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We deserved the win tonight albeit I think 3-0 perhaps flattered us a bit. Agree with the comments about Raphina and I do wonder if other clubs will target him this summer? He certainly looks more than capable of playing at Champions League level and IMO would enhance any current squad in the Premier League (including Man City and Liverpool). Obviously I want him to stay with us but his worth now must be up at around £50m if anyone's seriously interested!
And great to see Llorente finally manage to complete a full game in a Leeds shirt - just hope no reports emerge tomorrow about him having picked-up another injury!
And great to see Llorente finally manage to complete a full game in a Leeds shirt - just hope no reports emerge tomorrow about him having picked-up another injury!
Don't think 3-0 did flatter us. If that Llorente chance that hits the keepers feet goes in, if Raphinha when 1 on 1 finishes it as I think everyone expected him to and if Roberts buries that second decent chance he had, it could have been a LOT more.
In a pretty even first half we just blew them away in the second. Everyone played well (apart from Harrison) and it was great especially to see:
- Roberts have another half decent performance
- Llorente come through a commanding 90 minutes apart from a couple of little errors in the first half which is to be expected for his first 90 since he came here (I'll mention Cooper and Struijk whilst I'm at it - solid performance for all of them)
- Costa have a great 45 - tracking back, chasing seemingly lost balls, pace, smiling, assists etc. Hopefully it gives him the confidence boost needed and he gets a start over Harrison who hasn't looked anywhere near his best recently.
Exciting to look forward to Koch, Rodrigo and Phillips coming back.
In a pretty even first half we just blew them away in the second. Everyone played well (apart from Harrison) and it was great especially to see:
- Roberts have another half decent performance
- Llorente come through a commanding 90 minutes apart from a couple of little errors in the first half which is to be expected for his first 90 since he came here (I'll mention Cooper and Struijk whilst I'm at it - solid performance for all of them)
- Costa have a great 45 - tracking back, chasing seemingly lost balls, pace, smiling, assists etc. Hopefully it gives him the confidence boost needed and he gets a start over Harrison who hasn't looked anywhere near his best recently.
Exciting to look forward to Koch, Rodrigo and Phillips coming back.
Souness bang on with his summary of the penalty - if he throws his leg sideways to intentionally make contact with the defender and try and con a penalty then why no booking?
And with their "goal" the whistle definitely went after the ball had been passed so no argument there
Is that the first game we've won without KP? To be fair first half I thought we struggled again and was concerned but the changes MB made for the second half were stellar and (I'll hold my hands up here) Costa looked like the player he was always supposed to be and seemed to put a fair shift in
And with their "goal" the whistle definitely went after the ball had been passed so no argument there
Is that the first game we've won without KP? To be fair first half I thought we struggled again and was concerned but the changes MB made for the second half were stellar and (I'll hold my hands up here) Costa looked like the player he was always supposed to be and seemed to put a fair shift in
Southampton tried to play us at our own game. They pressed hard in the first half. Which to be fair to them, we struggled with. They were done after 35 minutes though. And we capitalised on that in the second half. 5 or 6 nil wouldn't have flattered us.
Llorente did well after a shakey start. Cooper was decent again, although he still had one or two miss timed lunges.
Not sure what is going on with Harrison. His form has dropped off a cliff the last couple of games. I think Costa will start the next game in his place.
We are in a great position given the injuries we've had. I'll maybe start to relax if we beat Villa at the weekend.
Llorente did well after a shakey start. Cooper was decent again, although he still had one or two miss timed lunges.
Not sure what is going on with Harrison. His form has dropped off a cliff the last couple of games. I think Costa will start the next game in his place.
We are in a great position given the injuries we've had. I'll maybe start to relax if we beat Villa at the weekend.
Agreed a great all round second half performance and another game that could've ended up 5-2... Must admit I wasnt too confident after the first 20mins or so but then we settled into the game. 25 played and 35 points aint too shabby for our first season back in the prem. Roll on Villa at the weekend..!!
Pieman68 said:
Is that the first game we've won without KP?
Last one was Villa and we know how that turned out Souness too - I've never really liked the bloke but he seems to be popping up on every Leeds game recently for Sky and doing nothing but lavishing us with praise. Slightly one-sided commentary team from Sky with him and Beckford. Oh how I don't miss the days of Championship commentary and Don Goodman and Darren Bent spewing anti-Leeds rubbish at every chance.
Well that's another game I thought we deserved something from but unfortunately it didn't work out that way. I couldn't put my hand on heart and say we should have won but I thought we should have had a point; they defended well but were a touch fortunate with the goal (that wasn't a pass from Watkins!) and we probably had as many chances as they did (which wasn't many for either side to be honest). Fine margins and sadly it didn't run for us today....
