Leeds Utd v Birmingham City Match Thread - Pablo still missing, Alyling captains the side

[lufc1304]

Agree Nick we never replaced Saiz with a proper No.10 & whose fault is that ?

As for Costa none of us are writing him off but for a supposedly £15m player he should making an impact on games on a regular basis, he looks more like a £1.5m signing

Marcelo? Board? Both? Don't know, mate, but we miss him

Costa has been a little disappointing, no doubt, but he was getting little to no game time at Wolves and then had to get himself up to speed with Bielsaball. The talent is there, but I think he's one who's not quite there yet in how Bielsa wants him to play. There were a few in the squad like that last season, he'll come good.

[weasel]

Certainly a strange game yesterday, we have played much better and drawn or lost but the 3 points ultimately are all that matters.

We do seem disjointed at the moment, some of it down to injuries and some to the strange selection to play Dallas in midfield, if in midfield he really needs to be on the wing not centrally.

Once again we dominated possession and chances but squandered them. The usual happened when Bamford went off though with the opposition suddenly being able to play and the match being more even. Whether this is due to Bamford not being on the pitch and occupying their defence more, pushing the opposition deeper or just that we seem to run out of puff a bit (or the opposition get more confident due to us not having killed them off) is something that Bielsa can only really judge.

[The Subhuman]

Thought Costa had a good game yesterday personally, lively but left a little isolated imo

[1964white]

Well once again we made hard work of beating an average team on our own soil as we squandered chances, chose the wrong options, lost our way, same old same old .

Positives

Three points.
Two 1-0 home victories where our defence has held firm.
Kalvin Phillips immense again, fitting one of our academy lads scores the winner on such a special day.
Ben White as commanding as ever.
Alioski's best game of the season even though he lost it with two easy chances to put the game to bed.
Berardi looking assured standing in for Cooper.
Ayling encouraging his teammates when we were under the cosh.
Harrison's interception & lay off to Phillips.
Appreciation for our Leeds legends prior to the game.
Beckford song immense, Jermaine loved it
Becchio & Radebe chants good too.

Negatives

Squandered chances, nothing new there
Final ball/crosses poor.
Our forwards players couldn't score in a brothel.
Seems like every move breaks down in & around the oppositions box.
Where was Klich yesterday, still playing for Poland I assume.
Feel sorry for Dallas who is not a central midfielder.
Square pegs in round holes because we haven't got a big enough squad.
Marcelo tells us we have every position covered, have we f**k.
So who is our alternative for Pablo then ? missing him big-time.
Costa still off the pace, looks more like a £1.5m signing than £15m, hoping he comes good.
Substitutions made no difference in fact we got worse.
Tyler Roberts still finding his way after two years at Leeds.
Spent more time defending once Bamford was subbed.
Barry Douglas why? his first cross straight into the keepers gloves then he plays a suicidal pass at the back.
We are always poor after a international break.
Brum fans, a disgrace at the end

Ratings

7 Casilla
7 Ayling
9 White
7 Berardi
7 Alioski
9 Phillips MOTM
5 Costa
5 Dallas
5 Klich
7 Harrison (extra point for his assist, had a couple of horrible moments too)
5 Bamford
5 Nketiah
6 Roberts
4 Douglas

[1964white]

Thought Costa had a good game yesterday personally, lively but left a little isolated imo

Totally ineffective mate

Ask Ges, he was there

[1964white]

[gessa]

Totally ineffective mate

Ask Ges, he was there

I thought he was mostly poor, second half had plenty of room on the right but drifted in and didn't exploit the space given, goes in half hearted to a tackle, he'll get an injury sooner rather than later if that continues. I've been very disappointed with him, so far this season.

Other observations.
I thought both Harrison and Alioski had betrer games than they've been given credit for,a couple of times they were very unfortunate first half, Brum defender just getting a toe to some lovely link up play between them.
Next, I didn't give K P motm because I thought his distribution was mostly average or poor yesterday, his defensive duties were mostly excellent though, which brings me to another point, he had too much to do as Dallas isn't a natural partner in the role he has been given, we are less effective down the right since Ayling came back in for him, there is no way MB will drop Ayling though, so for me, as Forsgaw will be back soon, I'd partner him again with KP, drop Costa and put Dallas wide right.

Now for Bamford, I learnt from watching Lee Chapman all those years ago, a lot of forwards look different watching live as on tv, the work rate, the positional play the way they pull defences out of position.Chapman did all those things well, Bamford didn't do any of them, likes to stroke the ball rather than put his foot through it and if I'm honest he looked like he was doing everything half hearted, was Nketiah much better, no imo but Nketiah needs to be given a chance to see what he can do from starting a game but I honestly don't think he's going to be able to do the lone striker role.

[1964white]

Our dynamic duo

[The Subhuman]

I thought he was mostly poor, second half had plenty of room on the right but drifted in and didn't exploit the space given, goes in half hearted to a tackle, he'll get an injury sooner rather than later if that continues. I've been very disappointed with him, so far this season.

