Just a few observations from the Tongan throne. Firstly, the perceived weaknesses and Goalkeeper, Centre Back and Left Back which did not show up in the first half dozen games, now seem to be there. 10 goals against in 4 games would bear this out.
Wiedwald seemed to be a bit more pragmatic in his distribution on Sunday, but he does not dominate has area by any means and despite making some decent saves his first instinct is to beat the ball away rather than catch it. It is his first season in the hurly-burly of English Football. Other keepers have taken time to adapt and then come good. Pennington may become a really top defender, and Cooper has improved leaps and bounds but neither are as good a Bartley. Both may be good enough as 3rd/4th Centre Back, but not as first choice. We did actually miss Cooper's left-foot diagonal passes, and Jansson looks less at home on the left of the 2, and more likely to throw himself into reckless challenges. Both Berardi and Anita are really only stand-ins at left back. Over the course of a season they will found out defensively, and neither will offer anything on the overlap. This is important if the left winger is right-footed and likes to come inside. Early indicators seem to be that Borthwick -Jackson is not quite up to it either. Once the Wendies took control of the game, it seemed that our defenders had forgotten how to play against 2 strikers. Hooper and Fletcher seemed to occupy our entire back 4. Fletcher was clever enough to keep away from Jannson, often drifting onto Ayling to attack crosses etc. With Wallace and Bannen playing narrow, it often gave them 4 v 2 in midfield as the commentators said. We might have got away with it had we scored early on, or if O'Kane had not had one of those games where he kept getting caught in possession. I think Phillips has been a bit harshly criticised but as he did try to get forward at times despite being outnumbered. Perhaps Saiz should have got more involved in the battle, but it is a bit harsh to criticize him as he was brilliant in the first 20 mins, and as the game wore on looked to be the only Leeds player capable of making a mark on the game offensively. Having said all that, it is still a learning curve. The play-offs were a realistic target, and the next 6 or 7 games will gauge as to whether that we be a struggle, comfortable or something even better is possible. KOT. Kevin Lewis Oracle System Administrator UK SBS Tel: 01793 867086 Email: [email protected] UK SBS, Polaris House, North Star Avenue, Swindon, SN2 1FF (Polaris House, Ground Floor - West, Swindon) ____________________________________________________________ UK Shared Business Services Ltd. Registered in England and Wales as a limited company. Company number 6330639. Registered Office: Polaris House, North Star Avenue, Swindon, Wiltshire SN2 1FF. This email and any attachments are intended for the named addressee(s) only. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify UK SBS immediately and do not disclose, distribute, or retain this email or any part of it. While UK SBS has taken every reasonable precaution to minimise risk of this e-mail or any attachments containing viruses, the recipient should carry out its own virus checks before opening the attachments. The Company does not accept any liability for any losses or damages which the recipient may sustain due to presence of any viruses. Any opinions expressed in this email (including attachments) are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the company's opinions. We will not accept responsibility for any commitments made by our employees outside the scope of our business. The Company reserves the right to monitor all e-mail communications through their networks for the purposes of preventing and detecting crime. ____________________________________________________________ This message has been scanned by the iCritical Email Security Service. For more information please visit http://www.icritical.com ____________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________ Leedslist mailing list Info and options: https://mailman.gn.apc.org/mailman/listinfo/leedslist To unsubscribe, email [email protected] FLAME WARS 'R US