Poor game all round. Villa were only really interested in long balls and playing for free kicks. They were happy to defend and waste time from the moment they scored.
We didn't seem as deceive or fast enough going forward. Klich was slow as the pivot today. I don't understand playing Raph on the left. And I think we are better with Dallas in midfield.
We didn't seem as deceive or fast enough going forward. Klich was slow as the pivot today. I don't understand playing Raph on the left. And I think we are better with Dallas in midfield.
Worst game I've ever seen. Early goal and 85 minutes of sitting back made worse by our total inability to do anything constructive. Costa got his deserved start given his excellent 45 minutes vs Southampton but was pretty awful. Roberts awful, Klich awful and was reasonably lucky to stay on the pitch. Bamford zero service. Raphinha weirdly slack - poor choices and final balls. Dallas, Llorente and Cooper were decent.
Got some tough games coming up now - West Ham and then Chelsea and I can't see us getting anything from those. Then we should hopefully pick up 6 from Fulham and Sheff Utd before a run of Man City, Liverpool, Man Utd before a relatively decent run in.
Hoping for KP and Rodrigo to be back ASAP because playing Roberts in the middle isn't working. I just don't think he's good enough.
Got some tough games coming up now - West Ham and then Chelsea and I can't see us getting anything from those. Then we should hopefully pick up 6 from Fulham and Sheff Utd before a run of Man City, Liverpool, Man Utd before a relatively decent run in.
Hoping for KP and Rodrigo to be back ASAP because playing Roberts in the middle isn't working. I just don't think he's good enough.
Well yet another game tonight where we should have had something but ended-up with nothing. We gifted them a silly penalty and then our continued inability to defend set pieces gave them another goal (and very nearly a third!); but from open play I actually thought we created more chances than they did and on another day could easily have had two or three. Still, the positive I take from it is they're 5th and it felt like for the most part we were as good as them.
For an hour of that game we were the better team, but could have played till tomorrow and not scored.
Once again two schoolboy tackles, then poor defending from a corner cost us. Meslier got the flight of the ball completely wrong too.
Teams now seem to mostly play long ball to our penalty area then play for a free kick against us.
Edited to add. VAR Can f
k right off. Offside my arse.
Once again two schoolboy tackles, then poor defending from a corner cost us. Meslier got the flight of the ball completely wrong too.
Teams now seem to mostly play long ball to our penalty area then play for a free kick against us.
Edited to add. VAR Can f
k right off. Offside my arse. Edited by CustardOnChips on Monday 8th March 22:17
What really annoys me is:
a) players not pulling their weight. Klich especially - should be the engine of our team but is slow, sloppy and gone is the Klich who was willing to have a go from the edge of the area and instead stop and look for passes. Dallas looked so much better in that role. I really like Costa and he's got some skill but seems to be scared to go for anything thats a 50/50.
b) giving away sloppy goals every game
c) when we are down, a willingness to just pass the ball around between Ayling, Llorente, Cooper and Meslier, inviting the other team onto is which inevitably leads to free kicks and corners whilst in no way addressing the problem - we need to score goals. I was critical of Palace when they played us in that Roy didn't change a thing tactically when they went 1, then 2 then 3 down. We were similar last night. No eagerness to get the ball out of defence as quick as we could and attack them.
I won't mention a goal being disallowed because a kneecap was offside, Bamfords 2 misses etc.
a) players not pulling their weight. Klich especially - should be the engine of our team but is slow, sloppy and gone is the Klich who was willing to have a go from the edge of the area and instead stop and look for passes. Dallas looked so much better in that role. I really like Costa and he's got some skill but seems to be scared to go for anything thats a 50/50.
b) giving away sloppy goals every game
c) when we are down, a willingness to just pass the ball around between Ayling, Llorente, Cooper and Meslier, inviting the other team onto is which inevitably leads to free kicks and corners whilst in no way addressing the problem - we need to score goals. I was critical of Palace when they played us in that Roy didn't change a thing tactically when they went 1, then 2 then 3 down. We were similar last night. No eagerness to get the ball out of defence as quick as we could and attack them.
I won't mention a goal being disallowed because a kneecap was offside, Bamfords 2 misses etc.
DaveyBoyWonder said:
What really annoys me is:
a) players not pulling their weight. Klich especially - should be the engine of our team but is slow, sloppy and gone is the Klich who was willing to have a go from the edge of the area and instead stop and look for passes. Dallas looked so much better in that role. I really like Costa and he's got some skill but seems to be scared to go for anything thats a 50/50.
b) giving away sloppy goals every game
c) when we are down, a willingness to just pass the ball around between Ayling, Llorente, Cooper and Meslier, inviting the other team onto is which inevitably leads to free kicks and corners whilst in no way addressing the problem - we need to score goals. I was critical of Palace when they played us in that Roy didn't change a thing tactically when they went 1, then 2 then 3 down. We were similar last night. No eagerness to get the ball out of defence as quick as we could and attack them.
