Great to see the young lads keep their nerve in the penalty shoot out especially when our old guard lost theirs (Dallas, Forshaw). I thought the first 45 mins were decent and I enjoyed watching us try to break fast and create chances. Fulham had a few chances but on the whole Cresswell and Philips kept them at bay. I was hoping to see us push on in the 2nd half but we didn't and to be honest I think that's one of the few times I've seen a Bielsa team struggle to get the ball from defence to attack. I've never seen so many aimless long balls played by a Bielsa team because there was no midfield. Poor Cresswell was left with the ball at the back with no options time and time again. Why it wasn't given to Philips, our Glen Hoddle, nobody knows ? I think the players who don't play often ran out of steam (Shack, Summerville) and our established team players didn't produce. I was particularly disapointed with Klich, Dallas and Firpo who yet again had another stinker. Glad that Bielsa called it out as a poor performance overall and to be honest we were lucky to get through BUT we did and Wemb-er-ley here we come. Scores: Miesler - 7. Won us the game with the penalty save but I thought he went way too early on most of the pens. Spilled a shot first half but overall did ok. Dallas - 3. Missed pen and really didn't figure in the match. Got a knock but he has started slowly in this campaign and I'm hoping he can return to the form of last season. Firpo - 4. I've give a full mark for his pen which was out of this world but overall his defending was non existant and when he did get forward his final ball was hopeless. He looks a bit fitter and he's certainly looks the part but he's yet to deliver Cresswell - 7. Tough game for the las but he came through it and out of all the youngsters I think he deserves the most credit. He did all the defending and was asked time and time again to distribute the ball. Yes there were one or two moments but he looks promising. I wouldn't start him against the Hammers though. Philips - 5. Don't like him at Centre back cos he's not. I thought he did ok first half but 2nd half he looked a tad lost and his long ball passing all night was poor. Shackleton - 5. Huffed and puffed, ran around but didn't influence the game from the centre of the park and probably answered the question of why he isn't in the team more often from the start. Klich - 3. Really poor. In a game like this you expect him to be one of our key men but the fact he wasn't along with Dallas probably explains why we struggled. James - 5. One or two good runs / moves but overall ineffective. Summerville - 5. Similar to James and there's no doubt that on the ball he looks dynamic but as a team player he is nothing at the moment. His link up play and awareness of his team mates is totally lacking. This lad has ability but he's got a long way to go. I could see him being a last 10 min sub for a while yet. Rodrigo - 6. The highlight of the whole match for me was seeing Rodrigo sprint up and down the pitch showing that he is getting fit and is actually quite quick when he gets moving. Yes not everything came off (actually most didn't) but he's got the ability and if matched to a decent level of fitness maybe he is about to deliver ? Roberts - 4. This was his chance but apart from a couple of blocked shots and a half chance he didn't and that's the story of Robert's Leeds career. A lot of given up on him, I haven't but he needs to grab his chances. Subs: Gelhardt - did he touch the ball ? we played a load of high balls to him and he's 4ft 10. Waste of a debut but he put his pen away so nobody can ask for anymore than that Mckinsay - I liked the look of this lad and he put his pen away Forshaw - I haven't played competitive football for 10 years since a knee op but I suspect if I came back against West Ham on Saturday I'd play in a similar fashion to what Forshaw did last night. Slow, steady, unispiring, ineffective and if they asked me to take a pen I'd probably blast it over the bar. He doesn't look anywhere near ready to me on that showing. On to the Hammers ...
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