The #LUFC Breakfast Debate (Tuesday 12th October)

Good Morning. It's Tuesday 12th October, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road


Phillips should have moved club last Summer

talkSPORT presenter Adrian Durham believes that Kalvin Phillips England career could be in jeopardy unless he moves on to pastures new. The ginger whinger went on to say that Borussia Dortmund's Jude Bellingham has surpassed the Yorkshire Pirlo by way of quality, due to Champions League football and being surrounded by better players!

According to the tubby wind up merchant:

“I think Phillips is the fall guy,” “He’s done nothing wrong, but Bellingham is a better player. He’s proven it in the Champions League as well as a top league in Europe. “The time for him to move on was this summer, as much as I’m a Leeds sympathiser. He had an incredible tournament. He’s done all he can at Leeds United. “They’re not going to get better. “Now there’s a big fuss ‘oh he can’t go to Manchester United’ and how it’s holding him back. “He’s not 19 or 21 either, he’s not one of those youngsters.”

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Does Durham have a point?

Many believe Leeds took a massive backwards step last Summer by way of recruitment. Bielsa's boys were riding the crest of a wave, having finished ninth in the top flight, and expectations were high. They found themselves at a crossroads; take advantage of the situation and plug the gaps in the squad, or consolidate. Unfortunately, Radz chose the latter.

Whilst every Leeds fan is eternally grateful for what Andrea Radrizzani has accomplished at Elland Road during his short tenure, the opportunity to move to the next level has vanished (for now) and Leeds find themselves once again in the shop window of the rich and famous. Nobody wants to be put in the same situation we found ourselves in during the Ridsdale era, but with investors queueing at the door, it's safe to assume our predicament is far from dire.

Whilst Durham's comments can be taken with a pinch of salt, deep down, does he have a point about Phillips?

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Leeds expecting all players to be vaccinated against Covid shortly

Every first team member of the Leeds Utd squad will soon be fully vaccinated against Covid, according to Leeds Utd journalist Phil Hay. The news comes after an article from Sky Sports reported that as many as 50% of top flight footballers have refused the jab. Leeds are one of the few clubs to buck the trend, with a 90% participation. Hay expects the two remaining players to immunised shortly.

"Leeds are very close to 100 per cent take-up and expect to get there shortly. They have a very qualified head of medicine and performance in Rob Price who is clued-in about COVID-19 and the players trust him. Some senior squad members went first with the vaccine, which seemed to encourage others to follow. There’s been no “anti-vax” resistance as far as I can tell and there is a general willingness to be double-jabbed".

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Raphinha 'head and shoulders above everyone'

In his latest mail bag, Phil Hay has labelled Raphinha as being the most influential player going forward at the club! It seems, the 24 yo Brazilian can do no wrong. On his International debut for Brazil, he came on as a second half substitute; and was credited with two assists, and was the contributing factor in their third, as the five time World Champions came from behind to beat Venezuela 3-1.

Phillips is the player whom Leeds miss most but, in an attacking sense, Raphinha is consistently head and shoulders above everyone. Even aside from his touch and his vision, he has the most incredible engine. When he’s not carrying an injury he looks like he could run all night. I cannot say for sure what his true value is but it’s miles above the £17 million paid for him. It is quite noticeable how frequently supporters of other clubs mention him after games against Leeds.

Will Leeds become overly reliant on Raphinha as the season progresses? Is there anyone in the squad, not pulling their weight?

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Morning all

I never comment on a bag of shyt so Talkpoo fatty can go do one.

Raphinha has been brilliant since he arrived and if only our other wingers could bring the end product that he does, we would be flying. I believe he has cemented himself into the Brazil team and now looks be undroppable after these 2 games.

A couple of stories that interest me is that Man Utd have told Jesse Lingard he will be sold for £15m in January if he refuses to sign a new deal. Juve are trying to get Donny Van De Beek from them because he has sat on the bench since he arrived. Either of these players would be top signings for us?

 

Morning all.

