I'd forgotten that God awful song that they sing .... 'We all sing together .... la la la' - took me right back to the Hillsborough semi-final. Rubbish song, rubbish city, rubbish fans and they had the cheek to sing "Leeds is a shithole I want to go home". Made me laugh and think of Ghost Town. To be fair to their team I thought they were ok. A bit like Sunderland, they came with damage limitation in mind and to kick everything that moved which they got away with due to a really, really poor ref. He didn't look in shape and his brain was obviously running slow because time and time again they hacked at our players and he didn't take any action. I think this is the way to play us, be solid, get everyone behind the ball and then get us on the counter, which is what happened. First half I thought we huffed and puffed and got into some good positions but poor finishing cost us. Rutter spent most of the half on his arse as usual and when he did get a chance he fluffed it. My mate said he's either world class or a spastic. He was a spastic in that first half. Very frustrating. Most of our best work was down the left with Spence and Summerville but when we did manage to work our way into the box the last pass or cross was lacking. At the other end Coventry did have numerous counters and their tricky right winger skinned Spence to create a good chance. Meslier also made a decent save from a shot outside the box. They were dangerous on the counter and I think as a team it's far too to pass and progress through our midfield. This is obviously the downside to playing 4 attackers with one of them (Piroe) in midfield. Piroe is never a midfielder, not even close. Yes he's tidy on the ball at times but most of the time without the ball he's a passenger. I think we need to look at playing with 3 midfielder (proper midfielders) in some games especially away from home. New left back in Jan, spence to right back , Archie into midfield. Bidwell for them must be 30+ but he's solid , can defend and get forward. That's all we need from a left back in this league. Then there's the argument about who to play up front ? For me, Rutter is great to watch (the world class version not the spastic) but there's no way he's a number 9. He misses chance after chance after brilliantly setting them up. He's a great passer of the ball and for someone who at times looks like he's on cloud 9 (he doesn't watch the offside line for instance) he does have great awareness. If he's gonna play I think he is the one to play as a 10 or a winger but NOT as a no 9. Rutter's assist for Summerville's 2nd half goal was fantastic.Maybe an unopular view, but I would play Bamford at no 9. Ok, he's coming on and looking like he's never played as he loses possession and the ball bobbles of his shin. He's trying too hard but watch the runs he makes. He's totally not tuned into his team mates though so he looks a bit stupid but given a run I have no doubt he will score in most matches. He might not get the chance to prove me right though. Second half, I thought we played well and on another day maybe this is a 3-1 , 4-1 result but our finishing was poor and because of that we only got the point. Their goal was awful. Their centre half decided to go for a wander into the box. Their tricky right winger floated over a decent cross and we just couldn't deal with it. Was it Archie of Rodon ? Whoever it was should have done better. Poor defending. If it was Rodon, it was probably his only mistake because he did really well against a really tricky, pacey and strong forward (Simms). The game started to get tetchy and ref started booking everyone which was totally at odds to his first half approach. It threatened to boil over and Summervile looked like he lost his head at the final whistle. He was on a yellow so very stupid. Luckily he didn't get a red. Scores: Meslier - 7. I need to see the goal again but if he wasn't at fault then he really didn't have much to do. Spence - 7. I like the look of Spence. He's tall, pacey, skillfull and strong. Yes he got skinned by the tricky winger but I think that lad could do that to anyone. He needs to play in his proper position though. I think if he can keep injury free he will be a great right back. Gray - 7. I love Archie Gray, such a majestic footballer but unfortunately another player playing out of position. Get him in midfield. Rodon - 7. Solid, strong defending throughout. If it was him who went up for the header for the goal then I'll give him a 6 cos that was a big moment. Struijk - 7. I thought he did well and pushed forward when he can. He's impressed me this season. I was never a fan and he was obviously not good enough in the PL but he's found is level and is operating well. Kamara - 7. Worked hard and kept us ticking along. I think he struggles when he's on the back foot and him and Ampadu really struggle at times when teams counter us. Ampedu - 7. Some really good chasing and interceptions. Could do better in the opposition half on the attack. A bit limited in this area. James - 7. Came into the game strongly second half but as usual his last pass / shot is low quality. Yes he's scored some goals this season but if he could actually shoot, pass , cross he'd be twice the player he is. Rutter - 7. A 5 for the first half where he was poor and a 9 for the second half where he did everything but score. He does stuff that not players can in this league and for that he probably has to play but I don't see him as a no 9 so you're looking at him playing in Piroe's position of James/Summervilles's position and Farke aint dropping those at the mo. A problem ! Piroe - 5. Said it all above Summerville - 8. For me, Summerville is one of the most exciting players I've seen for ages. He rarely loses the ball and is dynamite on the ball. Seond half he ran the show, scored a goal and created chances. I'd be surprised if there aren't some big bids for him in Jan. We have to keep him ! I think he's got more potential than someone like Sterling. Subs: Geldhardt looked completely lost and out of his depth.Bamford trying too hardGnonto did ok and worked well with JImmy.
Farke - He's done a great job but I'm beginning to understand the Norwich fan at work who reckons he has big limitations. You can see it. Like clockwork he puts the subs on at 70 mins and he appears to have only one trick and that's to shove a load of forwards on which has worked but didn't yesterday. I think he'll take us up so he'll do for me for now. _______________________________________________ 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/ Dave Dowden, a legend, a Totty Twin, a pie man! R.I.P.
