Marching On Together

Good Morning. It's Tuesday 13th September, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road...


Lack of policing forces War of the Roses postponement

Despite the 200 mile distance between London and Old Trafford, the Premier League and Greater Manchester Police have decided to postpone the War of the Roses clash this weekend. Unlike the Nottingham Forest game, which was put on hold as a sign of respect to Queen Elizabeth II, Sunday's deferment relates to a lack of policing, as the nation prepares for the funeral of our beloved Monarch.

There is no love lost between Leeds and the red side of Manchester, and whatever the scoreline, tension will be high, and tempers will fray. Normally for a game of this magnitude, the Police would draft in hundreds of extra bobbies from neighbouring forces to ensure law and order, but most have already been secunded for Westminster duties.

Her Majesty's funeral is likely to be one of the largest events the World has ever seen, with hundreds of World leaders, and dignitaries expected in London to pay their final respects. The terror threat must be monumental, especially when you consider the funeral comes just days later after the 21st anniversary of 9/11.





Parisi snub could be blessing in disguise

Various media outlets have reported that Leeds came close to signing Empoli left-back Fabiano Parisi this Summer, only for the 21yo to change his mind. The little known Italian has impressed since breaking into their starting line up this term. In 502 minutes of game time, he has gained a whoScored rating of 7.24; higher than any of his teammates.

Could it have been a blessing in disguise? Pascal Struijk's performances at left back have been solid, and have led to his national call up for the Netherlands, where he could make his debut against Belgium later this month.





Will Semi-automatic offside technology help Leeds

Semi-automatic offside technology is set to be introduced to the Premier League next season, according to an article in 'The Times'. It will not only reduce the time it takes for offside decisions to be made, but will also eliminate human error. Having seen it work well in the Champions League, the Premier League have decided to try it out.

An interesting article from ESPN insists that VAR was actually very kind to Leeds last season, and had it not been for Video Assistant Referee, Leeds would have been relegated!

Leeds United celebrated survival on the final day with victory at Brentford, but they might have VAR to thank for retaining their Premier League status -- because the VAR Effect Table shows them relegated.

A couple of factors come into play here as Leeds lose two points without VAR. First there's the home draw with Leicester which goes down as a loss, then the an injury-time penalty given to Leeds against Crystal Palace when the score was goalless; two of the key calls which went the way of the Yorkshire side.

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Interesting counter argument to the generally held belief that everything & everyone is against us

VAR analysis...this would need to take into account all the VAR decisions of the teams around us to get the full view.
I am still not convinced that we get a lot going for us.

Fair enough moving the ManU match. As I said last week, if this was to be our next match and a possible mauling it would do our longer term momentum lots of harm. Now it will be a month off with a home visit of Villa...more time to get recovering players match fit and probably more confidence building as a contest.

Clitheroe White wrote: ↑Tue Sep 13, 2022 8:56 am Fair enough moving the ManU match. As I said last week, if this was to be our next match and a possible mauling it would do our longer term momentum lots of harm. Now it will be a month off with a home visit of Villa...more time to get recovering players match fit and probably more confidence building as a contest.

Good point, Clitheroe.

Surely playing at OT when they have fixture congestion will help us more than them?

VAR. Offside rulings have improved greatly so in any case. But imo to be whole law needs changed in any case.

Irish Ian wrote: ↑Tue Sep 13, 2022 11:16 am Surely playing at OT when they have fixture congestion will help us more than them?

I'm genuinely curious when on earth these rescheduled matches will take place. Midweeks are booked solid for the UEFA competitions until at least the World Cup right? Would they pack fixtures in the weeks around Christmas?

So would the rescheduled fixture have to wait until they crash out of the Europa League into the Conference League second-chance playoffs? And what of the EFL Cup (which they should probably just reschedule to June or something -- have to imagine all the top Prem clubs being even more apathetic about it if that's even possible)?

At any rate I hope MU's fixture congestion lightens up quite a bit by the spring as they take a bunch of early cup exits.

Clueless Yank wrote: ↑Tue Sep 13, 2022 2:17 pm I'm genuinely curious when on earth these rescheduled matches will take place. Midweeks are booked solid for the UEFA competitions until at least the World Cup right? Would they pack fixtures in the weeks around Christmas?

So would the rescheduled fixture have to wait until they crash out of the Europa League into the Conference League second-chance playoffs? And what of the EFL Cup (which they should probably just reschedule to June or something -- have to imagine all the top Prem clubs being even more apathetic about it if that's even possible)?

At any rate I hope MU's fixture congestion lightens up quite a bit by the spring as they take a bunch of early cup exits.

It is hard to envision when the games will be played.

Lets remember though that Sky can move a game from a Saturday to a Sunday or even a Monday, so that opens up the possibility of a Thurdsay/ Sunday weekend.

Christmas looks pretty busy but of course Leeds will be free the weekend they FA Cup 4th round is scheduled for

Congrats to our sexy pirate on his Netherlands call up

4 weeks between games is nearly an off season, all our players could come back needing game time... Could use a friendly tbh.. How many teams will go 29 days between games?

faaip wrote: ↑Tue Sep 13, 2022 6:52 pm 4 weeks between games is nearly an off season, all our players could come back needing game time... Could use a friendly tbh.. How many teams will go 29 days between games?

I did mention yesterday that Leeds are getting a second pre-season!

whiteswan wrote: ↑Tue Sep 13, 2022 6:59 pm I did mention yesterday that Leeds are getting a second pre-season!

But a pre season without friendlies. I have a feeling we'll be playing from cold come the restart and we get 6 games in October. Villa play Friday so they won't be quite so cold, they'll be strong favourites