Wow - I think I must have watched a different game to Rich. Before I read his
report I was going to say that this was a continuation of the Ipswich game but
against better opposition and to suggest that anyone on here who had not been
to ER for a bit should get themselves down there because we are on the brink of
decent things.Yes, they were lively and were a good passing side who were not
afraid to play with the ball and run at us. but for my money we won this
deservedly and could have won much more convincingly.At half time (and 1 up) my
mate actually put money on us winning 4 -0 (admittedly at 35 to 1 or something)
as a decent outside bet.Defensively we are a totally different side to any we
have seen for years and years. The 2 full backs both like to get forward but
are solid on the back foot too, Bartley is a real beast and nothing gets past
him , and as for Jansson he really is different class. My only worry with him
was the fact that he twice played football , going on one mazy run and then
back heeling it - we hoped that his early form was not turning his head. No
need to worry, he was a magnet for the ball in the air (a la Cardiff) and put
in some crunching tackles on the ground, The first Pontus haircut on a young
kid has been seen and his cult status was shown by him having his own chant
(Pontus Janssons magic, he wears a magic hat, and if you throw a brick at him,
he'll head the f*cker back") He stood strong thoughout and made sure that, the
goal apart, (an own goal by Taylor ?) they did not create a single real chance
or trouble Green.First half we all thought that o'Kane was running it, nothing
fancy but picking up all the stray balls and giving it to a Leeds player.
Phillips less so , first half, but second half he was brilliant (and to date I
am not a fan) - he was here, there and everywhere and kept the ball.
The front 4 were not at their best but created chances and had the Barnsley
defence at sixes and sevens. Hernandez is a class apart, Sakho had them running
scared, Dallas worked his socks off and Wood, whilst not great in front of goal
ran them ragged.
We should have scored more, Wood should have picked out O'Kane for a tap in,
should have done better with the one he blasted over, Dallas should have put it
on Woods head etc etc
At 1-0 the team and crowd were all sure we would go on and win (and we did) and
when was the last time you could say that. The second, a lovely finish by
Hernandez, should have been the nail in the coffin but somehow a run down our
right and a cross into the box ended in them pulling one back, but we were
concerned rather than worried as we ran the clock down
So to sum up , for my money, another great performance and one that sent all
the fans (bar Rich ) home happy as we go into the internatinal break
Dave
From: {broken-address} Richard Walker
<[email protected]>
To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, 1 October 2016, 19:19
Subject: [LU] Barnsley
A win is a win and there's no doubt that we are playing with
A) more passion and determination than we've seen for a while
B) a bit of steel and know how at the back and we haven't seen that for a very
long while
Having said that I thought we are poor in the first half and I thought we were
lucky to be 1 up at half time through a goal from a corner !!
The formation is a strange one with Chris Wood isolated up front, Sacko stood
on the right touch line and Dallas doing all his best work covering for Taylor
on the left. It needs someone to drive from midfield and O'Kane and Philips are
to defensive minded to do that job so it's all down to Hernandes who lacks pace
but has ability. If he is off his game then we're pretty much devoid of
attacking options. In the first half Hernandes was off the pace.
The first half reminded me of the Huddersfield game in that we looked like a
team of misfits whereas Barnsley looked like a team with a plan. Quick, pass
and move football which seems easy but you only have to look at our attempts to
play to see how hard it can be. Time after time we looked static and clueless
in midfield with most moves resulting in the ball going back to Green. It was
pretty terrible stuff and Kalvin Philips was playing pretty much facing his own
goal for most of the first 45 mins. I don't think the Philips and O'Kane is a
strong enough partnership for me, Philips tries hard and gets stuck in whereas
O'Kane seems very limited in both going forward and defending. I was
disappointed with him today.
The passing at times was awful, simple 5-10 yard passes not hitting their
target. Basics !
Up front Chris Wood worked hard but he's slow and his general play just lacks
quality. He could have had a hat-trick today but you never felt he was going to
score whereas Sacko has to be the most frustrating player to watch. There's
rarely any end product to his play.
The best thing about today was the defending. All 4 defenders did well and it
is credit to our improvement that we restricted a very lively Barnsley side who
won the midfield battle to a few half chances. Green had little to do
throughout. Even their goal was down to us. In Jansson we have a real defender,
he wins everything in the air and on the ground, he's also a leader and can be
seen shouting at his team mates whilst geeing the crowd up. He's a real find
and there can't be too many better defenders in this league.
The first 20 minutes of the second half were better. Hernandes decided to play
and all of a sudden with Barnsley pushing up the park we had counter attack
after counter attack. We were playing like the away team on the break and it
took Barnsley pushing forward to give us enough room to be able to pass it
around in the break. We even made that look hard at times. We had chance after
chance until one fell to Hernandes who drew the keeper and slotted it into the
corner. Top drawer finish.
We could have added more with a bit of composure from Wood but he blasted over
twice and then Hernandes had another chance which he placed past the post.
But we are Leeds and we don't do things the easy way so for the last 20 minutes
Barnsley pushed forward , got their goal, courtesy of a Charlie Taylor own goal
and then caused us all sorts of problems as we retreated into our own box.
Although it was nervy with Jansson clearing off the line and heading clear time
after time I really didn't think they would score.
We put 3 subs on to try something different but all 3 had no impact, especially
Roofe who just added to the problem by giving away possession and a free kick,
very poor from him. Antonsson looks a yard short of pace and has a fat arse, a
bit of a Frank Strandli if I'm honest, and Vierra looked like a young lad
without clue.
We held on for a win and things are not looking too bad however I really don't
think we are a good team and whilst there's improvements at the back I don't
feel we are even close to being a play off team. Barnsley were a much better
footballing team for me.
Scores
Green - 7 seems to be getting more confident.
Ayling - 7. I think he's a bang average footballer but he got stuck in today
against a lively Barnsley team
Taylor - 6. Did well down the left in the build up to our corner for the goal.
I do worry about him when he's put on the back foot. There's no way he's got
what it takes to play in the premier league.
Jansson - 9. Top class. One or two moments in the first half where he got he
wrong side but he always seems to recover. Best signing for Leeds for a long
while.
Bartlett - 8. Steady rock of a defender.
O'Kane -4. I'm not sure what he offers, a bit pissy weak for me,
Philips - 6. He was getting dog's abuse from all around me and I thought he had
a poor first half but I have to say I thought he did really well in the second
half and out in tackle after tackle. Like others he suffers from a lack of pace.
Hernandes - 7. Poor first half but much improved second half and took his goal
well. Wood wouldn't have scored it.
Sacko - 5. Headless chicken and actually didn't outpace Barnsley that much. He
does work hard to win the ball back though.
Wood - 5. Worked hard but he's low on quality.
Dallas - 5. Does anyone know what Dallas is ? Is he a winger ? Don't think so ?
Is he fast ? Can he pass the ball ? Can he cross a ball ? I'm not sure what he
offers other than a lot of running and hard work.
Subs - all shit. Not sure we've got strength in depth.
Crowd - 27000 , pretty good atmosphere. I think generally people were happy but
I was overall pretty disappointed with our performance.
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