Everton look a lot better under Benitez, very organised and full of running ... the key to their improvement has been pace on both wings and their two quality mids Allan and Doucoure ... add to this their undoubted quality up front and they look very capable of a top 8 finish ... that Mina chap is a bit of a beast as well, just needs to calm down a bit A draw was a fair result, both teams went at it proper old school with no quarter given ... at last we saw a Prem game where tackles were flying in and hard work was required for the full 90 mins ... what Everton did particularly well was to dominate Phillips, allowing him very little space to play in ... this meant KP found it difficult to be the pivot to effectively link defence and attack, slowing Leeds' attacks down and forcing more sideways passes than usual ... Doucoure and Richarlison were particularly good at sharing the KP harassment duties, and this also helped create space for Doucoure to drive past KP (see their second goal for a good example of this) Everton's first goal was fortunate in terms of the pen, as both players were at it ... did Cooper's shirt pull really make DCL fall down in the way he did? he was looking for a pen, it was soft because shirt pulling and holding goes on in every game at every corner ... no consistency yet again, which is why Cooper was rightly furious ... that said, VAR's scum loving official couldn't wait to alert the ref ... the build up was disappointing though, with Digne given too much space to steady himself and pick a dangerous cross into the area (Raphinha fell asleep) The important thing was the Leeds response, and the lads really fought back with gusto ... Klich's goal was majestic - a bullet pass by Ayling from his own penalty area up to Raphinha who somehow managed to cushion a deft volley to Bamford that cut out their donkey; Bamford's excellent first touch forcing Mina to come across before he slipped a delightful ball inside for Klich to run onto perfectly; Klich seeing Pickford flying out at him then takes a small touch to sit him down before calmly chipping the ball into the corner - Bielsa Ball at its finest, swift, incisive, skilful, accurate Everton relied on their wingers to get them up the pitch as they crowded the midfield, and for large parts they were happy to have their entire team in their own half ... 70% possession to Leeds tells you that Bielsa's boys still know how to play, just need to be better in defence Gary's goal was very avoidable, and in truth he shouldn't have been allowed to score ... first mistake was KP losing Doucoure who found himself in acres of space to run at the defence ... Doucoure's quick pass to try and get DCL in down the side hit Struijk who was recovering from following Richarlison into a bad area for him ... Doucoure picked up the loose ball, and with KP still floundering slotted a neat ball to Gray in the box, but Dallas was well placed to coverthe threat ... Gray got the ball stuck under his feet, Dallas relaxed for a moment and Gray fired a snap shot into the far corner ... I was surprised that Dallas allowed him the shot Raphinha's goal was just superb, a cracking swerve that beat Pickford comfortably ... Cooper did really well to calmly set Raph up, his perfectly weighted lay off spinning beautifully into Raph's stride for a thunder barsteward to be unleashed It was clear Bielsa was wary of Everton's pace out wide, with both Firpo and Dallas not going on runs beyond their wingers ... this was to ensure they would be able to recover quicker when possession got turned over in the Everton half ... the problems came when Everton turned the ball over higher up, and Dallas/Firpo were still on the front foot and needing to turn to get back DCL is a damn good striker, skilful and strong in the air, but the defence coped welland limited his impact ... only when Ayling lost him for a moment did he get a clear chance, but Spider Boy shut him down very quickly The subs were interesting, clearly pre-planned by Bielsa with both Klich and Firpo going off at exactly 60 minutes ... this was underlined by Klich's energy sapping sprint the length of the field to close Everton down in his last action before being subbed ... he knew he was coming off, so spent the last of his energy on one final lung bursting run ... Bielsa must feel that Klich and Firpo aren't quite ready for 90 minutes in that intensity just yet Roberts and Shack both brought their usual energy to the contest, and Roberts in particular worked himself into some great areas ... Shack seemed a bit reluctant to take responsibility with the ball, looking to pass to a more "senior" player too often, even when that ball wasn't the right one ... his confidence will grow with more outings though Leeds do look better when they play with two central defenders, so we should see more of this as most teams tend to play with one striker ... Everton used Richarlison very well, starting him as a second striker but getting him to shift to the 10 role when Leeds had possession, clsoing down KP and allowing Doucoure more freedom to play With KP unable to link play, Raphinha drifted inside a lot more to find space, although he had the beating of Digne ... after Digne got booked in the second half, it would have been better for Raph to stay wide and run at him, but he only really did this once, breaking into the penalty area before lifting a harmless shot into Pickford's grateful grasp rather than cutting the ball back I do believe that when we have Llorente and Rodrigo back to full fitness this Leeds team will be a different beast ... four at the back with Dallas joining Klich in midfield looks to be Bielsa's preferred option, and then bringing Rodrigo on against tiring oppenents for the last 30 minutes to exploit the space that will be opening up ... it will be awesome to see for sure We all know that Bielsa doesn't really like a busy transfer window, but I do feel we can benefit from another wide player and a midfielder ... if a Raphinha-type deal becomes available I think Leeds will make a move, but the club definitely won't be held to ransom just as they refused to cave in to Brighton's demands last year There are some seriously good players in the U23s, and hopefully good cup runs will allow them to shocase their ability and also learn in hard, competitive games ... Bielsa made it clear he was unhappy with the cup performances last year as he really wanted to used those games to blood U23s players and also give his bench players game time ... a good win against Crewe will go a long way to fixing this All in all a good, battling performance against a hard working Everton team, and a valuable point earned ... looking at the rest of the division, even if Leeds don't add any more players, the club will be fine and nowhere near relegation ... focus has to be 40 points though, and then kick on from there and see how high we can finish ... no need to panic, all is good and damn, Bielsa Ball is still a thing of beauty
Good assessment, Billy. You also mentioned Klich's chip, which I was delighted to see. Let me explain my delight by asking a question - how many times have you see a player try to score by placing the ball, & letting it run along the grass? Umpteen times - but how many of them turned out to be goals, & how many were blocked by a keeper's outstretched legs, or defender blocks? You see it week after week, at all levels of footie, and yet very few goals are scored doing this. If they had lifted the ball - only 9-12 inches required - almost all would have been goals. I just can't get over how many players automatically hit low - instinctively, I understand, as that is what they've been trained to do. And yet they do, hence so many avoidable misses. Am I the only one who finds this so avoidably niggling?
excellent point Jock ... DCL did exactly that when put one on one with Spider Boy, but then again Meslier is a unit and blocked the effort superbly ... the way Klich got Pickford to commit was brilliant, the lad is genuine Prem Lge quality ... I do worry that three seasons of Bielsa Ball and Poland duty may have broken him though, but I'll take 60 minutes of Klich and 30 minutes of Rodrigo right now check your inbox you Sassenach
