I think a right hand side of Bogle and Justin would be interesting - they can both tackle, get forward, seem comfortable on the ball and are mobile. Who would play RB and who RM would be almost irrelevant - they could switch.
Bijol - one game is not enough for a proper or fair assessment. My worry is his inability or unwillingness to use his left foot - he is so dominantly right footed. He may well be better at the right side of a CH partnership but he is not going to displace Rodon. Premier league strikers will find this weakness and exploit it. Nick > Begin forwarded message: > > From: Richard Walker via Leedslist <[email protected]> > Subject: [LU] Hammers > Date: 25 October 2025 at 08:23:32 BST > To: "leeds list ([email protected])" <[email protected]> > Reply-To: Richard Walker <[email protected]> > > Friday night under the floodlights in the pissing down rain yet they still > water the grass before the game and then the ball skids across and gets held > up and players are sliding and falling ? Did the groundsman get any O Levels ? > On to the game, and another good win and 3 more points towards safety. Not to > be sniffed at especially when you consider our two best players both went off > injured early in the game (Okafor and Gudmondsson). Leaving the ground trying > to avoid the puddles (God knows why I chose to wear white trainers) the > atmosphere was subdued. I think most were very disappointed with the 2nd half > as we set out to play like the away side by defending very deep and trying to > player on the counter. Unfortunately that tactic relied on either 1) DCL > winning the ball on his own, going round a couple of defenders and smashing > it home, He was never gonna do that.2) Brendy (seems to be what everyone > calls him these days) running the length of the pitch, beating 4 men and > smashing it home. He nearly did that and was only denied by the bar. > So the tactics were questionable but if you looked at our team , you might > realise it was probably the best we could do. Tanaka was playing after a > lengthy delay, Bijol (more on him later) was making his debut as effectively > was James Justin who came on early for Gudmondson and Ampadu wasn't 100% fit > apparently. We really struggled and you could see by letting West Ham > dominate the game we would end up hanging on. We did though so let's forget > that 2nd half and concentrate on a great 1st half. > 2 early goals set us up with Aaronson getting his goal after a good header > from Okafor was parried. He probably scuffed it like he does most passes and > shots but he managed to scuff it into the net this time. Then Rodon, the > corner converter specialist, unmarked bagged a 2nd and his 3rd from corners > for club and country. Long may it continue. DCL ran his socks off and Okafor > looked dangerous as did Brenda and Bogle on the right. Tanaka, Longstaff and > Ampadu won everything in midfield and we dominated throughout and thoroughly > deserved the 2 goal lead. The Hammers offered little apart from one half > volley which Perri initially saved but spilled it but his recovery was really > good (reminded me of Schmiecel) as he quickly got down to punch the ball > away. Great goalkeeping. I was worried when we signed a Brazilian keeper - > there hasn't been too many of them over the years, and he's looked a bit > dodgy early doors but he was solid last night and his kicking and throwing > were excellent. Still need to see him tested more with shots and I haven't > seen their goal back yet - didn't look like he had much chance ?? > Tanaka definitely gives us something different in midfield rather than having > 3 very similar defensive midfielders and hopefully he will get fitter and > better in coming games. I thought the subs did ok especially Justin, who I > really like the look of. He's quick, confident on the ball, decent awareness > and gets stuck in. I think he's too good to be sat on the bench. > I think the main area of concern for me was Bijol. I think it's always > difficult for a new centre back coming into the team and immediately forging > a new central defensive pairing. I think back to Rio Ferdinand and Chris > Fairclough's debuts - both were spectacularly bad with Rio getting subbed > early and with Fairclough I thought we'd bought a dud. Bijol struggled and we > definitely missed Struijk's confident and intelligent passing. For a centre > back, he's got good feet and good passing ability. Now I'm not Struijk's > greatest fpan - I think at times he's too slow and ponderous and I think he's > going to have his problems in the PL. However, Bijol looks to be lacking both > in ability on the ball and ability to defend. I felt we struggled to get > things going from the back especially down the left as Bijol wasn't as > comfortable or as adventurous on the ball. Also his defending left a lot to > be desired. He was fouling and holding his opponents all night and towards > the end I felt he was really struggling. Obviously it was his debut but the > signs weren't good for me. Struijk comes straight back in for me and I think > central defender is a priority in Jan. > Jimmy returned and had a nightmare. We marked him well and he looked very low > on confidence. He got subbed 2nd half to boos ringing around the ground but > he got a good ovation from the West Stand where I was sitting. > scores: > Perri - 7. Confident performance Bogle - 7. Not his best game but he worked > hard defensively and tried to push forward Gudmondson - 6. Got injured (hope > it's not bad). His link up play with Okafor didn't quite come off today.Rodon > - 9. Man of the match for me. Scored a goal and had to do more defending than > usual. Also contributed well going forward in the first half.Bijol - 5. > Struggled, He did do a few decent clearance and interceptions but he looked > out of his depth. Ampadu - 7. Worked hard, Had a great moment 2nd half when > he ran the length of the pitch, nutmegged the defnder and then tried to curl > it with his wrong foot into the bottom left hand corner. It nearly hit the > corner flag. Need to see a bit more quality from him at times.Longstaff - 6. > I've been a bit disappointed with him over the last 3 games. Lots of ground > covered, lots of challenges, good corners but not really stamping his > authority on the game.Tanaka - 7. Ran out of steam but was everywhere in the > first half.Okafor - 7. Looks our most dangerous player. He wasn't fit tonight > but he still had his moments.Aaronson - 8. Bloke sat next to me refused to > clap or acknowledge anything he did but the fact is Brenda is our hardest > working player, one of our best defensive players and the one who creates a > lot of chances. Yes he's probably our most wasteful player at times but last > night he was tremendous and he was our only outlet for most of the 2nd half. > His run and shot 2nd half was brilliant and for all his faults he cannot be > dropped. DCL - 6. Totally isolated. Won lots of headers but with nobody > within 20 yards of him it's to no avail. > Subs:Justin - 7. Could be a really good utility player this season.Harrison - > 6. Typical performance, worked hard, one half decent shot and gave it away as > well Gruev - 6. Interesting that he chose Gruev over Slack ? Gruev looked off > the pace for me - he's a player that needs to play week in , week out and get > into his groove. He's not going to get that this season. James - can't > remember him doing owt ? Nmecha - 5. Came on and didn't really offer > anything. > there were 13 mins of injury time in the first half ! Stuart Atwell was > bloody awful. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > 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 Steve "Score one, score one more!" Gillen. _______________________________________________ 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 Steve "Score one, score one more!" Gillen.