Other observations.
I thought both Harrison and Alioski had betrer games than they've been given credit for,a couple of times they were very unfortunate first half, Brum defender just getting a toe to some lovely link up play between them.
Next, I didn't give K P motm because I thought his distribution was mostly average or poor yesterday, his defensive duties were mostly excellent though, which brings me to another point, he had too much to do as Dallas isn't a natural partner in the role he has been given, we are less effective down the right since Ayling came back in for him, there is no way MB will drop Ayling though, so for me, as Forsgaw will be back soon, I'd partner him again with KP, drop Costa and put Dallas wide right.

Now for Bamford, I learnt from watching Lee Chapman all those years ago, a lot of forwards look different watching live as on tv, the work rate, the positional play the way they pull defences out of position.Chapman did all those things well, Bamford didn't do any of them, likes to stroke the ball rather than put his foot through it and if I'm honest he looked like he was doing everything half hearted, was Nketiah much better, no imo but Nketiah needs to be given a chance to see what he can do from starting a game but I honestly don't think he's going to be able to do the lone striker role.

Did you miss Nketiah picking the ball up on the half way line, feint, spin his defender and play a lovely ball to Roberts who's return not quite good enough to put Eddie in and clear, close but no cigar. The two missed passes from Ayling when Eddie was making an intelligent run. I'm not buying into the Eddie can't lead the line agenda, that hasn't been proven in the slightest and he can hold the ball up as well as Bamford, distribute it better and will worry defenders a lot more. He's going to be a future England international Bamford is never going to come close to being bottom of the prem quality. Lets not waste that.

Kalvins corners were poor, I get that everyone thinks that Douglas first touch was a FK that the keeper caught but the quality of that cross was excellent, the keeper had to really stretch to make it and any mistake would have caused problems or had he mis-judged it
and missed it completely it was an easy finish for someone.

Big difference between bad cross and unsuccessful cross

[gessa]

Did you miss Nketiah picking the ball up on the half way line, feint, spin his defender and play a lovely ball to Roberts who's return not quite good enough to put Eddie in and clear, close but no cigar. The two missed passes from Ayling when Eddie was making an intelligent run. I'm not buying into the Eddie can't lead the line agenda, that hasn't been proven in the slightest and he can hold the ball up as well as Bamford, distribute it better and will worry defenders a lot more. He's going to be a future England international Bamford is never going to come close to being bottom of the prem quality. Lets not waste that.

Kalvins corners were poor, I get that everyone thinks that Douglas first touch was a FK that the keeper caught but the quality of that cross was excellent, the keeper had to really stretch to make it and any mistake would have caused problems or had he mis-judged it
and missed it completely it was an easy finish for someone.

Big difference between bad cross and unsuccessful cross

Not saying he's a bad player, but imo, he's not suited to the lone striker role but only time will tell, non of us know either way how it will go, and I'm not saying he never will but just too raw atm.

I do remember him on 2 occassions running back to into midfield chasing a lost cause, then when our midfield did win the ball there was no outlet up field to play it to, that's part of what i mean by too raw.

[The Subhuman]

Patrick Bamford and Billy Painter are not a million miles apart imo....I like Paddy but he has a lot of weaknesses and he's right out of form for some reason. He should have 10 plus already playing in a team that creates chances like we do. That would be the minimum for me. Defenders don't respect him, they don't really have to account for him when defending.

The "we take him off and we're worse" is misleading. There are other factors including teams are deliberately defending us first half then they up their game second half, usually taking more control in the midfield as they grow in confidence or they're looking for an equalizer..

Paddy is a 442 forward - an 8-10 goal a season guy who needs a striker off, he's a ball to feet player and that doesn't really fit with a fast break team where the striker needs pace to run to the ball...There's an American Football similarity here but I won't bore anyone, done enough of that with this post and the last one.

[1964white]

I thought he was mostly poor, second half had plenty of room on the right but drifted in and didn't exploit the space given, goes in half hearted to a tackle, he'll get an injury sooner rather than later if that continues. I've been very disappointed with him, so far this season

Knew we'd agree on Costa

I thought both Harrison and Alioski had betrer games than they've been given credit

Harrison's one glory moment was when he intercepted the ball & then laid it off for Phillips, lots of huff & puff that came to nothing prior to that. His stupid moment when he ran across the middle of our own half losing the ball because he hung onto far too long, putting our defence under pressure, we were lucky to getaway with that error.

Alioski was having a fine game however in the 2nd half with only the keeper to beat he fired a harmless shot straight into the hands of Camp. Then is greedy moment skying a shot way over the bar when he should have cut it back for Nketiah, moments earlier Ali was screaming at Eddie for a similar chance. I do wonder if Alioski has a brain at times. Both Harrison & Alioski received 7/10 from me even though our attacking players misfired again.

