I'm a firm believer that you enjoy football matches more having had a skinful beforehand but last night proved that actually you can have as much fun sober. This was very similar to the Leicester game last year except one was on a Friday (pissed) and last night's was a Monday night (sober). I actually preferred last nights because (1) the winner was literally the last kick of the game (2) it was against Wearside Maggots - did John coin this ? I've always like it as it descibes them perfectly. Both these factors trumped the fact I had to go to work today. The WMs came out of the traps quickly and caused us a few problems especially the guy on the left wing. They found lots of space in our midfield and seemed at times to be passing through us which is a very rare experience for this season. We never troubled their keeper despite having 52,563 corners - all pretty poorly taken and all not even threatening their keeper. Their goal could be descibed as great forward play to role the defender and put the shot in the far corner OR weak defending by a player who is just filling in OR both. It gave the Wearside Maggots the opportunity to sing "Leeds are falling a part earliesh in the first half". Things didn't change much after the goal as they defended well and we looked devoid of ideas. 1-0 at half-time was fair. Second half we upped the tempo and they stopped playing. Literally the whole of the 2nd half was played in their half - they had no ambition, wanted to time waste and the game just fell into our hands. They either couldn't live with our upped pace, or were knackered or thought they could put 11 men behind the goal and preserve a lead for 50 minutes. It showed why they're 4th and not top of the league. The 70th like-clockwork subs did the trick for Farke. Rothwell and Strujik combined twice to win the game for us and send us into hugging a stranger mode followed by full Kieser Chiefs recital. Things got tetchy at full time and a few yellow cards were shown for over celebration on our part - how ridiculous is that. Farke got one and is now banned from the touchline for next Monday. Apparently he's asked Wilko to step in for him - should be interesting. Scores for me: Meslier - 8. He made one great double save and there's no doubt about it he has turned things around in the last few games. You've got to admire him for that cos a lot of folk inlcuding myself were worried he wouldn't come back from those mistakes. Bogle - 8. Always dangerous and together with James they terrorised down the right without being as effective as usual. Firpo - 6. Pretty ineffective going forward and always looks dodgy defending to me. Good to see him bagging his mandatory yellow card after wrestling Poveda to the ground. Roden - 8. Solid, really solid Ampadu - 5. Weak for the goal. Tanaka - 7. Worked hard, got booked which didn't help him Gruev - 5. Disappointing for me. Corners were poor and he struggled to have the impact he usually does. James - 8. Created space, ran inside and out without creating loads but was always a threat. Piroe - 7. Poor first half but he steadily came into it with some good control and passes. Makes you wonder why he doesn't do more Solomon - 7. Worked hard but had 3 men on him most of the night. Aaronson - 4. Back to his worst. Yes worked hard which is a given but he's so weak at times and gives the ball away cheaply. Subs: Strujik - 10. Can a sub do anymore ?Rothwell - 10. Can a sub do anymore Largie - 7 - great pass for the 2nd goal :)Joseph - 8. Actually made an impact
_______________________________________________ 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/ The Rev, John Lee. Now spinning the platters in the holy discotheque of the real man. Yorkshireman. May that lucky pizza and a bottle of Grolsch be waiting for you with the Celestial Lards R.I.P.
