Good Morning. It's Monday 25th November, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road James and Tanaka whip up a storm in South Wales Leeds whipped up a storm in South Wales after coming from behind twice to defeat Swansea City, and clamber their way to the top of the Championship. Swansea hadn't scored more than two for fourteen games, but also have not conceded four since the last time Farke's men visited, back in February. Despite three valuable points, the cogs aren't turning in unison for the Whites. They looked lop-sided in the final third, with Jaydan Bogle often ostracized, in favour of attack after attack coming down the left flank. Loose passing and constantly getting turned over in advanced areas must be a constant cause for concern for the Leeds gaffer. As for talent on display, there was very little; James and Tanaka ran the show (with an honourable mention to Solomon for his brace); without which, serious question marks would have been raised about the rest of the Leeds squad! What Swansea lacked in the talent department, they more than made up for in effort, endeavour and guile! Every man (and their sheep) would get behind the ball when the Whites went on the offensive, then broke in numbers after regaining possession. Theatrics and inventiveness ensured the visitors won the lions share of the referee's decisions! So, in a match that had more twists than a pretzel, Gnonto's injury time strike proved decisive; without which, we would have seen a very different reaction from the Elland Road faithful. Swansea are four points from the drop zone; Leeds must improve if they are to win automatic promotion this season! Are Leeds missing out on cheap goals Long hopeful balls, ten men behind the ball, hopeful set pieces into the box and blatant theatrics - this seems to sum up the Championship; but are Leeds missing out on cheap goals by not joining in? A case in point which riled me yesterday was when Brendan Aaronson was being blatantly dragged back after skimming his marker, but staying on his feet instead of trying to gain an advantage by way of a free kick in a dangerous area! This was followed two minutes later by a blatant dive from a Swansea player! Leeds are missing out on goals by not joining in on what many consider to be cheap antics! It's great to hold the moral high ground, but not if it costs us promotion. There's an argument that with a squad as good as Farke's, Leeds don't need to dive, but would you like to see the Whites defend in numbers, and pump long hopeful balls into the penalty box? please log in to view this image
the guy on the right, offside and interfering with Meslier's vision It looks like his positioning is wrong, but to be fair the attack built down our left so he was moving back across. It trickled in and looked bad, but i have some sympathy on this one, keeper's react to the intitial shot and it's difficult to re-set/balance to a deflection. I'm not his greatest fan, but this wasn't as bad as it looked in my opinion.
As usual, I fully agree with the Milky one. If Meslier was further right then he would have left his near post vulnerable to the Swansea player who passed the ball central. Meslier has his faults but it's harsh to blame him for this one. Pablo scored one off the same post at the end of the promotion season with a similar trickled effort. Nobody blamed the Swansea keeper that day.
Meslier saw the ball plain enough and slowly fell to his right. He did not attempt to get his body behind the ball. This of course is what he is bad at. Ok when it's higher like the later save but does not have the agility for the low shots.
Evening all Glad I was scrolling through, and I read this before commenting very similar thoughts myself
