A couple of thoughts:
Christiansen has complained that the players' heads were still in the dressing
room when the first goal went in. Has it crossed his mind at all that making
the entire build up to kick-off about Toby, this terribly ill kid, complete
with your central defender/captain carrying that kid out of the tunnel prior to
kick off possibly distracted the players (and Cooper in particular) from
getting their heads right for a really aggressive, tough Yorkshire derby? I am
all for the club getting involved with local charities, and I like the Russell
Crowe "All Leeds Aren't We?" Twitter video for Toby, but I thought the
pre-match stuff perhaps went a bit too far, and was a clear distraction to the
players. Our players have a hard time being aggressive at the best of times.
That build up virtually guaranteed they wouldn't be focused at kick-off.
As far as the rest of the game, well, I've been saying it since very early in
the season: we are not aggressive enough, particularly in midfield. Even in the
games we were winning in August and September, our midfielders in particular
were being muscled off the ball too easily. Pass and move football is very
difficult to play in the Championship if your players lack the physical
strength and attitude to hold off a challenger prior to releasing the ball. We
are crying out for a Roy Keane/Patrick Vieira type of midfield general (or if
you prefer, a Billy Bremner/Johnny Giles/David Batty/Olivier Dacourt type).
Someone who can receive a pass, hold off a challenger and then play a good,
accurate pass to the feet of a teammate, while also being able to put in a few
crunching, intimidating tackles early in the game to make the opposition
players scared to be on the ball. I do not think we have any players remotely
like that in our squad. Ronaldo Vieira is the closest. Buying someone to fill
that role should be our January transfer priority.
In the meantime, we also have a distinct lack of height in midfield, which
means that when the opposition press our defence, forcing Lonergan to kick it
long, we stand almost no chance of winning the resulting aerial duels, I think
it's worth thinking about a 3-2-4-1 formation that would at least mitigate some
of these factors. I would plump for Lonergan in goal (Wiedwald appears to be a
physical coward whose reluctance to put his body on the line for the team has
directly led to at least two goals.) As a defensive three I'd go with Cooper,
Jansson (we desperately need him back to his imperious best) and Pennington. At
right wing-back I'd go for Ayling, who actually looks quite useful coming
forward. Left-wing back is a bit harder, but I'd go for Dallas to inject a bit
of British aggression. I'm willing to listen to arguments for Berardi, I'm just
not sure of his qualities going forward. Anita doesn't impress me at all. Too
lightweight. As the two defensive central midfielders I'd go
with Vieira and Shaughnessy. The latter was a midfielder at Reading, is a
decent passer of the ball and, crucially, is 6'3" tall. It would be his job to
win every high ball pumped into the middle of the park.
The four more advanced midfielders are tough choices. Saiz is a must. He has
the right attitude and almost got us a point on his own yesterday. The other
options - Phillips, Alioski, Klich, Hernandez, Roofe - all have their
weaknesses. Against teams where we might expect to see more of the ball, I'd
probably go with Hernandez, Phillips, Roofe and Alioski. If we're under the
cosh, perhaps I'd put Klich in. Up front I suppose I'd go with Lasogga, only
because there are no other options. A couple of games ago when Grot came on as
a sub the commentator said something about him being a very versatile player,
and I immediately thought, "Yes, he can play in a number of positions and not
score in any of them."
This team would feature six tall outfield players, so I would be playing for
every single set-piece possible, then getting Hernandez to swing the ball into
the area for those guys to get their heads on it. If we need a goal in the last
ten, pull one of the shorties off and put Grot on. That way we'd have seven
6-foot-plus players jockeying for space in the opposition's penalty area.
I also wonder if the club has a sports psychologist. We do not play with enough
aggression. Somehow, that must change if we are to achieve anything this season.
MOT
Sean
-----Original Message-----
From: {broken-address} Richard Walker
<[email protected]>
To: leedslist <[email protected]>
Sent: Sat, Oct 28, 2017 5:03 am
Subject: [LU] Sheff Utd
a few thoughts I was very impressed with the way Sheff Utd started. They played
some of the best football I've seen for a while and all their players seemed to
know where each other were and in Duffy they had the man of the match and the
most intelligent footballer I've seen for a while. I'd get a bid in for him in
January. If only our midfielders had the awareness and poise of Duffy. He found
time on the ball and used it effectively however that applied to just about
everyone in their team. Billy Sharpe, who I always thought was lively but never
convincing at Leeds, looked like a totally different player and if it wasn't
for Lonergan he could have / should have had a hatful in the first half.The
Blades played with 2 effective wingers and full backs who also came forward and
contributed. It was actually good to watch and I rarely say that about the
opposition. Their style is similar to what we are trying to achieve but I don't
think we have the players to do it at the moment.Their go
al was a result of great link up play and good movement from Sharpe in the box
but it looked like he wasn't marked ? Need to see it again but if a little
bloke like Sharp gets a free header from 4 yards you have to ask questions of
our 6 ft central defenders. I thought our defence crumbled under the attacks.