Literally everyone on TalkShit is paid to be controversial and it is their duty to wind supporters up. Having said that, every player has his price and Durham has a point in the perception that Leeds have stood still after very limited action in the summer window. It's inevitable that the big clubs will try and tempt our best players away. I'd hate to see either Phillips or Raphinha go, and Raphinha's price must have risen considerably. Can we really hope to turn down a big bid, and in these austere times can we expect silly bids like £100M ?

I won't comment further on the covid situation as I can't afford to spend half my day replying to the conspiracy nut jobs (again), apart from to say it's good news.

 

Talkpoo fatty

 

Me too, apart from the paid bit

 

Morning all,

I take no notice of anything pretty much anyone on talkshite says anymore. As someone else had said, they are paid to be controversial to get clicks and call ins. Give it two days and the same person will peddle the opposing view.

Not sure where I stand on the idea that we have stood still this summer. We upgraded the lb which was a key target. Spent nearly a record fee on a player we have chased for three years and like like he could be a major player this season and beyond.

Yes we've been slow out of the starting blocks but but the only dropped points compared to fixtures against the same teams last year have been draws with Burnley and Newcastle.
So pundits saying we are standing still and fans in uproar over a perceived relegation battle are basing it all on 4 points.

Bit off an over reaction to me. Especially when there is a very good chance we could get those points and more back by not losing to our teams like wolves, Brighton and palace this year which were awful results last year.

 

As hemese says its bollox about standing still simply because when you have an 18 man squad and 9 are out injured or suspended standing still is a good thing. 50% of the players out and would have loved to have played Liverpool and Man Utd if the had half their squad out. Standingstillmyarse

 

It's the perception v reality that worries me though. Have we done enough to persuade the likes of Phillips and Raphinha that their future lies with Leeds ? Are we seen to be ambitious enough for players that should be looking at getting champions league football ? I'm not advocating spend, spend, spend, I think we're doing it the right way. What I'm saying is it worries me that bigger clubs might have more of a draw and could tempt our best players to move on.

 

That's football unfortunately.

One of the reasons why I'm excited about us taking the league cup a bit more seriously this year is that if we were to win it I see that as a marker laid down to our better players.

It may not be the biggest cup to win but a day at Wembley lifting a cup has a way of raising a coins profile and shows the players our ambition. It also gets us a place in Europe which is another tick in the box.

Couple that with a similar finish to last season and the higher investment that was the long term plan of the club and we look rosy for the future.

I like this longer term plan more than the get rich quick attitude the toon army now have.

 

Who was missing v Man u and Liverpool?

 

I think everyone who played there part last season deserved another go Christ they finished in the top 10 in their first season. Yes you tinker with positions try to make them stronger but no overhaul was needed. Plus they all know the Bielsa system which is a massive factor.
Stood still not at all we have turned our youth system into something else cherry picked good potential even if only one makes the 1st team in the prem league it's a success. Not only that once these kids start kicking premier League balls you instantly start off a 5 to 10 million pound player.
We in a good place the ones who make it will go into our first team and their value will Soare. the ones that don't just because of their profile and age we will make a profit on too.
Look at Eddie at Arsenal.
It's a no lose lucky dip to me one day you will not get what you thought it was. but, you know you haven't spent alot on it to get it. then sooner or later something special comes along which makes everything bought was well worth it.

 

As on Adrian Durham we were supposed to be relegated and Bielsa would leave or be sacked.
Talkshit should be the programmes name. Because the amount of pappa coming out of there would cover fields and fields of it.

 

I said that because of the perception that we have stood still, which I think is bollox because of all the injuries we have had. In terms of Man Utd and Liverpool common denominator was Llorente who missed Man Utd and got injured against Liverpool and was replaced by Struijk and we know how that ended.

 

What does the long term plan look like though ?