KP he had too much to do as Dallas isn't a natural partner in the role he has been given, we are less effective down the right since Ayling came back in for him, there is no way MB will drop Ayling though, so for me, as Forsgaw will be back soon, I'd partner him again with KP, drop Costa and put Dallas wide right

We are far too reliant on Phillips especially with Pablo & Forshaw constantly in the treatment room. Kalvin was playing two roles simultaneously in the middle of the park defensively & attacking-wise during the 2nd half. It doesn't help that our management has played russian roulette with our squad

Now for Bamford, I learnt from watching Lee Chapman all those years ago, a lot of forwards look different watching live as on tv, the work rate, the positional play the way they pull defences out of position.Chapman did all those things well, Bamford didn't do any of them, likes to stroke the ball rather than put his foot through it and if I'm honest he looked like he was doing everything half hearted, was Nketiah much better, no imo but Nketiah needs to be given a chance to see what he can do from starting a game but I honestly don't think he's going to be able to do the lone striker role

Chapman wasn't a great footballer however he knew his role & was clinical inside the oppositions box.

I've insisted since the summer we needed a 25 goal a season striker if we have any ambition on promotion, unless our board resolves this glaring problem in January we will struggle to achieve such heights. Tbh I won't hold my breath on our board making what is a necessary signing

[1964white]

Did you miss Nketiah picking the ball up on the half way line, feint, spin his defender and play a lovely ball to Roberts who's return not quite good enough to put Eddie in and clear, close but no cigar. The two missed passes from Ayling when Eddie was making an intelligent run. I'm not buying into the Eddie can't lead the line agenda, that hasn't been proven in the slightest and he can hold the ball up as well as Bamford, distribute it better and will worry defenders a lot more. He's going to be a future England international Bamford is never going to come close to being bottom of the prem quality. Lets not waste that.

Kalvins corners were poor, I get that everyone thinks that Douglas first touch was a FK that the keeper caught but the quality of that cross was excellent, the keeper had to really stretch to make it and any mistake would have caused problems or had he mis-judged it
and missed it completely it was an easy finish for someone.

Big difference between bad cross and unsuccessful cross

Don't get me started on Douglas again, every time he comes on we become worse, he almost cost us yesterday & he only had three or four touches. He's offered us nothing to our squad since his arrival at ER.

He needs outing as we have a better LB behind him in Bielsa's pecking order.

One of my mates who has rarely missed a game in the last 30 years said to me the other week "I never thought I say this but I hate Douglas more than Jansson"

[The Subhuman]

I didn't get you started, I was merely pointing out he delivered the best cross of the day

[1964white]

My photos from my phone

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[weasel]

Until Nketiah starts a game we won't be able to see whether the way Bamford plays allows us to dictate possession. In both Nketiah's starts we got a bit overrun in midfield however those were both cup games where our midfield lacked cohesion so it is impossible to judge Nketiah's role.

Personally I would like to see both Nketiah and Bamford playing but to do that we need to tinker with the formation. I feel sorry for Bamford as he is having to play as a lone striker and it isn't even like we have a central midfielder who is up in support of him in a very advanced role. As such he is being marshalled by 2 centrebacks continually. Comparisons to Chapman are redundant as Chapman was played in a two man strike force so he only had to escape one marker and if he could occupy 2 centrebacks then it gave the nippy Rod Wallace space. Chapman also had 3 midfielders looking to get on the scoresheet (Speed, Strachan and McAllister) and the quality of delivery into the box from the likes of Dorigo and Sterland was superb.

[Chilli D]

Don't get me started on Douglas again, every time he comes on we become worse, he almost cost us yesterday & he only had three or four touches. He's offered us nothing to our squad since his arrival at ER.

He needs outing as we have a better LB behind him in Bielsa's pecking order.

One of my mates who has rarely missed a game in the last 30 years said to me the other week "I never thought I say this but I hate Douglas more than Jansson"

I started a new job 4 weeks ago and surprisingly (seeing as I live in Suffolk) two of my colleagues are Wolves season ticket holders. I spoke to them about Douglas and Costa and they both said they were gutted when Douglas left but not Costa. They agreed that Costa hasn't been the same since his injury and were not surprised he was moved on (albeit on loan this season).
Douglas is another who has been blighted by injury since joining us but I have to say he has been very poor defensively.

[The Subhuman]

Defenders need continuity, difficult to rate Douglas on these cameo performances

[1964white]

I started a new job 4 weeks ago and surprisingly (seeing as I live in Suffolk) two of my colleagues are Wolves season ticket holders. I spoke to them about Douglas and Costa and they both said they were gutted when Douglas left but not Costa. They agreed that Costa hasn't been the same since his injury and were not surprised he was moved on (albeit on loan this season).
Douglas is another who has been blighted by injury since joining us but I have to say he has been very poor defensively.

Douglas is a liability

The fans in the kop around me & those I travel with dread it when Douglas enters the pitch

Awful signing & I can quite understand why Wolves let him go now

A bit like Byram, Mowatt & many others BD had one really good season & that was it !

[1964white]

Defenders need continuity, difficult to rate Douglas on these cameo performances

Douglas needs to learn basic defending, he slower than Ian Harte but not as good of course