Derby v Leeds - Team/Reports/Ratings

[fred]

Well if Felix was a wonderful shot stopper I'd probably forgive him his flapping. Lonnergan is the far superior shot stopper though and he's only average.

Since Wolves away I don`t want to see Lonergan again in a Leeds shirt. His whole body language was so appalling.

And there is one huge argument against changing the goalkeepers again: If Lonergan plays bad then the coach couldn`t switch back to Wiedwald, he would look like a real idiot. And why take the chance with only a few games left?
And even if Lonergan is better than Wiedwald (I doubt it very much), he isn`t soo much better that it would make a difference.
So no way Lonergan will be in goal again, unless Wiedwald plays unbelievably bad, so that Heck just has no other choice.

[BobHirst]

Tonight's game was a wake-up call to the manager, that the goalie and defense just don't work together. Felix was rooted to his line on several occasions when he could have come to claim the ball and remove the pressure on the defense. He even stayed on the line when corners came into the 6 yard box.
Give the reserve keeper a go. He cannot possibly make the defenders less insecure than they already are with Felix.

[Clive]

Tonight's game was a wake-up call to the manager, that the goalie and defense just don't work together. Felix was rooted to his line on several occasions when he could have come to claim the ball and remove the pressure on the defense. He even stayed on the line when corners came into the 6 yard box.
Give the reserve keeper a go. He cannot possibly make the defenders less insecure than they already are with Felix.

They were fine at the start of the season when confidence was high. They were happy to pass it back to him and he was happy to have the ball at his feet, which helped us.

They reason Wieldwald stayed rooted to his line tonight was because he came for something on Sunday, missed it, and it led to a goal. So either he's lost a bit of confidence and decided it was best not to come for anything and risk another mistake, or Heckingbottom instructed him not to come for anything. He never seemed to lose his confidence after his previous mistakes, so my guess is the latter.

The standard of goalkeeping at this level is really poor, we could take any keeper in this league and they would make mistakes and get stick.

The Millwall keeper is as bad as I've seen and he plays every week, and they went above us before tonight's game. We aren't where we are because of the keeper, and he didn't cost us a goal tonight.

The fans need to ask for a better standard of manager before they ask for a better standard of goalkeeper.

[HarryofOz]

Missed the game as I was at work. good result to get a point at Derby but not that good to take the lead twice and not win.

How did we play overall?

[barryanorak]

Clive, I disagree. Not generally, but with your final point, Wiedwald did cost us a goal tonight - the second equaliser. A panicked header was undertaken, which led to the corner. The simpler option was for the keeper to just take the catch, but there was no communication, by the looks of things.

[Clacton White]

There must be a decent out of contract keeper out there.

Had one and let him go .

[Clacton White]

even if Lonergan is better than Wiedwald (I doubt it very much),

Don't be silly .......he's quite possibly the worst keeper in the division , and probably three quarters of the league 1 keepers too are better . Add to that Leeds have got one of the worst midfielders in the division too ( OFK) - doesn't make good reading . At least OFK didn't figure last night . Hopefully dropped from this side forever .

[Gurj]

Surely its worth giving Bailey Peacock-Farrell a chance now. I am sick to death of us literally handing goals/points to teams when we have to fight so hard at the other end to get ours !!

Cooper's headers were pathetic for both goals conceded but it just needed some calmness behind him, a simple shout of " Keepers " and the danger is immediately averted.

As for De Bock - I have been watching LUFC for over 35 years now and that has to one of the worst display's I have ever seen from one of our players. Again, Tyler Denton should be given an opportunity. Our season is effectively over now - not a cat in hell's chance of making play offs and we wont go down, so this is the time to give some of these younger lads an extended run to see if they sink or swim.

Samu Saiz, disgusting spitting aside, as a footballer, well what more can you say, sublime, simply sublime. Oh for just one or two more like him.

[1964white]

Clive, I disagree. Not generally, but with your final point, Wiedwald did cost us a goal tonight - the second equaliser. A panicked header was undertaken, which led to the corner. The simpler option was for the keeper to just take the catch, but there was no communication, by the looks of things.

Spot on Anorak, there is no communication with his defenders whatsoever, it's quite obvious that our defence have no confidence in this clown of a keeper & as a consequence being drawn into individual mistakes.

