Good Morning. It's Wednesday 16th February, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road It's just about survival now Leeds Utd journalist Phil Hay has penned an article this morning which shreds light on why Leeds failed to strengthen their squad in January, and reveals their ambitions for the second half of the season. Hay explains that whilst some (most likely Orta) would have liked Bielsa to accept the players he was offered, the rest of the hierarchy were only concerned about the business model and finishing 17th or above! "There were some in the club who would have liked him to accept the players he was offered in last month’s transfer window, loanees especially, but they agreed with his view that the squad as it looked on deadline day was good enough to stay up. Leeds are one of only two teams in the current bottom six who have not changed manager this season, and at no stage has Bielsa’s position come up for discussion". "Better tools is what I’d like to see - but also a willingness from Bielsa to accept better tools and maybe allow for a little more depth to mitigate the injuries. The injuries are so bad and relentless that I don’t think it’s enough to say they’ll clear up eventually". please log in to view this image Wins against Newcastle and Everton would have elevated Leeds to tenth Wins against Newcastle and Everton would have elevated the Whites to joint 10th place in the top flight, level with Southampton who have played a game more! Whilst I'm not saying a couple of signings would have made all the difference, the gaping gaps in Leeds midfield are plain to see! Donny van de Beek (a player Bielsa turned down last month) showed Leeds fans exactly what they are missing out on. He was the main instigator of the 3-0 drubbing last weekend at Goodison Park. He also picked up the man of the match award with a 7.97 rating, almost two entire points more than Rodrigo, Leeds top-rated player with 6.05. How would Radrizzani feel if Leeds fans stopped attending games in the latter part of the season due to the lack of ambition showed by the club? Weirdly enough, it looks like the wins against Burnley and West Ham in early January may have convinced Bielsa there was no need to invest. please log in to view this image 34 points should keep us up Leeds-Live journalist Beren Cross has claimed the Whites are on course for Premier League survival come May. Leeds are currently on course to finish this season's campaign with 38 points, and according to Cross, believes 34 points will be enough to avoid the drop! “It looks like less than 40 points will be good enough to stay up. In the last 10 years, the average points tally for 18th place has been 34 points. Based on the current average of one point per game for the Whites, they're looking at 38 from now at the current rate. I think Leeds will do it. They have injured players to come back still and based on how well they finished last term, I would like to think they should outdo a few more sides down the stretch once more.” please log in to view this image
Morning all Yeah Hay is right and Bielsa should have accepted the players offered. Big mistKe amongst a bunch of mistakes this season and now he gambles on just doing enough. I will stick with him because I trust him but we are now in for a rough ride. Bamford and Phillips 2 England players missing all season is a massive impediment and guess what 2 players with new contract that have not contributed this season. We need them back urgently to save the season
We we were 'on course' to get results against the geordies and scousers after a great result at West Ham, we need to be more consistent, individually and as a team, we should have strengthened last month we've become a team of biscuits for some reason, we will be in the **** come may I fear.
Morning Olof, We’ve been mainly **** all season and averaged a point per game, which is enough to stay up. If we get even worse and average less than a point per game from now till the end of the season we’ll deserve to go down. Can’t see us getting worse but you never know with this lot
Morning Forza You're correct we have been ****e all season, and I obviously hope you are right that we just manage to stay up, We do have the team to comfortably stay up but for some reason can't string a good few results together especially against the weaker teams We'll probably give scum a right ****ing on Sunday now.
This scenario of getting the injured players back is bull crap. March will soon turn into April and we may still be waiting for the resurrection. These players injured and being told we will be safe when they return reminds me of the infamous game in hand. Anyone remember how that turned out?. To put it the wakey way bielsa is a fecking blinkered self believing nut job. Three players should have come in January. We cannot rely on Forshaw who is a well known sicknote. Why is there a gap between defensive mid and non striker rodrigo. No wonder rodrigo has games where he looks confused. The guy can play but not on his own. We were told by bielsa raph could play at 10 but never has. James should be on the wing... Square pegs and round holes all scenarios in Bielsas head.
No but he does contradict himself. Rodrigo came and was declared up to standard by bielsa. We were all thick you see and did not understand these things. Others came in and were flogged to death for weeks.
Morning all. Our worst performances this season have been after games where the players have made a monumental effort. We hear that the staff know everything about a player's condition, physically but do they know when players are mentally tired? I'm surprised the same team stepped out because that Villa performance would have taken a lot out of them and so, just from seeing similar exertions this year, there was the distinct possibility of a drop off. I think Raphinha has suffered since coming back from South America. He was straight into two very hectic games with no recovery time. I know Coutinho also returned from Brazil but I'm sure he doesn't get through as much work. Our trump card is that we will chase teams down for 90 minutes but, after a huge exertion, is that energy level there? I think that's why we sometimes look very ordinary. I'd like to see Gelhardt because, apart from a couple of games, our one biggest failing is the percentage of chances converted.
Ok well I guess its that time of year when I decide to predict the whole of the remaining matches to be played, so that some can maybe take comfort in where I think we will finish, or else think I am either too positive or too negative with the whole prediction malarkey All games between now and last game of the season for all clubs ( apart from those matches still to be played following Covid postponements, as the predictor doesn't list those rearrangements yet) have been predicted. So lets see what I think will happen, and then you can all come back to this thread at 8pm on 22 May 2022 to either give me grief or make fun of me The following will show Position - Club - Matches Played - Points 1 Man City 38 102 2 Liverpool 37 90 3 Chelsea 37 84 4 West Ham 38 65 5 Scum 38 62 6 Arsenal 35 59 7 Spurs 35 57 8 Brighton 37 52 9 Wolves 36 51 10 A'Villa 36 48 11 Southampton 37 45 12 Leicester 35 43 13 Everton 35 38 14 C Palace 37 37 15 Leeds 36 37 16 Newcastle 36 35 17 Norwich 37 30 18 Brentford 38 29 19 Burnley 34 26 20 Watford 36 21 So Man City to win the title, Liverpool & Chelsea qualify for Champions League. West Ham, Arsenal and Spurs competing for final Champions League spot. We're in 15th position, with potential to finish anywhere between 12th and 17th. Brentford and Watford relegated, with final spot between Burnley and Norwich, Burnley needing to get a maximum of 8 points from their remaining 4 games to stay up. As for us, after 36 games, we end up with 8 wins, 13 draws and 15 defeats. So with games against Liverpool and Villa not predicted, we will get 3 wins, 5 draws and 5 defeats from the 13 games predicted. Feel free to have a go yourselves at https://www.worldfootball.net/table_calculator/eng-premier-league/ Take between 5 and 10 minutes to do all the remaining fixtures, providing you don't think to much about them
I thought the same Blono. Both Leeds and Villa gave their all for 90 minutes. Took a lot out of both sides both mentally and physically. Villa also went on to lose their next game, at Newcastle, even though they had an extra day’s rest.
Im now classing Aski as an expert, and in a time of experts and following the science Wakey should take note Nice one mate, I’m right with you
