Interesting article below........suggests my point of yesterday (that we need
to pick up some talented young PL fringe players on loan to shore up the
defence) is also felt at LUFCHQ. Over the last few weeks, I have seen a lot of
little snippets about PL players joining our rivals on loan - eg the two
mentioned below at Leics. We need to get involved............but to choose
wisely and pick up some real quality.
Leeds United: Grayson's in market for fresh faces
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Simon Grayson watches as his side lose 2-1 at home to Leicester City.
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Published Date:
21 October 2010
Leeds United manager Simon Grayson has indicated that he might revisit the
transfer market in search of an answer to the inconsistent tendencies
hampering the club.
Grayson said new signings were a possible response to United's defeat at the
hands of Leicester City and a repetitive trend of inept performances produced
by the players at Elland Road.
On two occasions last month, Grayson was forced to call his players to account
over bad losses to Barnsley and Preston North End, but another ineffectual
display on Tuesday night prompted the remark that additions to an already
large squad could be necessary.
United's boss has numerous professionals at his disposal but repeated
criticism of them and persistent attempts to address their shortcomings in
training have failed to tackle the inconsistency demonstrated aptly in the
past six days.
Leeds claimed a creditable victory over Middlesbrough on Saturday in a game
which ended Gordon Strachan's reign as manager at the Riverside, but momentum
gained from that result was quickly lost as Leicester punished a disorganised
United team at Elland Road.
Grayson acknowledged the quality of City's football in only their second match
under new boss Sven Goran Eriksson but he was consumed once more by the
frustration of a side who have regularly blemished their Championship season
with poor results.
The loss to Leicester did not force Leeds into the bottom half of the
division, and the league as a whole is showing similar inconsistency, but
Grayson was concerned by his failure to solve a problem which he has been
actively attacking for more than a month.
Even allowing for the glut of injuries that have reduced his number of fit
players, United's pool of fit senior players number more than 20, but Grayson
did not rule out the option of seeking new recruits in key areas of his team.
One of Eriksson's first acts as manager of Leicester was to sign Curtis
Davies and Kyle Naughton on loan from Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur
respectively, and both players shone in a City defence which stood largely
untroubled until Luciano Becchio scored in the final minutes of Tuesday's
match.
Grayson's own backline is under fresh scrutiny on account of the numerous
chances created by Leicester and the error by United captain Richard Naylor
which led to City's decisive second goal, scored by Steve Howard.
Grayson said: "I've tried to be loyal to players and work on things with them
but we're always on the look-out for better players to take the club forward.
We're always looking to improve the squad.
"I'm not shouting from the rooftops about what we can achieve or saying we'll
be top of the division and walking away from everyone else. But you want
players at the club who are consistent with their performances and at this
moment in time we're not getting that from them."
Grayson made more than a dozen signings on the back of Leeds' promotion from
League One but he has tackled the Championship with a blend of new signings
and players who were already under contract at Elland Road.
Six of those fielded against Leicester played some part in United's 2009-10
term, and all three of his substitutes were influential figures in the club's
return to the Championship. Grayson promised that he would give several of his
existing players a chance to play in England's second tier but warned as far
back as May that he would be ruthless with those who felt short of the
Championship's standard.
Naylor, his long-standing captain, came in for further criticism on Tuesday
after a mistake which led directly to Howard's close-range finish 10 minutes
from time.
The former Ipswich Town centre-back has been the unfortunate source of several
expensive errors this season, and United's defensive record has concerned
Grayson for many weeks. The number of opportunities fashioned by Leicester may
re-open the door for centre-back Alex Bruce, who completed a suspension at the
weekend and was an unused substitute on Tuesday night.
Naylor has served Grayson well throughout his tenure as manager and United's
boss said: "It's hard for him. When you make mistakes they get highlighted,
and when they lead to goals people notice them even more.
"But he's not the only one who's made mistakes in this game. Collectively, we
were poor and to lose the game 2-1 was probably a relief because it could
have been worse based on how well Leicester played and how poor we were."
Grayson found himself being forced into a tactical substitution after only
half-an-hour, throwing on Bradley Johnson to stabilise a midfield who were
losing their contest with Matt Oakley and Ritchie Wellens and suffering from
the pace and movement of Franck Moussa and Andy King.
United's manager has shuffled his team constantly this season and is likely to
do so again before Cardiff City, the Championship's in-form team, come to
Elland Road next Monday.
A 2-1 victory at Coventry City was Cardiff's third in succession and their
eighth of the season, enough to place them two points behind leaders QPR.
Grayson said: "Cardiff are a good team and we know that.
"We'll need to be better but that's regardless of who we're playing in the
next game. If we play like we did against Leicester then we wouldn't beat
anyone. The players need to think about how they can improve and we as the
coaching staff need to do the same.
"If your team play well at Middlesbrough and win 2-1, you don't want to make
any chances. But I had to change our system inside half-an-hour against
Leicester just to stay in the game. That's something I've not done very often
since I came here.
"I thought there was more to come from the team after that but we didn't have
the spark or the quality to cause Leicester problems."
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