Leeds v Preston - Team/News/Reports/Ratings

[Norm]

Thanks Rab and faaip for your comments. I guess we were lucky not to be punished on a wake up call.
1 point better than 0 - happy we survived.

[whiteswan]

Thanks Rab and faaip for your comments. I guess we were lucky not to be punished on a wake up call.
1 point better than 0 - happy we survived.

Yes, also thanks to Rab and faaip and from what I heard it was Preston that did most of the pressing so yes again, lets call it a wake up call!

[weasel]

Fromm radio commentary it sounded like a scrappy game with Preston physical and lucky to not pick up a few more bookings. Their chances came from our mistakes with PJ being a bit guilty of over-playing at the back. The sending off, fully deserved, gave us a lift and from then on we were camped in their half and we had a few decent chances but failed to take any. Preston almost snatched it at the death with Cooper blocking/deflecting a shot onto the crossbar.

Just one of those games and a reminder that you have to earn the right to play football and not every team will give us the space. Didn't sound like anyone was poor or excellent so probably a lot of 6s and 7s in the ratings. Before anyone gets too down don't forget that Preston beat Sheff Wed last week and for most of last season were on the edges of the play-off spots. Not saying we shouldn't be beating them but no game is easy in the championship. Just look at the premiership with teams like Burnley, Watford, Huddersfield etc - only a few years ago these teams were mid to bottom end of the championship.

[The Subhuman]

TBF Bolton was an easy game we made harder than it should have been

[Haighy]

Preston are a good solid side, i can see them being in the playoffs. So I'm happy with a point.
The sending off certainly changed the game in our favour thankfully.
Overall a poor performance.

[60sUnited]

Just back from a frustrating game. In all honesty we didn't really get going until they went down to 10 men and then had enough chances / half chances to nick it, which they nearly did in the dying minutes. Cooper, O'Kane, CBJ would be my pick from today.

[rich_leeds64]

Not a great game to start our home league campaign to be honest. We didn't stamp our authority in the 1st half and once they went down to 10 men it was never going to be easy to break them down. At least we didn't throw it away right at the death.
Highlight of the day, meeting 1964white at half time for a chat, don't know where the "little old man " comes from because he's not little and he doesn't look old!!

[1964white]

Poor display. One of those days where things didn't go right, too many wrong options taken v an organised Preston side playing some decent football. Their blatant time-wasting throughout the whole of the 2nd half was frustrating from a Leeds fans point of view.
Had Wood struck in a one-on-one with keeper Maxwell the result could have been completely different, he then made a double save from a Dallas header & a good strike from Hernandez. PNE came close twice near the end with a shot coming off the bar in the dying seconds.
Quite happy with four points from our first two games
Remember last season : P2 W0 D0 L2 F1 A5 Pts 0

Bring on Fulham

6 - Wiedwald
6 - Ayling
6 - Jansson
7 - Cooper
7.5 - Borthwick-Jackson MOTM
4 - Phillips
6.5 - O'Kane
3 - Roofe
5 - Hernandez
4 - Alioski
5 - Wood

6 - Saiz
6 - Vieira
n/a - Dallas

[1964white]

Not a great game to start our home league campaign to be honest. We didn't stamp our authority in the 1st half and once they went down to 10 men it was never going to be easy to break them down. At least we didn't throw it away right at the death.
Highlight of the day, meeting 1964white at half time for a chat, don't know where the "little old man " comes from because he's not little and he doesn't look old!!

Cheers Rich, thank you for your kind words

It's just a myth mate

[The Subhuman]

Watching the short Ch 5 run through I was again struck by how poor Wiedwald looked. That was of course condensed and I guess he could have looked better when Ch 5's cameras weren't on him but still.

[leedsmad]

Agree with everyone , never got going and had they had there full side throughout the 2nd half i think we would of got nothing out of the game .
The Championship is the toughest League IMO and it is a long Season and all about Squad Management.

[leedsmad]

Watching the short Ch 5 run through I was again struck by how poor Wiedwald looked. That was of course condensed and I guess he could have looked better when Ch 5's cameras weren't on him but still.

Yeah i agree , i think he flirts alot out of his area .
I'll have Green anyday

[1964white]

Preston are a good solid side, i can see them being in the playoffs. So I'm happy with a point.
The sending off certainly changed the game in our favour thankfully.
Overall a poor performance.

I thought PNE's time-wasting tactics throughout the whole of the 2nd half was deplorable, players falling down after no contact, their keeper should have been booked as a warning but the soft referee gave him a license to continue his blatant antics right to the end.
It's cheating the fans, wouldn't happen in any other sport !