I won't mention a goal being disallowed because a kneecap was offside, Bamfords 2 misses etc.
Last night was frustrating but reflecting on it I'd say we were the better side for the first 15 minutes of the 1st half and most of the 2nd. Bamford missed two easy chances, Rodrigo missed another, Raphina had a good strike that's a goal if it goes either side of the goalkeeper instead of straight at him and we have a goal ruled out for a very marginal offside. So on another day we could have had four or five and I'm pretty sure we created more clear chances from open play than they did - we do need to learn how to defend set pieces though! a) players not pulling their weight. Klich especially - should be the engine of our team but is slow, sloppy and gone is the Klich who was willing to have a go from the edge of the area and instead stop and look for passes. Dallas looked so much better in that role. I really like Costa and he's got some skill but seems to be scared to go for anything thats a 50/50.
b) giving away sloppy goals every game
c) when we are down, a willingness to just pass the ball around between Ayling, Llorente, Cooper and Meslier, inviting the other team onto is which inevitably leads to free kicks and corners whilst in no way addressing the problem - we need to score goals. I was critical of Palace when they played us in that Roy didn't change a thing tactically when they went 1, then 2 then 3 down. We were similar last night. No eagerness to get the ball out of defence as quick as we could and attack them.
I won't mention a goal being disallowed because a kneecap was offside, Bamfords 2 misses etc.
However, I agree Klich hasn't been himself of late - I think after the Arsenal game Bielsa suggested he'd started him even though he was carrying an injury and I just wonder if he's fully fit?
JNW1 said:
However, I agree Klich hasn't been himself of late - I think after the Arsenal game Bielsa suggested he'd started him even though he was carrying an injury and I just wonder if he's fully fit?
He did. To be honest, I can't remember the last time he had a good 90 minutes. And a player in that role should be contributing more with goals and he's got what this season? 1 against Liverpool in the first match was it? A really disappointing season in my opinion vs the last 2 years where he's been incredible.I will gladly take that. Truth be told, I was expecting us to get totally spanked and have another 4 goals against us in the GD column. 10 points above relegation, and 10 games left, +8GD relative to Fulham, 1 point could make the difference. More to the point, we didn't play like a total pile of poo, even if our possession was the worst since... ever really. Worried that Bamford is going to be out though.
Zad said:
More to the point, we didn't play like a total pile of poo, even if our possession was the worst since... ever really.
An interesting statistic a mate of mine texted me after the game today is that, since Bielsa took over, there have only been seven games where we've had less than 50% possession; however, we haven't lost any of them and in six have kept a clean sheet. Just goes to show how stats can at times be misleading!Agree it was a good point for us today; Chelsea have a very strong squad, seem to have been playing well since Tuchel arrived and in truth I expected them to do a job on us this afternoon. We probably had the better chances in the second half although if I'm honest a win would have flattered us - thought we just about deserved the draw though.
DaveyBoyWonder said:
Good result and great to see Roberts and Costa get decent games. Fancy Roberts to break his premier league duck vs Fulham.
A very good result and as someone said definitely a bonus point... Good to see Roberts get MOM think he deserved it. Thought Struijk had a good game also. Hopefully Pats only a dead leg and not out for any length of time. Fulham on Friday and could really do with taking all 3 points.10 to go
Liverpool, City, Manure and Tottenham anything is a bonus
Fulham, Blades, Burnley, Baggies, Southampton and Brighton - we should be able to pick up plenty enough points to be confirmed safe with some to spare. 4 points from Fulham/Blades to give us more of a cushion before the run of 3 tough games would be lovely
Realistically only 18th still to play for - you would think that Sheff Utd and West Brom are gonners. Plus with the form of some below us it's hard to see the likes of Newcastle, Brighton and Southampton overhauling us
But this is Leeds we're talking about. Lose 6-0 to West Brom on the last day to go down on goal difference wouldn't surprise me
Liverpool, City, Manure and Tottenham anything is a bonus
Fulham, Blades, Burnley, Baggies, Southampton and Brighton - we should be able to pick up plenty enough points to be confirmed safe with some to spare. 4 points from Fulham/Blades to give us more of a cushion before the run of 3 tough games would be lovely
Realistically only 18th still to play for - you would think that Sheff Utd and West Brom are gonners. Plus with the form of some below us it's hard to see the likes of Newcastle, Brighton and Southampton overhauling us
But this is Leeds we're talking about. Lose 6-0 to West Brom on the last day to go down on goal difference wouldn't surprise me
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