Cooper and Pennington as first choice is as bad a decision as selling Rob Green
and I'm losing faith in our attacker manager who doesn't seem to know who are
the best defenders. Cooper for me is 4th in line at the moment yet if he is fit
he plays and to top it all he is captain. Bad decision after bad decision. I
also think we have to look a bit further than the central two who were not
helped by Ayling who I thought had a poor game defensively. Anita also
struggled against lively attackers. I like Anita but I don't think he's a left
back. In midfield, we started with Philips playing as the 'no 10' and Saiz on
the left wing. Another bad decision, Philips hardly touching the ball
and I didn't know Saiz was on the pitch in the first 30 minutes. As for
Lasogga, big questions have to be asked. Can he really play as a lone striker
in this league when he's constantly outbattled and out muscled off the ball so
easily ? He looks powder puff to me. Allioski saw a lot of the ball on the
right but he failed to deliver on every occasion.Any positives ? Well, yes. I
thought we responded really well to going 1 down and unlike some performances
we didn't crumble. TC made a good decision in moving Saiz into the 'no 10'
position however this meant Philips was asked to play as a left winger which
rendered him even more useless than he had been previous to that. At one point
after we equalised I thought we had them on the ropes and their slick football
stopped and we did take control but a mixture of an inability to pass and keep
the ball (Lasogga, Allioski, Ayling) let them back into it and normally service
was resumed when their 10 year old sub came on and showed Lasogga h
ow to play as a centre forward. Very, very frustrating. Saiz tried as a one
man show to win the game and he really had them worried but he can't do it on
his own and we can't expect him week in week out to be the midfield and the
attack. Overall, I'd say it was a fair result. I thought we battled well to get
back in the game but ultimately key players let us down today. Lonergan - 8.
Kept us in it first half. Ayling - 4. I thought it was his worst game for Leeds
- he has always struggled IMO on the back foot against pacey opposition. Not a
premier league defender as some think. Anita - 5. StruggledPennington - 6. I
thought first 20 minutes he was all over the place but I wouldn't completely
blame him. I thought he improved massively in the second half and I thought he
defended pretty well overall. I'd settle for him and Jansson to be given a run
in the team. Stopped fucking about with the pairings TC. Cooper - 3. I've never
been convinced by him and against tricky and speedy opponen
ts and lik Pennington he started really shakily but he didn't improve until he
got injured. Is he playing with an injury ? He's very inconsistent and the
decision to make him captain is a really bad one. Philips - 3. Another good
goal masking a performance that contributed nothing. Everyone will remember
the goal and say that justifies why he is one of the first names on the
teamsheet. I say no ! His general play is not good enough and putting in the
odd hospital tackle doesn't represent a good performance in my book. Take away
the goal and I'd say he was our second weakest player. Definitely not a 'No
10'. Saiz - 7. Didn't touch the ball much in the first half as he was dumped on
the left wing in preference to playing Philips at no 10. Another bad decision.
Second half he scared them to death and was unlucky not to have put us in the
lead with a great shot which hot the post. Would we have won if that had gone
in ? Not sure. Allioski - 3. Overhit and poorly executed dead balls and
just isn't doing things right at the moment. Vierra - 5. I was disappointed
with Vierra last night. He got around the pitch and did some decent stuff but
he looks naive (which he is) at times and he loses his position and commits
unnecessary fouls. He needs a run in the team. Lasogga - 2. Another very
disappointing performance from the big man .... a big man who plays like a
fairy. He did win a few headers last night but overall he was muscled out of
the game and when he did get the ball at the feet he was unable to do anything
through being too isolated. I don't think at home when the pressure is on us to
attack he can play that role. That creates a massive problem for us because we
seem to have adopted a tactic to play one up front. I still don't get that ?
Why do we have to have a 'No 10' role that plays deeper. Shove someone up
beside him. No bloody idea who like ? Is there anyone in the U-23 worth a punt
or maybe Grot should be given a chance from the start with Lasogga ? Or
maybe, Lasogga isn't any good ? Hamburg wouldn't let a player go and pay most
of his wages if he was any good. Have we been sold a dud ?O'Kane - 4 . Eunan
O'Kane, Mr average, Mr Unspectacular , Mr Nothing. He's certainly found a new
role which involves him sitting depp between the centre halves and collecting
the ball and laying it off to someone. Great ! That's brilliant. We have a
midfielder who is acting as a central defender. It's fucking awful to watch and
O'Kane for me is a perfect example of why we are not progressing. He offers
nothing. SubsGrot - just not able to impact a game on his own. I'm still not
writing this fella off though. Hernandes - tried to get invovled and did a bit
but nothing worked. TC - bad decision after bade decision. It was noticealbe
that Lonergan has started to go long with his distribution which is either TC
abandoning his tippy tappy football across the back or the players deciding
that route one is the best way against pacey opponents ? I think his
weakness is the defence. Getting rid of a consistent keeper and bringing in
your own keeper only to abandon that idea and bring in another old keeper
doesn't fill you with confidence. I don't think he knows how defences work -
he's now plugging O'kane in there and in general I feel he's stuggling a bit. 5
losses out of 6 may have got you sacked under the previous owner but early
results have kept us in the top 6 and will give him the chance to put things
right. I hope he succeeds but the next few games will determine his future.
_______________________________________________Leedslist mailing listInfo and
options: https://mailman.gn.apc.org/mailman/listinfo/leedslistTo unsubscribe,
email [email protected] WARS 'R US
_______________________________________________
Leedslist mailing list
Info and options: https://mailman.gn.apc.org/mailman/listinfo/leedslist
To unsubscribe, email [email protected]
FLAME WARS 'R US
