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t. Must be January then.Was hoping for a positive reaction today following the Crawley fiasco but unfortunately it didn't happen. I'm not sure Brighton actually deserved to win the game but we certainly weren't at our best; we created next to nothing in the way of clear chances and far too many players simply weren't at it IMO. The performances from Rodrigo are starting to concern me a bit as well - for the money he cost it doesn't feel like he's contributing enough and today was another example.
With due respect to Brighton they're the sort of team we need to be beating which makes the performance and result today all the more disappointing. The same probably applies to Newcastle so some food for thought for Bielsa before we head to Tyneside for our next game...
With due respect to Brighton they're the sort of team we need to be beating which makes the performance and result today all the more disappointing. The same probably applies to Newcastle so some food for thought for Bielsa before we head to Tyneside for our next game...
We are absolutely garbage when KP is not on the pitch.
The lack of options we have at CM is embarrassing.
Struijk is garbage at DM
Rodrigo, have no idea what he is supposed to be, I don't rate Tyler Roberts at all but look at how much more impact he had when he came on, dropped deep, demanded the ball, had some spark, don't see any of that from Rodrigo. He also cannot play in the same 11 as Kilch, leaves too much for him to do.
On the plus side, no calamities from Kiko (that cost us).
Very, very, flat performance, not helped at all by the travesty of a pitch, although Brighton managed to string together some intricate moves on it.
Another MOM performance from the 'other' Rodrigo in Serie A last night, that's where the Spanish Rodrigo money should have gone. Ours is an expensive experiment gone wrong.
Raph doesn't work on the left wing, he is at his best cutting infield onto his left foot yet Bielsa persisted with it all the way until the substitutions..
Zero goals in 3 games as a side.
Our start should mean we are not going to get sucked into any relegation conversations but we have a whole lot of thinking to do about getting players into their natural positions.
The lack of options we have at CM is embarrassing.
Struijk is garbage at DM
Rodrigo, have no idea what he is supposed to be, I don't rate Tyler Roberts at all but look at how much more impact he had when he came on, dropped deep, demanded the ball, had some spark, don't see any of that from Rodrigo. He also cannot play in the same 11 as Kilch, leaves too much for him to do.
On the plus side, no calamities from Kiko (that cost us).
Very, very, flat performance, not helped at all by the travesty of a pitch, although Brighton managed to string together some intricate moves on it.
Another MOM performance from the 'other' Rodrigo in Serie A last night, that's where the Spanish Rodrigo money should have gone. Ours is an expensive experiment gone wrong.
Raph doesn't work on the left wing, he is at his best cutting infield onto his left foot yet Bielsa persisted with it all the way until the substitutions..
Zero goals in 3 games as a side.
Our start should mean we are not going to get sucked into any relegation conversations but we have a whole lot of thinking to do about getting players into their natural positions.
Extra investment always nice, supposedly part of it came from one of the founders of YouTube as well who has previously invested into high profile sports teams. Doesn't look like anyone will be signed this January either even though every fan can see whats blatantly missing and what would give this team a serious boost:
- left back in the mould of Tierney or Robertson would be amazing (sorry but Gianni is never going to be the best defensively)
- midfielder to assist or challenge Klich
Other good news - Meslier back for tonight, Berra on the verge of starting training again, even rumours of Forshaw coming back on the horizon!
Must-win tonight and I fully expect them to against a Newcastle team who are seemingly going backwards.
- left back in the mould of Tierney or Robertson would be amazing (sorry but Gianni is never going to be the best defensively)
- midfielder to assist or challenge Klich
Other good news - Meslier back for tonight, Berra on the verge of starting training again, even rumours of Forshaw coming back on the horizon!
Must-win tonight and I fully expect them to against a Newcastle team who are seemingly going backwards.
DaveyBoyWonder said:
Extra investment always nice, supposedly part of it came from one of the founders of YouTube as well who has previously invested into high profile sports teams. Doesn't look like anyone will be signed this January either even though every fan can see whats blatantly missing and what would give this team a serious boost:
- left back in the mould of Tierney or Robertson would be amazing (sorry but Gianni is never going to be the best defensively)
- midfielder to assist or challenge Klich
Other good news - Meslier back for tonight, Berra on the verge of starting training again, even rumours of Forshaw coming back on the horizon!
Must-win tonight and I fully expect them to against a Newcastle team who are seemingly going backwards.
Big 3 points tonight just to stop them starting to look over their shoulders- left back in the mould of Tierney or Robertson would be amazing (sorry but Gianni is never going to be the best defensively)
- midfielder to assist or challenge Klich
Other good news - Meslier back for tonight, Berra on the verge of starting training again, even rumours of Forshaw coming back on the horizon!
Must-win tonight and I fully expect them to against a Newcastle team who are seemingly going backwards.
Forshaw would be like a new signing and I do rate the lad when he's fit
Agree on the left back although we do have the Dallas option when we have fit centre backs and Ayling goes back on the right. I would say a CB would be more of a priority with the injuries we've had and cover needed
Can't see us getting another CB - no need. Cooper, Koch, Llorenta, Berradi and Struijk can play there (and looks far, far more comfortable there than he does in the KP role which apparently Koch can play in and has for Germany). Then theres Cresswell and Casey in the u23s who have featured a few times this season in the cup etc and are flying in their league.
Now Llorente is back hopefully we'll see him play tonight with Cooper, Ayling go back to RB which we've missed massively and Dallas go back on the left. I love Alioski but his defending leaves a bit to be desired with his maniac lunges!
