I was actually very surprised that Grayson picked Schmeichel, and even in hindsight think it might have been a mistake. Yes, Schmeichel made some great saves, but there's more to being a keeper than simply stopping shots. The reason he had to make those saves was because our defense was incredibly disorganized at times. The fact is that since he arrived at the club we have only conceded goals when Schmeichel was between the sticks. And Higgs' return from injury last season roughly coincided with our return to something approaching our early season form. With Schmeichel in goal that meant three out of our five defenders were making their league debuts for Leeds, and it showed. (I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt that it wasn't just general crapness.) I would have gone for Higgs in goal with at least one of Hughes and Bromby playing (even though neither of those is a world beater, they're at least more used to playing with Higgs, Naylor and Collins). Bessone hasn't impre ssed me at all in either the Wolves or Derby games.
Of course, part of the problem in defense is the same as we face in attack - a huge number of our outfield players are not available: Parker (who I'd pick over Bessone), Kisnorbo (who I'd pick over Collins), Snodgrass (who I'd pick over Watt, and who is our most creative player), Gradel (who, based on his showing against Wolves, I'd also pick over Watt), Paynter (who'd probably play up front beside Becchio if he were fit) and Somma (who would possibly be our "first sub" for the strikers). To say that that list restricts Grayson's options would be an understatement. I would argue that if half of those players had been available to start against Derby, we'd have won the game. We were not "battered," we had a lot of possession, often passed it around nicely, hit the bar twice and had the ball cleared off the line in addition to scoring a nicely worked goal (scored yet again by the much-maligned Becchio). What we lacked was a bit of the cutting edge that Snodgrass, Gradel, Paynte r and Somma would have added and a bit of steel in defence that Kisnorbo would have contributed. However, I think we also lacked some ballwinning tenacity in the middle of the park. So I agree with Eddie Gray when he says that Grayson still needs to buy a "spine" for the team - a central defender to replace long-term casualty Kisnorbo, a ball-winning midfielder to replace Doyle, and a reliable striker to replace Beckford. If Bates puts his hand in his pocket for once, then by early September when Snodgrass, Somma and Gradel (at least) should have returned, we should be in decent shape. Until then, however, it's looking a little rough. I also think it's clear now that Grayson doesn't rate Grella. When you're one of your team's only two available strikers, and your manager is on record as favoring a 4-4-2 formation, and then he goes with 4-5-1 in front of a large home crowd, leaving you on the bench until the 85th minute (even though you've been losing since well before half time), then you might as well start looking for a new club. Let's hope for a confidence-boosting win against Lincoln tonight. MOT Sean -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] <[email protected]> To: [email protected]; Mark Tuffey <[email protected]>; [email protected] Sent: Tue, Aug 10, 2010 5:13 am Subject: Re: [LU] A shambles well said that man...I don't know whether you caught it over the telly, but what really winds me up about Becchio is not his total shit-ness itself (that just is what it is), it is the fanatical singing of his name by the lunk-heads in the ground as if somehow this semi-galvanised donkey was the answer to our footballing prayers - he's a trier...with all the ball skills of a 3-legged milking stool. Still we'll be better off now that Beckford's gone and banging in a few for Everton - I seriously hope Paynter is good... I was confused by Graysons tactics and buys/loans - some of whom are "old pros" (I can't believe we've bought Collins, a worse CHalf than Lubo) with all the lumbering "get it into touch" mentality that that brings to mind, while others seem to be nimble, quick acting/thinking ball players - Watt for eg. Contrary to others I quite liked what I saw of Clayton - a couple of sweet little passes that almost came off...he was looking for a mobile forward to play it to...oh, yeah, that's right. Despite all that our worst problem was the defence...garbage all across the back 4...good job Kaspar was on his game...the lack of defensive cover did not help. Wonder if Bruce is any good..? On 09 August 2010 at 16:06 Mark Tuffey <[email protected]> wrote: > > > I thought we looked very poor playing at home against mediocre opposition. > Naylor, Bessone, Connelly were all too slow and not good enough. However, the > biggest piece of shite on display was Beechio. An awful, awful footballer in > EVERY aspect of the game. > I couldn't have been more disappointed with our performance, our tactics, our > subs and the general state of the team. > Sort it out Grayson. > Cheers > Mark > El Presidente Wisconsin Whites > Leeds United > Chicago Fire > _______________________________________________ Leedslist mailing list Info and options: http://mailman-new.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist To unsubscribe, email [email protected] MARCHING ON TOGETHER _______________________________________________ Leedslist mailing list Info and options: http://mailman-new.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist To unsubscribe, email [email protected] MARCHING ON TOGETHER
