The #LUFC Breakfast Debate (Friday 13th January) Leeds set to out-muscle Serie A pacesetters in pursuit of Ounahi

[Ellandback1]

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


Leeds set to out-muscle Serie A pacesetters in pursuit of Ounahi

With the signing of Georginio Rutter imminent, Leeds have swiftly turned their attention to Moroccan midfielder Azzedine Ounahi. The 22 year old rising star has been on Leeds radar since the World Cup, and has attracted the attention of many top European Clubs, including Serie A pace-setters Napoli, but according to the Italian media, Leeds are now favourites to sign the Angers player.

As regards the Napoli transfer market, we can say that Leeds are in pole position for the Moroccan Azzedine Ounahi. The English have offered €25m (£22.2m) to Angers and €2.5m (£2.2m) to the player. Higher figures than those offered by Napoli which had stopped at €1.5m (£1.3m).

Confidence, belief and commitment issues

It was after the West Ham game that Jesse Marsch revealed that his squad are suffering from "confidence, belief and commitment" issues. Whilst this may be true, should the gaffer have blurted it out to all and sundry? What effect could this have on their fledgling stars? Is Marsch suggesting that some of his players are not 100 percent committed to the cause?

The Senior players too, have a responsibility to rally their comrades as they wage war against their opponents. Liam Cooper is a fine example of this. His leadership qualities are well documented, which has seen the 31yo maintain the Captaincy for the last six years. With wearing the armband, comes great responsibility; an obligation to ensure his team mates are mentally ready for what lies ahead. If the squad are suffering mentally, is it time for Adams to take over skipper responsibilities?





Bamford set for rare appearance

More than two months since his last appearance, Patrick Bamford is finally back in a Leeds shirt tonight. He has been dogged by injuries for the last 18 months prompting the Elland Road faithful to want rid of the 29 year old; yet if he can turn things around, keep fit, and start banging in the goals again, it won't be long until his name echoes from all four corners of Elland Road again. Bearing in mind, his last injury came about taking practice penalties, Bamford will be reintroduced gradually, and should we see him tonight, it will only be a cameo appearance. Surely, this is Bamford's last chance!

[Clitheroe White]

Ounahi - not really seen him? What sort of midfielder is he?

Confidence issues...these should be kept in house.

If Bamford is coming back then Rutter is one very expensive insurance policy. More realistically...Bamford cameo's this season (if fit) but only if Rodrigo / Rutter are not firing.

BTW - still a chance Rutter falls through. We've seen it before and this is Leeds :-)

[Cjay]

Ounahi is an odd one given Victor Orta said during the World Cup that buying players off the back of tournaments is a bad idea.

His club career is a bit meh, but he was brilliant at the World Cup.

Bit more creative than Roca and Adams but do we need a more defensive player?

[Chilli D]

Paddy shouldn't be anywhere near the bench tonight, he's hardly kicked a ball in 18 months.
He needs to build up his fitness levels in U23 games first.

[VinnysTattoo]

Am I assuming that the sudden spending spree is a result of the 49ers throwing in their cash?

[lufc1304]

Ounahi did look good during the WC, but I'm always wary of buying on the back of tournament performances. Brolin or Roque Jnr anyone?

This is an aspect of Marsch I don't like, too quick to deflect issues onto the players, he needs to take some responsibility himself.

Would be good to see Paddy back, offers something our other strikers don't, but it is a risk and personally I'd be giving him 15 minutes at the end and no more.

[Scoobychief]

id be very happy with Ounahi signing i really hope they can pull this one out

[Ratscoot]

Morning EB et all,

As Clitheroe White said, Orta made a big thing about not buying players on the back of International Tournaments, especially when their club form prior to the tournament wasn't all that, yet here we are doing exactly that.

So Yank Fwank feels that the players are suffering from "confidence, belief and commitment" issues, isn't that his job to make them believe they can run through walls etc... or is it because they also don't believe in his tactics and are now starting to realise that all his posturing, inspirational speeches/quotes and "mind games" are just hot air, wind and inspirational quotes that he's googled that morning.

