I've been to Forest, Portsmouth and Bournemouth this season so far - the two league ties were wins against teams at the top and bottom of our division. We were lucky - very lucky, in the case of Forest - in those matches, but yesterday was different. We played convincing football, showed ideas and variety in our tactics and every player delivered. Yes, Orient were poor - Martin Ling said in the programme that their season is effectively over, which can't have helped gee up the players. But if this is the Macca revolution, give me more.
Casper started badly - I'd read a lot about his poor distribution, but watching a goal kick sail out of play was still very depressing. Yet after that, he was pretty good. Happy to play it short or long (notably, spotting and finding Beckford for a close-run route one effort), fast or slow. And, more or less, every player also did what they needed to for the rest of the match. My picks were probably Howson - who shows a real eye for a pass and is fast becoming our most creative player; Douglas, who worked hard and was a visible motivator on the field; and Friedman, who displayed the savvy of his years top open up opportunities for us. But Huntingdon and Lubo were strong at the back (Lubo makes up with great sliding tackles for his lack of pace), our midfield was effective and Beckford seemed a lot more focused and positive up front. Certainly less of the ego on display, and he came out at the end to applaud the fans despite taking what looked like a serious knock to his ankle/heel midway through the second half. One weak spot? Richardson, probably, although I've seen him play worse and In know he can play better, too. So. If Macca is getting his team to play his way now, and we can keep this up for just seven weeks, things are starting to look good again. Yes, this was a good performance against poor opponents, but all the bits were in place. And remember: we showed on Tuesday we can win messy against good opponents. (I was also at the first half of Portsmouth v West Brom yesterday. That place has amazing acoustics. Sent shivers down my spine thinking about how good Leeds would sound in there...) -- Richard Young Freelance writer and editor _______________________________________________ the Leeds List is an unmoderated mailing list and the list administrators accept no liability for the personal views and opinions of contributors. Leedslist mailing list [email protected] http://list.zetnet.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist DELETE THE FOOTERS WHEN REPLYING YOU LAZY SODS!!!! DELETE THE FOOTERS WHEN REPLYING YOU LAZY SODS!!!!
