I only arrived back in country yesterday so watched from the armchair. Agree with most of what’s been said but a few points from me. Are we actually more solid without Rutter ? When he was bad he was bloody terrible and he never offered much defensively. There’s an argument that with Aaronson, Joseph, Gnonto , Gruev and Ampadu all buzzing around the midfield we are definitely more compact. The flip side is we don’t create as many chances. In many ways this was a very similar game to Pompey except we didn’t create too many good chances and they didn’t take the very few chances they had. The ref was rubbish ! Totally inconsistent, giving easy free kicks for them but not giving the obvious foul on Rodon for their best chance. Solomon was in and out of the game but he was the difference and I look forward to him getting better and better. Pleased for Joseph getting his goal. He works bloody hard - probably too hard at times and hoped he can now really push on. His goal was a poachers goal and one that you could easily see Bamford missing or not been there at all. I thought Struijk was great on the ball. When you’ve got a centre back who is totally comfortable on the ball and can bring it forward it adds another dimension to your game. I’d also play Byram over Bogle although he did stick to his job against their best player Miller. Piroe- what do you do with a player who can’t play 10 or 9 in this system but is the best finisher at the club ? Dilemma? Maybe offer them to the Blades ? Subs looked ok but the game was won.
Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone On Sunday, September 1, 2024, 12:34 PM, [email protected] <[email protected]> wrote: Completely forgot Aaronson which I think says it all. One thing I had forgotten about him was the running round in small circles with the ball, before losing the ball. Nick > > > That was much better, a much more controlled performance. A fairly even first > half, with a couple of chances either end - good saves from Meslier to keep > it 0-0, but also a couple of moments where the defence almost conspired to > give Hull a goal. > > The second half was dominant from Leeds. Two really good goals, both down the > left at pace. For the first Solomon finally ran at the defence, which took > him past two defenders and fired in a low fast cross, which was met at the > front post by Joseph, getting ahead of the centre half and guiding home - how > long is it since we saw that kind of movement in the box from a forward - > great, just where he should be. > > The second was two really good first time passes moving us half the length of > the pitch, and Firpo’s first time pass fully 40 yards across the box to Piroe > - and to be honest, there was never any question in my mind that he’d miss. > > 3 new guys got stuck in their own ways: Solomon likes a first time flick, > which doesn’t always come off; Largie is counter-intuitively quite small, but > is a live wire who gets challenges in and looks like he can go past men; > Tanaka, is steady, a calm head, sits quite deep in the midfield… pretty good > deputy for Gruev. > > Meslier - best keeper in the league (I think in the history of the league, if > I recall a stat correctly, something like 48% clean sheets) > Bogle - still not convinced by this guy’s defending ability… I’d pick Byram, > if he’s fit enough > Firpo - quite possibly MOTM… not something I ever thought I’d say > Rodon - still a lot of good solid defending, but there is something missing > off that really high bar he set himself last season > Struijk - is the class act in our defence - seems to want to rive things > forwa4d more quickly and more often than ‘instructions’ will allow. > Ampadu - excellent captain, always aware, looking to cover, gets his tackles > in > Gruev - similar to Ampadu, except not captain > Gnonto - does some great stuff, his ‘sort of’ drifting into the number 10 > role, is quite interesting - stuff could develop from that - but then he > still does daft stuff like repeatedly being offside > Solomon - looks to be quality, and fast - drifts in and out of the game (it > is his debut, so let’s not be harsh)… great run and cross for the opener > Joseph - handful, earned that goal, think he should go on and get quite a few > more… > > Nick > _______________________________________________ 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. _______________________________________________ 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.
