A couple of videos and some thoughts on the winner. The goal: https://twitter.com/LUFC/status/1503129664797265931 The goal with bench reaction: https://twitter.com/Dan_Hardy19/status/1503361678389518342 1. The goal starts with a long (and accurate) hoof out by Meslier. It's worth asking whether that would have happened under Bielsa. (Think of our two most recent "huge emotion" late winners - Pablo at Swansea and Dallas at the Etihad - both of which came from playing out from the back.) 2. Joffy wins the header. The kid's 5'8", the defender's 6'1". Enough said. 3. What Joffy does with the header. Joffy was almost facing back towards his own goal, with Daniel James five yards away in space. Most players would have taken the simple option of nodding it back to James before turning and running upfield. But Joffy is one of the most direct, attack-oriented players in the squad, so instead he takes the slightly riskier option and heads it over his shoulder into space for Raphinha to run onto. That takes pure attacking instinct - and skill. One wonders whether we'd have more points if Joffy had been given more time on the pitch this season. 4. Brilliance from Raphinha. There's still so much for Raphinha to do, but showing a determination that, as others have mentioned, has been absent the last couple of games, he gets to the ball a nanosecond before the defender, effortlessly glides past the keeper, then with barely a glance to his left knows exactly where to play the reverse pass as he runs out of space and defenders close in. That's world class. 5. Joffy's movement. From the moment the ball leaves his forehead, Gelhardt is thinking "What can I do now to turn this into a goal?" Despite the presence of three opposition defenders in the box, he times his run to ensure he's in space, available for a pass, and then shows a calmness in arguably the biggest moment of his career thus far to slot home from a couple of yards (Pascal Struijk take note!). Gelhardt is a natural goalscorer. (Also, note the defender who's so determined to stop the shot he's anticipating from Raphinha on the line that his momentum carries him into the back of the net by the time Gelhardt shoots, so he can't block Joffy's shot.) 6. The entire squad's reaction. With the subs piling on and Meslier sprinting the length of the pitch, this had real "Pablo at Swansea" vibes about it. Victor Orta was in tears! It shows how invested everyone in the club is in our survival. Let's hope it's enough. Cheers! Sean
-----Original Message----- From: JONATHAN WYNNE via Leedslist <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Mon, Mar 14, 2022 9:05 am Subject: Re: [LU] Norwich Thanks Dave. Spot on! Sent via BT Email App From: nattan--- via Leedslist Sent: Mar 14, 2022 at 9:53 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [LU] Norwich Well what a difference a few days can make - Thursday a half full ER boo the players off and walk out all doom and gloom. Sunday a still packed ER is bouncing, singing along to I predict a riot and chanting outside the ground, all smiles. It was nearly do different as we threw away our deserved lead just as the added time (6mins) was announced. We made the most of that 6mins with a goal from our wonder boy and a great save from our bit wonder. Jesse picked the expected team and PLAYED PLAYERS IN THEIR PROPER POSITION - Ayling right back, Klicth and Forshaw in midfield and with a striker at number 9. The game itself was decent enough, we played pretty well with Rodrigo and Raph both getting back to the players they can be. We opened the scoring with a long ball aimed at Bamford who also had a mainly good 45, the defender headed it back and Rodrigo pushed James aside and shot home. We then bossed the game with chance after chance going begging - at 2 nil it would be game over but we did not manage it. Raph hit the bar with a great shot after a lovely cross field one two with Paddy, Stryik missed an easy header and the easier rebound, James scored but was offside, Bamford turned back into championship paddy and missed a sitter, Raph hit the bar again with a free kick, James made the keeper pull off a good save as chances came and went. They offered almost nothing for most of the game but the ref who was poor and had no control of the game pointed to the penalty spot after a Norwich player went down ( not for the first time - thus js very much a Dean Smith team, diving, moaning, play acting) but VAR corrected his obvious error :-) ( VAR still shit and spolis the game) We took off Rod and tried to shore thi6gs up with the Koch brought on, I got the idea since it did look as if we would not score the second, but it just I voted them on to us and they began to put us under pressure. So it was no great surprise when they got behind us down the wing, crossed and fired home. 2 points thrown away and relegation threatening. Then on came Joffy, the boy who makes magic happen. He won a long ball and flicked the header on, Raph playing with an energy and determination that has been slightly lacking recently, beat the defender and rounded the keeper , hes taken it too far we thought it he used his know how and looked up and pulled it back to Joffy- right place, right time, right player who hit it I from a yard. Absolute bedlam in the stands - up there with Blackburn and second v scum- we went mental But still time for drama as their keeper went up for a free kick, caused chaos and the ball fell to pukki (?) in the 6yd box but his shot hit Mes6who stood tall ( may have saved with his face ?) Brilliant stuff, it's what we go to games for, real drama and excitement. So the return of Paddy, another bit of magic from Joffy, Raph back to his best, and most importantly of all 3 more points. What a difference a few days makes Loved it Dave _______________________________________________ Leedslist mailing list Info and options: https://mailman.gn.apc.org/mailman/listinfo/leedslist <https://mailman.gn.apc.org/mailman/listinfo/leedslist> To unsubscribe, email [email protected] Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/leedslist/ <https://www.facebook.com/groups/leedslist/> Rest in Peace Guy, and wear your hat! _______________________________________________ Leedslist mailing list Info and options: https://mailman.gn.apc.org/mailman/listinfo/leedslist To unsubscribe, email [email protected] Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/leedslist/ Rest in Peace Guy, and wear your hat! _______________________________________________ Leedslist mailing list Info and options: https://mailman.gn.apc.org/mailman/listinfo/leedslist To unsubscribe, email [email protected] Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/leedslist/ Rest in Peace Guy, and wear your hat!
