen isn't struggling under the pressure, but maybe trying too hard TRYING TOO HARD? We often hear it said about players "trying too hard" to make an impact, but it's never explained what this means ... well, you can have a tigerish midfielder feeling a sense of urgency to leave his mark and help the team get control of a game, only to fly into a tackle with two feet and being sent off ... in Kristensen's case I think it's more about him trying to have "impactful moments" as often as possible in a game, leading to him giving the ball away too often as he seeks that golden, game-changing slide-rule pass When Ayling was doing so well down the right for Leeds, he made more passes inside to the CBs, DM or CM than he did down the line to the winger ... this meant possession was retained better while Ayling could get upfield, leaving the opponent's wide man behind ... he always seemed to have more space to receive the ball in as he progressed into the opponent's half, and this would either darw his opposite number up onto him, giving our winger room to attack, or draw one of the opponent's central players out wide, opening up space for a Klich or Pablo to run into ... this also allowed Ayling room to get beyond their full-back to the bye-line for a smart pull back into the path of a deep runner ... Bielsa Ball in a nutshell, and pretty much Marsch Ball too Kristensen seems to be making more early passes down the line, trying to get Leeds onto the front foot quickly ... this is fine if the wide man has space to receive the ball in, but more often than not he is tightly marked so early in the build up ... there hasn't been enough play developed to start getting runners going and opponents dragged out of shape ... this means Kristensen is giving the ball away more frequently, and often in areas where he can be quickly countered in behind his position, allowing opponents free runs at our CBs from out wide ... there is only one outcome, chaos! Should Kristensen slow down a touch, look for more inside passes first to keep possession and allow him time and space to get further forward, then we will see him start to make an impact ... we've seen very little of him getting high up the pitch and putting crosses in, because his early pass down the line means that too often our wide man is closed down, can't play forward, and is forced to turn and pass the ball back to Kristensen who is usually then only crossing the halfway line ... this completely takes away an chance for the lad to get up beyond the wide man, and gives him no opportunity to run in behind an get a telling cross in SOUNDS SIMPLE Because it is ... Ayling has been doing it for a while now, he understands how he can make an impact, but he stays patient and has no problem passing sideways or back until the space opens up for him ... Kristensen is trying too hard to show us he can be good, and rather than play so many early balls into 50/50 situations that make him look bad, he should slow down a touch and pick the sure thing inside so that he can begin to get further forward and put pressure on defenders Kristensen is a good player, he's still young and he will improve ... if he gets it right, Leeds are going to have a beast of a player for years to come ... however, the key question now is how long Marsch feels he can give him to fix it, because it's not a talent thing but a mental one, and the lad needs to know he's trusted ... tough decision for JM to make in the cauldron of the Prem where every point is vital
Like RK and think he is just ahead of a fully fit Ayling. The kid is going to improve and leave Ayling behind. I dont think he will be out of action as much as Bill through injury or suspension so more reliable. I also dont think he will give away as many penalties as Ayling. Ayling is more precise going forward and scores a couple of goals per season as well as creating chances for strikers. Rasmus needs to add finese at the other end if the pitch for me, yes he gets forward but not connected to the attack as well. However his main job is stopping attacks and breaking them up and so far hes doing it
Kristensen is ahead of Ayling at the moment and we’ll have to see how Bill does when he’s back up to match fitness. My question would be are either of them really good enough if we want to challenge for top 8 in the PL ?
Hi Jamster you are correct in your point, however our squad is £20m behind Brentford in value and they are not a top 8 club. The next one above them in value is Newcastle who have a squad value £50m more than our and they are not anywhere near top 8. So my point is I would love to be fighting for top 8 but our squad is ranked as 14th in value and it would take a top coach to get us up there and my view never going to happen under Marsch. We are going backwards right now but still believe the players we brought in are all worth more money now than we paid for them but not top 8
The problem I have with Rasmus is of my own making. Pre-season, having watched a few clips of him & observed his physique, I somehow convinced myself that we had signed the new Zico. So I set him too high a target, performance-wise, & he's never come close to my expectation. That doesn't make him a bad player, 2nd choice, or any of these terms - it's just me that's expected too much. Still hope he can become a Leeds great, but he'll need to go some if he wants to even get into the same sentence as Zico.
It's possible we were all expecting a little too much of Rasmus because of reports of his rampaging CL performances etc. Truth is he's doing absolutely fine and it probably just requires a little patience on our part as he adjusts to new teammates and playing in a new League. Incidentally as my memory fails me but how did Zico do in his first 7 games for us ?
