"The scabs are going down" sang the South Stand and yes they most definitely are. This game reminded me of playing against a lower championship league team, in that we had so much space all over the park and created chance after chance after chance. Sini and Jack looked resembled Messi as they danced their way past the Forest players and in midfield, Roca and Mckennie had the freedom of the park. It still didn't stop us going behind and then nearly conceding a 2nd in the opening 15 minutes. "How shit must you be, we're winning away" sang the scabs. Ayling looks vulnerable against a pacey Forest winger and ti was no surprise that from one of their breaks down the left the ball was passed to an unmarked player who slotted home with ease. Stunned silence and I thought it could be a long night. But to our credit, and Forest's inpetness we came back strong and started to build attack after attack wtih Sini and Jack at the heart of everything. There were too many chances to describe but it seemed like a constant wave of attacks on the Forest goal without anyone having the ability to stick it in the net. The goal eventually came from Roca's unmarked shot on the edge of the box being parried into the path of Jack who hammered it into the net. Then, towards the end of the half, Sini danced around a couple of Forest defenders and side footed it into the far corner. Typical goal from him. From then on, we really should have buried them be we fluffed chance after chance with the final ball lacking at times. Inevitably this led to us hanging on injury time but to be honest Forest looked toothless by then despite some good searching long balls from Shelvey. Jimmy came on as sub and had a great one on one chance to finish it but he put it wide. That summed up most of the match for me. A good win, against poor opposition and a follow upagainst Palace at the weekend will put us in a strong position. Scores: I think most of these scores should have the statement - against shit opposition added on to them. Meslier - 6. Not sure he had much to do other than pick the ball out of the net. Ayling - 6. Struggled initially but he worked very hard and put some great challenges in. Firpo - 8. Much improved and actually did some useful defending but as with all the performances last night I think you have to bear in mind the weak opposition. He got forward well in the first half. Struijk - 8. Very solid against .... Koch - 8. Very solid against .... Mckennie - 7. Still a bit subdued and I worry about his mobility but he did what was needed. Roca - 9. Man of the match for me and the first time I've seen him actually show that he can influence a game. He worked tirelessly and put some great tackles in combined with some fantastic long range passes. I've never doubted that he has a nice left foot but he's lacked presence mainly due to lack of pace/ acceleration. Last night, he had the freedom of the park and was actually able to show us what he can do given space. My big question is can he do it against better opposition ? I hope so. Mcphail would have had a ball out there last night as well ! Harrison - 8. Lively throughout. Still manages to pick out the opposition with last ball passes with ease. Sinisterra - 8. Fantastic first half against .... Great goal. Aaronson - 6. Worked hard but still looked very lightweight. Bamford - 5. Looked exactly what he is - a player who hasn't played much football for 2 years. Worked tirelessly but his timing was off and he never looked like scoring despite having a number of chances Subs: Rodrigo - 5. Looked very slow Jimmy - 6. got booked and should have scored but he put himself about
Great rememberance from the fans last night crowd by turning our backs for a minute. RIP Chris and Kev. I didn't travel to Istanbul but I was sat with people last night who were there in the square and they are still equally mad and sad about the events that night. There was no damaging of Turkish flags, no abusing locals, just a large mob of murdering Turks that attacked the Leeds fans with knives. We will never forget. I thought we played well against a very poor Forest team. I’ve never seen us have so much space in midfield and God knows how many chances we fluffed. Should have had them buried long before the 5 minutes of ET where. Inevitably we were holding on. Sinistera and Harrison both looked like Messi as they were able to dance around Forest players and even Aizlewood had a good game. Lots of people saying ‘I told you Roca was great’ Well I never doubted he had a ‘nice left foot’ but my issue is does he have te pace and the presence to really dominate in midfield and play those killer passes when under pressure. Last night he had the freedom of the park. Mchpail would have loved it too. _______________________________________________ Leedslist mailing list Info and options: https://mailman.gn.apc.org/mailman/listinfo/leedslist To unsubscribe, email leedslist-unsubscr...@gn.apc.org Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/leedslist/ Dave Dowden, a legend, a Totty Twin, a pie man! R.I.P.
