Just got back from the maddest game I've ever seen. The ref from the start was poor. I thought they could have had a couple of pens but overall the ref just kept getting decisions wrong and missinges blatant fouls. I think Villa are a decent team. Grealish and McGinn are tricky and inventive in midfield and at the back I think they are really strong with Tuanzebe who looked strong and quick. On one occassion in the first half he took the ball from his own box right through to our box showing amazing speed and strength. One thing to remember is that their top scorer and most dangerous player Tammy Abraham wasn't playing today. Cooper was booked for a strong tackle on Grealish and it's fair to say that Grealish doesn't like it up him. He's one of those players that you can easily knock off their game and today he wasn't that effective although you could still see his ability. We had a few chances in the first half but to be honest none were clear cut and are shooting was just a continuation of Wigan ... over the bar or wide. With Forshaw and Philips both playing it took me the best part of 30 minutes to work out who had been dropped ? (Roberts) and to be honest although Forshaw and Philips both had decent games, Bamford looked isolated and we rarely threatened them. They too created little. Kiko made one decent save first half but really didn't have much to do in the 97 minutes. Second half, Bielsa made 2 good subs. Dallas was injured apparently and made way for Beradi. Why was Dallas playing left back ? He isn't a defender never mind a left back. Risky stuff from Bielsa. The ineffective Harrison made way for Roberts. The Leeds goal was high drama. The Villa striker (Kodja ??) when down after a challenge with Cooper and the ball went to Roberts who looked like he was going to put it out but instead he poked it forward to the unmarked Klich who took it on and scored. He still had a lot to do. Yes the Villa players stopped but my opinion is that the goal was valid. We were then treated to 10 minutes of pushing, barging and arguing as the ref just stood back and observed. It looked like there was a skirmish on the touchline as well with Bielsa already on a yellow. When the game was restarted I thought it was weird seeing 3 Villa players standing side by side next to the ball as they kicked off. They ran the ball forward unchallenged then Jansson made a half hearted attempt to tackle but we let them score. I've never seen that before. So here's my opinion. Our goal was valid and we should not have let them score. How many times have we been on the receiving end of bad decisions through the years ? The Villa forward had been throwing himself to the ground all game and continued to get up and play on. How were we to know that this was any different (he did go off after this) ? In the pub afterwards there were quite a few angry folk giving Bielsa stick as he was doing his Sky press conference. Would Bielsa have done the same if we had needed 3 points for promotion ? Who knows. With Roberts on second half and Villa down to 10 men as a result of the melee we started to stretch them but time and time again the ball went into the box from Ayling and cleared easily. We did make their keeper make a decent save late on but I never felt we were gonna score. Overall, it was probably a fair result but I wouldn't fancy our chances against this lot at Wembley. Scores: Kiko - 7. One good save first half but v.little to do other than some standard collects. Ayling - 7. He got forward a lot in both halves but his quality was low. Dallas - 6. Didn't do a lot wrong playing completely out of position. Tried to get forward with Harrison first half but it didn't really happen. Jansson - 6. I thought he really had to battle hard first half and didn't always win his battles. Cooper - 7. Steady and solid. Klich - 7. Good goal and hopefully that will give him some of his lost confidence in front of goals back. Hernandez - 7. Lively as always but all his shots were high / wide. Just couldn't break Villa down. Philips - 7. Put in some good work and good last ditch tackles. Forshaw - 7. Was busy and covered a lot of ground. Had a couple of have decent efforts. Bamford - 4. Isolated and ineffective. I haven't seen the sending off incident but there were a few in the pub saying it was disgusting, Harrison - 3. Very poor. Subs: Roberts - 8. Did ok but against a knackered 10 men. Beradi - 7. Steady at right back. Bielsa - wins all the plaudits for his actions but for me we take the goal and f'ck em. Nobody ever does Leeds any favours. _______________________________________________ Leedslist mailing list Info and options: https://mailman.gn.apc.org/mailman/listinfo/leedslist To unsubscribe, email [email protected]
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