Clive is intent blaming Heck for all the problems when of course none of it is his fault, he walked into a nightmare of a job & is doing his utmost to sort out the mess we were in. What Heck has done is he has made us much more competitive which was my hope & expectation when he was employed as our new coach, he has shown his ruthlessness as he is not afraid of making changes unlike his predecessor. Also the substitutions he has made in all three games have all changed the game

[1964white]

Surely its worth giving Bailey Peacock-Farrell a chance now. I am sick to death of us literally handing goals/points to teams when we have to fight so hard at the other end to get ours

Not sure he is ready but he has to be given an opportunity above the current clown between the sticks

As for De Bock - I have been watching LUFC for over 35 years now and that has to one of the worst display's I have ever seen from one of our players

I'd said a few times on here about my reservations with De Bock & no one made a comment, not even weasel who is generally quick off the mark with regard to my thoughts about LUFC. Last night De Bock lived up to my criticism in fine style making so many errors you have to ask the question is he really a footballer ? he certainly can't defend or cross a ball, has to be one of the worst LB's I've witnessed in my 55 years watching Leeds United

Samu Saiz, disgusting spitting aside, as a footballer, well what more can you say, sublime, simply sublime. Oh for just one or two more like him

Just what we've been missing, Saiz changed the game.

Sadly I doubt Saiz or Pontus our two class players will be at ER next season, then we'll have another fine mess on our hands

[NorfolkWhite]

Had one and let him go .

[NorfolkWhite]

Had one and let him go .

- I'm still mad but double post!

[NorfolkWhite]

Wiedwald-3. . Poor communication poor display.
Berardi-6 . .Solid overall, apart from once in the 1st half losing it cheaply.
Jansson-9.Brilliant, commanding, a LEADER.
Cooper-5 . Gets 1 for the assist, defensively poor, partially at fault for both goals.
De Bock-3 . Deary me, it was bad.
Vieira-4 . The yellow meant he couldn't play his natural game, sort it out Ronnie.
Forshaw-7 ..steady and dependable again, made some decent tackles to.
Dallas-7. .Assist, worked hard, better then last week.
Hernandez-5. .Not really at it, possibly tired, played a lot of mins recently. His injury may be a culmination. Did set Saiz away for the goal.
Roofe-3.5. Cant mark as low as Felix and De Bock but was invisible.
Lassie-7 .worked hard and got his goal, cant ask for more.

Saiz-8 . We improved when he came on, he worked hard, lovely assist (wont be an assist as it was a rebound).
Phillips-5. Tried to get about, not much else to say.
Alioski-7 . Worked hard defensively, bust a gut to break with Saiz, poor shot but brave on the rebound.

Hecky-7 . Bit odd to drop Anita, dropped Penny to which wasnt ideal and Cooper didnt exactly justify it. But, he was smart enough to take off Vieira (protect him in a way). He showed faith in Roofe after his goal then when it clearly wasnt working he got Saiz on. And he made the right choice allowing Alioski to replace Pablo, 2 subs combined, credit where its due.

Agree with most of that CJ, might have tweaked Coops up to a 6 and I thought KP did quite well when he came on, worth at least 1 more. RV was really poor last night even before the booking, loose passes, caught in possession, he's better than that performance last night.

I'd still make Pontus captain - he's our most natural leader, don't think even Coops believes he should be Captain.

[The Subhuman]

Vierra hasn't looked the same since the injury, Roofe' worst game for us by a distance but that happens. Thought Saiz was combative but rusty and lost possession on the edge of the box a little too much. Usual complaint with Saiz, suspect end product. I'd skip Denton and go straight to Pearce first if I were looking at an alternative to De Bock

BPF wasn't good enough in either of his two loan moves in lower divisions, he's not going to anyones answer to the keeper problem yet. We do have another young keeper on the books.

Heck is, at moment, looking to see what we have, he's in a partial pre season mode

Forshaw should be captain, he's the one dealing with the Ref right now and organising all around him ..