Now Llorente is back hopefully we'll see him play tonight with Cooper, Ayling go back to RB which we've missed massively and Dallas go back on the left. I love Alioski but his defending leaves a bit to be desired with his maniac lunges!
Zad said:
That was definitely a potential "6 pointer". Not exactly comfortable, but I'll take that. Half way through the season now. It hardly feels like we have started in comparison to last season!
Halfway through and in theory only 4 more wins needed to make things safe. Still not a great performance and a massive blow to see Llorente go off injured again. If its a hamstring then thats him out for another month or two so it looks like Berra and Koch will be back before then. Struijk did ok though...Onto Leicester and I think we'll be massively lucky to get a point out of that one although they've not got Vardy?
Pleased to get the 3 points last night but we made hard work of it! I thought we should have had the game put to bed at half-time but once again failed to take our chances and very nearly paid the price when Newcastle improved significantly in the second half.
Thought Raphina deserved his man of the match award and also thought Rodrigo had one of his better games since he joined. However, Bamford seems to have lost his way a bit at the moment - he never looked like scoring and, unusually for him, was bit sloppy in possession as well (with one of his mis-placed passes selling Ayling short and resulting in their goal). And massively disappointing to see Llorente go off injured again; if it is indeed a hamstring he'll be out for a while and if - as I think Bielsa's suggesting - it's a recurrence of a previous injury that's even more worrying. I daresay Llorente's distraught but his situation obviously isn't helping our cause at the moment.
Leicester at the weekend and I'll be pleasantly surprised if we come away with anything from there; they did a real job on us at Elland Road earlier in the season so just hope we don't see a repeat on Sunday!
Thought Raphina deserved his man of the match award and also thought Rodrigo had one of his better games since he joined. However, Bamford seems to have lost his way a bit at the moment - he never looked like scoring and, unusually for him, was bit sloppy in possession as well (with one of his mis-placed passes selling Ayling short and resulting in their goal). And massively disappointing to see Llorente go off injured again; if it is indeed a hamstring he'll be out for a while and if - as I think Bielsa's suggesting - it's a recurrence of a previous injury that's even more worrying. I daresay Llorente's distraught but his situation obviously isn't helping our cause at the moment.
Leicester at the weekend and I'll be pleasantly surprised if we come away with anything from there; they did a real job on us at Elland Road earlier in the season so just hope we don't see a repeat on Sunday!
CustardOnChips said:
Great win and bonus points, as I wasn't expecting to get anything from this game. The performance was much better than the last few games too which is good to see.
Hopefully the injuries aren't too serious. Rodrigo was just starting to find his feet.
My thoughts exactly; would have been happy with a point away at Leicester so to take all three is a real result! Hopefully the injuries aren't too serious. Rodrigo was just starting to find his feet.
I think another three wins might see us safe although in some ways it's perhaps strange to be concerned about relegation when in terms of points we're actually much closer to the top four than the bottom three; however, I still think mid-table is most realistic and for me that would be a great achievement in our first season back in the PL!
ETA: And great to see Bamford rediscover his form today after a couple of poor games!
Edited by JNW1 on Sunday 31st January 17:59
Need to move away from relegation chat, we are not going down.
Great win, I am more worried about Raph limping off.
Honestly I think we should do a 'buy Rodrigo, get Kiko and Costa for free' deal with someone.
That team that turned over a very good Leicester side is the Championship side + Raph, incredible really.
Great win, I am more worried about Raph limping off.
Honestly I think we should do a 'buy Rodrigo, get Kiko and Costa for free' deal with someone.
That team that turned over a very good Leicester side is the Championship side + Raph, incredible really.
Drezza said:
Massive win, was a free hit for me that game, was expecting a 4-0 thrashing when they scored. Raphinha seems to be the bit of quality we need to bridge the gap at this level, hopefully he's not out for the next game.
Same here. Given they thwapped us in November, and we weren't exactly convincing versus Newcastle, I was expecting a heavy loss with maybe a draw if we got lucky. Instead, the Leeds Utd we know actually turned up. Literally, as all 11 finishing players played in the Championship last year. Each of the Leeds goals were down to our player getting to the ball about 18 inches sooner than the Foxes did, which just shows the value of basic fitness. Harrison looked like he had afterburners, screaming 90% of the way down the pitch for the final goal! I won't take an eye off relegation until it is mathematically impossible. Decades supporting LUFC does that to you! Just consider this though - if we had won 2 more games (and 1 of those games is still a game in hand...), we would currently be in a European qualifying position. Bonkers! The PL is the most open it has been in years, and all the better for it.
Great result! Really wasn't expecting that.
Echoing some of the above, we don't need to be looking over our shoulder - there is some absolutely rubbish in the Prem this year - Fulham, West Brom, Sheff Utd to name 3 with a handful of others seemingly trying their hardest to go down too! Only 6 points off Europe and 15 off relegation in what I admit is a really weird league this year. To be honest, first season back with a load of injuries I'd be happy finishing where we are.
Onto Everton who I fancy us getting something from as their form has seemingly gone through the floor...
Echoing some of the above, we don't need to be looking over our shoulder - there is some absolutely rubbish in the Prem this year - Fulham, West Brom, Sheff Utd to name 3 with a handful of others seemingly trying their hardest to go down too! Only 6 points off Europe and 15 off relegation in what I admit is a really weird league this year. To be honest, first season back with a load of injuries I'd be happy finishing where we are.
Onto Everton who I fancy us getting something from as their form has seemingly gone through the floor...
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