[danhirons]

We were very poor, not having a shot on target and only two off target by the time they got a man sent off is worrying. Draw probably a fair result, Preston looked better team with eleven men

[Haighy]

I thought PNE's time-wasting tactics throughout the whole of the 2nd half was deplorable, players falling down after no contact, their keeper should have been booked as a warning but the soft referee gave him a license to continue his blatant antics right to the end.
It's cheating the fans, wouldn't happen in any other sport !

Totally agree about the time wasting, which the ref did eff all about.
But unfortunately it's the norm.

[Oscar]

Very poor performance from us yesterday, I thought we were very lucky to get a point in all honesty. Preston were outstanding their off the ball work was so impressive Paul Huntington easily man of the match, they created some really good chances as well how they didn't score I will never know hit the bar and missed an incredible chance with 10 minutes to go, also had some good chances in the first half. We started quite well first 10 minutes or so but after that we completely lost our way. When Pearson was sent off I thought it was going to lead to us controlling the game............................, however, we didn't improve enough no one was willing to be brave on the ball and run at Preston to create the space, we had a good 1 on 1 chance for Wood and Hernandez forced a stunning save at the end but Preston still created the better quality of chances with the 10 men. Only Saiz came out of the game with any credit out of all our attacking options, a poor decision to play Hernandez ahead of Saiz in theory what was the point of Saiz playing vs Port Vale if he was never going to be in the team on Saturday no matter how well he played in the game vs Port Vale.
I did like our tactical change to a 3-4-3 at the end with Alisoki and Dallas as wing backs but the lack of creativity from the whole team was worrying, we looked so reliant on Saiz.
Player Ratings:
Wiedwald 7- Didn't really have a save to make but some good distribution particuarly with his hands, the speed and accuracy he can throw the ball is incredible and could become really useful.
Ayling 7- Man Of The Match Solid defensively and as always offered an outlet going forward, the best of a average/bad bunch today.
Jansson 5- A very rare poor performance, lost the ball trying to dribble the ball out of the six yard box creating a big Preston chance, lost too many big challenges.
Cooper 7- Did well today, unlike Jansson won everything and one or two good pieces of distribution.
Borthwick-Jackson 7- Some lovely ball control and composed defending, really got forward in the second half but his crossing wasn’t great today.
Phillips 4- Quiet today and wayward passing throughout.
O’Kane 7- Never stopped working, some good passing and positioning and helped us get the ball forward. The real leader/captain of the team imo who should be the captain.
Roofe 4- I can’t remember Roofe touching the ball, I had high hopes for Kemar this season but it’s been a slow start so far.
Hernandez 5- 60% of the ball, at home, against a poor team and against 10 men isn’t this supposed to be Hernandez’s type of game? Well it wasn’t today very poor. In the second half kept trying the same pass 3-4 times he kept trying it and trying it and attack after attack broke down.
Alisoki 5- One lovely piece of skill in the first half but constantly made the wrong decisions and some poor end product.
Wood 5- Worked hard as ever but it just didn’t happen for him missed a good 1 on 1 chance but the service to him today was very poor once again.
Substitutions:
Vieira 7- We started to build a little bit of momentum when Vieira came on but the players in front of him couldn’t build on it.
Saiz 6- We looked more lively once he came on, he was asking questions of Preston at least. He probably should have done better with his chance at the end which was a comfortable save in the end but we improved when Saiz came on.
Dallas N/A- Played less than 10 minutes

[danhirons]