Weidwald is the worst keeper we have here at the moment. He plays like we got our keeper sent off and he's the outfielder between the sticks..No idea of positioning, can't catch, can't organise a defence. If we keep him we need to get him a better goalkeeping coach. I think Green saves the first goal, angle was narrow and the forward was quite close. Would have been a great save but Green made those and right now Felix can't

[The Subhuman]

This Weidwald behind last seasons defence and they would have been a shambles too

[weasel]

I'd said a few times on here about my reservations with De Bock & no one made a comment, not even weasel who is generally quick off the mark with regard to my thoughts about LUFC. Last night De Bock lived up to my criticism in fine style making so many errors you have to ask the question is he really a footballer ? he certainly can't defend or cross a ball, has to be one of the worst LB's I've witnessed in my 55 years watching Leeds United

Sadly I doubt Saiz or Pontus our two class players will be at ER next season, then we'll have another fine mess on our hands

Not really seen enough of DeBock to form an opinion. Constantly changing the defence though isn't the answer as you have to build up understandings with your fellow defenders (and keeper) so that you can read the danger better.

The big trouble is that we may repeat last season's mistakes which would be to strengthen the areas of weakness from this season then let our best 2 (or 3 with Lasogga) go.

[Newport white]

Was it just me that saw Cooper miss yet again with a free header in front of goal?

[LevLeeds]

Just regarding the second goal,,,, to concede in the way we did was shocking. Who's at fault? Flappy or Coops?? I for one instantly blamed Felix because I'm so used to his errors,,,, cooper is usually pretty solid, minor the odd dodgy tackle, but I heard Felix actually shouted for the ball, but because of lack of trust or capabilities in his goal keeper Coops as captain took action himself and stuck a dodgy header on it instead of trusting his goalkeeper and conceeded the corner which led to the goal. At that stage of the game panic stations are in, we were under pressure and he did what he thought was best at that particular time, get rid any shape way or form. However Felix SHOULD be commanding that area and he SHOULD have claimed that ball prior to Coops having the chance to head it. Ive played with keepers that would have flatted me to get that ball in his hands. Hes cleary struggling and so are the defence due to his lack of command.

Most important for next season transfer is a GOAL KEEPER, its a must, it frustrates me so much that we let Green go for this lad. Such a poor poor management decisions that. I know Green wasnt perfect but my god he is 100 times better than this fella.

I dont think we did enough to deserve the win last night by any stretch but Jesus H Christ, we should have done. How many more goals / points is this lad gonna cost us. They should have been our 3 points last night!!!

Very disappointing.

[LevLeeds]

Oh yeh De Bock,,, I don't have the words to describe that performance.

Saiz, showed exactly why we missed him so bad, the whole team got a lift when we came on.

[Gandalf]

Wiedwald-5 - Stayed on his line all the time (possibly had instructions to do so). Communication poor on a couple of occasions which led to corners. Still the best we have got available.
Berardi-5 - Given the runaround early on by Lawrence, and dived in a couple of times, when he really shouldn't.
Jansson- 8 Our best defender by a mile, although was at fault with their 2nd equaliser, with a poor attempt at a defensive header from the corner.
Cooper-5 - Great pass for the first goal, but always has a mistake in him - See their first equaliser.
De Bock- 4 - Had a poor game defensively, but he was quite good on the ball. I haven't given up on him yet.
Vieira-5 - Booked for his first tackle (which was not a bookable offence), and went into his shell thereafter. Was quite effective until his booking.
Forshaw-6 - Dwelt on the ball on occasions, possibly his worst display since signing. Still our best midfielder, though.
Dallas-6 - Good early cross for the first, and put a shift in. Lacks that extra bit of class, but always dependable.
Hernandez-5 - When he comes off he looks a different class, when he doesn't he plays like last night.
Roofe-3 - 10 touches in 60 minutes, five of which he gave to Derby. Absolute waste of space. Back to the bench please.
Lassie-7 - Worked hard and a brave finish for his goal. Now lasting the full 90 minutes.

Saiz-7.5 - Did more in 20 seconds on the pitch, than Roofe did in 60 minutes. Lovely dribble and pass for the Alioski goal. Has to start on Saturday.
Phillips-6 - Worked hard and broke up play.
Alioski-6 .Tracked back well, and was a help to De Bock. Maybe slightly lucky with the goal, but reacted well to the rebound. Still think there is a good player in there.