Seems to me it's to be an established PL club and increase income through stadium development. Now personally I've no problem with that but let's not kid ourselves that part of the plan is to quallify for the CL during the next 5 years. Realistically if we did have a 55,000 seater stadium then we might be in a position to challenge for the Top 4 in about 10 years but that's a big maybe as it stands.

That's roughly how long (5 seasons) it has taken West Ham to improve their squad and challenge higher up the league after moving to their new stadium. Of course they didn't have to pay for it which was a massive advantage as well.

Then there will be Everton with a new stadium and Newcastle will also be financially superior to us. So the reality is we need to develop ER and increase revenues just to compete with the Top 8 never mind the clubs at the top of the league.

Whilst the streets of the PL are most certainly paved with gold perhaps it's not the utopia that many fans dream off. Maybe we should just accept our place in the order of things for a while and be happy with what we have and where we are.

 

They will change there tune again when we take 7-9 points from our next three matches

 

Lots said on here today about the plan to move the club forward. Jammy quite rightly showed how hard it is to compete at the top of the league and why stadium development gets us increased revenues etc. However we also know that to facilitate this plan of CL within 5 years we also model ourselves on Leicester, and that can only mean buying and developing cheap and flogging it high. So lets try and be realistic because that plan means selling some players for vast profits. So yes we could see Raphinha and Phillips go.

 

I found this interview with Victor Orta revealing and surprising, but gives you a flavour of why we bought Drameh, Bate, Gelhardt, Hjelde, Greenwood, McGurk, Miller and Summerville - seems to me we will be backfilling aging first team players mainly from the Academyand behind the above named kids there are some other budding stars, one of which is Eddy Grays great nephew. Eddies brother Franks grandson



"I want to be the first person on La Media Inglesa since in five years-time you’ll be talking about this guy non-stop and I want to be the first and because I already had the answer prepared yesterday, I want to say the name of Archie Gray, our youth team player.

"He is 16, [great nephew] of Eddie Gray, son of Andy Gray and I want to say the name of Archie Gray on La Media Inglesa. You can find a nice moment of what he did the other day in the Papa John’s Trophy on Wyscout, he gave a lovely pass to Amari Miller in our 4-1 defeat to Tranmere Rovers. Hopefully nobody takes him away from us for God’s sake. Nobody is going to do that, he has [Leeds] in his blood. So that’s why I want to say the name of Archie Gray on here because every time he takes a step forward you’ll see him.


According to Orta, Gray's ability marks him out as a rare find and makes him think of players like Manchester City legend Sergio Agüero and Atlético Madrid star Ángel Correa, whose precocious talent as youngsters left a lasting impression.

"He’s one of those players you see every, I don’t know. I remember Kun Agüero and saying “what is this?” It’s something that happens once in a long time, so I wanted to mention Archie Gray," said Orta.

"[It] has actually happened only a few times, in the South America Under 20s tournament Kun scored 10 or 12 goals or something like that, you could see he was different. I saw Ángel Correa in under 15s in San Lorenzo and it impacted me. I saw Douglas Costa when he was 15 in a Copinha São Paolo and I said “who’s this guy?” It’s happened only a few times. But yeah, Archie gives me the same feeling. Archie the other day against Tranmere Rovers gave me that feeling."

Gray is one of a number of young talents catching the eye at Thorp Arch. Defender Kris Moore, 17, has been solid, while attacking midfielder Sean McGurk, 18, signed from Wigan in the summer, has showcased his dribbling ability while impressing in the EFL Trophy. Crysencio Summerville, 19, has also forced his way past Helder Costa into Marcelo Bielsa's four wing options for Leeds

 

Understandably lots of posters/fans are getting it the wrong way round.

It's not a case of if we don't progress we'll have to sell...it's, we absolutely must sell to progress.

There's no other way without a multi billionaire benefactor who gets his kicks by taking on sovereign wealth funds.

 

So the England team selection just shows up Durhams stupid comments. He claims Bellingham has surpassed Phillips.
Phillips is injured and still Bellingham doesn't take his place in the team and does anyone not see Philips going straight back into the side when he is fit again?