Very poor performance from us yesterday, I thought we were very lucky to get a point in all honesty. Preston were outstanding their off the ball work was so impressive Paul Huntington easily man of the match, they created some really good chances as well how they didn't score I will never know hit the bar and missed an incredible chance with 10 minutes to go, also had some good chances in the first half. We started quite well first 10 minutes or so but after that we completely lost our way. When Pearson was sent off I thought it was going to lead to us controlling the game............................, however, we didn't improve enough no one was willing to be brave on the ball and run at Preston to create the space, we had a good 1 on 1 chance for Wood and Hernandez forced a stunning save at the end but Preston still created the better quality of chances with the 10 men. Only Saiz came out of the game with any credit out of all our attacking options, a poor decision to play Hernandez ahead of Saiz in theory what was the point of Saiz playing vs Port Vale if he was never going to be in the team on Saturday no matter how well he played in the game vs Port Vale.
I did like our tactical change to a 3-4-3 at the end with Alisoki and Dallas as wing backs but the lack of creativity from the whole team was worrying, we looked so reliant on Saiz.
Player Ratings:
Wiedwald 7- Didn't really have a save to make but some good distribution particuarly with his hands, the speed and accuracy he can throw the ball is incredible and could become really useful.
Ayling 7- Man Of The Match Solid defensively and as always offered an outlet going forward, the best of a average/bad bunch today.
Jansson 5- A very rare poor performance, lost the ball trying to dribble the ball out of the six yard box creating a big Preston chance, lost too many big challenges.
Cooper 7- Did well today, unlike Jansson won everything and one or two good pieces of distribution.
Borthwick-Jackson 7- Some lovely ball control and composed defending, really got forward in the second half but his crossing wasn’t great today.
Phillips 5- Quiet today and wayward passing throughout.
O’Kane 7- Never stopped working, some good passing and positioning and helped us get the ball forward. The real leader/captain of the team imo who should be the captain.
Roofe 4- I can’t remember Roofe touching the ball, I had high hopes for Kemar this season but it’s been a slow start so far.
Hernandez 5- 60% of the ball, at home, against a poor team and against 10 men isn’t this supposed to be Hernandez’s type of game? Well it wasn’t today very poor. In the second half kept trying the same pass 3-4 times he kept trying it and trying it and attack after attack broke down.
Alisoki 5- One lovely piece of skill in the first half but constantly made the wrong decisions and some poor end product.
Wood 5- Worked hard as ever but it just didn’t happen for him missed a good 1 on 1 chance but the service to him today was very poor once again.
Substitutions:
Vieira 7- We started to build a little bit of momentum when Vieira came on but the players in front of him couldn’t build on it.
Saiz 6- We looked more lively once he came on, he was asking questions of Preston at least. He probably should have done better with his chance at the end which was a comfortable save in the end but we improved when Saiz came on.
Dallas N/A- Played less than 10 minutes

Saiz not match fit or ready yet, he played well against league two opposition not championship, Hernandez played well last week when we won, who knows Hernandez might have got a hat trick against port vale. Think you're completely wrong saying saiz should have played, alioski was useless yesteryear after tearing apart port vale on wednesday

[Oscar]

Saiz not match fit or ready yet, he played well against league two opposition not championship, Hernandez played well last week when we won, who knows Hernandez might have got a hat trick against port vale. Think you're completely wrong saying saiz should have played, alioski was useless yesteryear after tearing apart port vale on wednesday

Saiz played 90 minutes on Wednesday so he should be match fit or at least fit enough to start, Hernandez would never have took up the positions Saiz did in the Port Vale game to get 2 of his 3 goals. We looked better yesterday when Saiz came on and I felt Saiz had a better game than Hernandez, so I do 100% think Saiz should have been starting in that number 10 role yesterday. Alioski is a fair point and I get that it's league two opposition but Saiz did look lively yesterday imo.

[danhirons]

Saiz played 90 minutes on Wednesday so he should be match fit or at least fit enough to start, Hernandez would never have took up the positions Saiz did in the Port Vale game to get 2 of his 3 goals. We looked better yesterday when Saiz came on and I felt Saiz had a better game than Hernandez, so I do 100% think Saiz should have been starting in that number 10 role yesterday. Alioski is a fair point and I get that it's league two opposition but Saiz did look lively yesterday imo.

Fair enough, still don't agree though. Just because he played one full game doesn't mean he's up to championship speed and he came on yesterday against a tiring ten man side so there was always going to be more space for him. But, will be interesting to see what TC does in the next few games and whether saiz is preferred to hernandez!

[weasel]

For me Hernandez was mom v Bolton and unlucky not to score (hitting the bar) as well as having a direct hand in 2 of the 3 goals. The point about Alioski looking a world beater v Port Vale but very average v Bolton and Preston is very apt as it shows the difference that playing against a lesser opposition can make. At this stage I think TC is picking a side with championship experience, barring Alioski and Felix and seems to be easing the rest of the foreign signings in gradually which is the best way - don't forget what happened in Cellino's first season in charge where the foreigners were all rushed in and whilst some impressed initially most were caught out by the long grind. Saiz can definitely be a big player for us but to rush him in based on 90 minutes v a League 2 side in a glorified friendly would not have been the right decision, despite the poor result. My team selection, which TC agreed with, was the same starting XI v Bolton but had just the 2 changes that were forced on TC because of injury, nobody deserved to be dropped from that line-up despite the Port Vale game. Yes people, especially Saiz, took the opportunity to shine but all it does is let the manager know that they might be ready when called upon which was the case with CBJ earning the start. If Hernandez had been injured then Saiz would have justifiably been next in line.