Bambis on the way back great news, we've got a new striker signing (fingers crossed) great news, Rodrigo is still scoring goals great news but this is Leeds what could possibly go wrong

[Tighthead]

Not very happy with Marsch keep dropping snippets about the players, its one of the quickest ways to lose the dressing room. Not sure a good World Cup equates to spending a load of dosh on Ounahi, we have been there before.

Best way to back for PB is through the reserves gradually, the bloke hasn't kicked a ball for months.

[White Riot]

Well we do need some more competition in midfield. The fact that Forshaw is still getting minutes speaks volumes to how threadbare we are in that department.

Hopefully we can get this Moroccan lad and he can provide competition for Adams and Roca, as those two are guaranteed their spots every week. We should be aiming for competition for all the first team places as this keeps players on their toes.

In terms of captaincy I would leave it with Cooper for the rest of this season, but see how Wober settles in, as I thought he showed a lot of determination and leadership on Sunday and helped us to turn the match. I'd be in favour of giving him the captaincy if he settles in well. But it's also worth considering that every man and his dog will be sniffing round Tyler Adams, so maybe giving him the captaincy will help to bond him to us.

But if Jesse gets booted, and that will be dependent on upcoming results, then I fully expect Adams will be off to different pastures. He certainly ain't gonna hang around a club that's setting it's sights on finishing 17th each season, and that will apply for a number of other first team players.

Bamford for me is a write off, I don't even consider him now. If we can somehow manage to get him fit, and that's a big if, and get him a few minutes, let's see if Victor can palm him off on some very naive mugs, like RB Leipzig did with JKA

I'm happy with the signing of Wober, and feel he can bring some real strength and physicality to our spine. Rutter looks a really special talent, and a massive goal threat, so it will be amazing if we get him in. Rutter, Gnonto, Sinisterra and Summerville could provide us explosive and dynamic forward play for many years to come. The problem will be that we're at the top table now and it'll be a massive task to keep hold of them.

I'm praying for rich owners to come in and give us the finances we need to compete properly at this level.

[1964white]

I'm sorry everybody, but our players have to take responsibility, especially the experienced ones, too many of them commit simple schoolboy errors which you can't blame any coach on the sidelines. Marsch must be tearing his hair out just as much as our fans are, humiliating some of them may make them think about eradicating the errors of their ways.

Meslier & Rodrigo have improved under Jesse, there is always a mistake from Rasmas, Coops, Koch, Pascal, Roca, Jack & Forshaw, time for them to follow the lead of our 19yo kid Gnonto who plays the game with his heart on his sleeve, still full of running after 90 minutes.

Time to play the game forward & not take the simple option sideways & backwards that generally leads to mistakes when pressed. If some of our players continue to make these stupid errors, it's time for them to go, imo!

[Tighthead]

I'm sorry everybody, but our players have to take responsibility, especially the experienced ones, too many of them commit simple schoolboy errors which you can't blame any coach on the sidelines. Marsch must be tearing his hair out just as much as our fans are, humiliating some of them may make them think about eradicating the errors of their ways.

Meslier & Rodrigo have improved under Jesse, there is always a mistake from Rasmas, Coops, Koch, Pascal, Roca, Jack & Forshaw, time for them to follow the lead of our 19yo kid Gnonto who plays the game with his heart on his sleeve, still full of running after 90 minutes.

Time to play the game forward & not take the simple option sideways & backwards that generally leads to mistakes when pressed. If some of our players continue to make these stupid errors, it's time for them to go, imo!

[Tighthead]

You missed out Llorente on you list.

[Irish Ian]

Marsch paving his way for an exit with his dribble.

The Moroccon dude noone has been tracking... had a WC ( home conditions too which helped him no doubt ) his value jumps from 1M to 15M and we reportedly want to almost double that.

Two Qs. Where is the money coming from and why are we giving it away so readily?

Marsch will have spent more than Bielsa in one year than in four.

[Irish Ian]

I'm sorry everybody, but our players have to take responsibility, especially the experienced ones, too many of them commit simple schoolboy errors which you can't blame any coach on the sidelines. Marsch must be tearing his hair out just as much as our fans are, humiliating some of them may make them think about eradicating the errors of their ways.

Meslier & Rodrigo have improved under Jesse, there is always a mistake from Rasmas, Coops, Koch, Pascal, Roca, Jack & Forshaw, time for them to follow the lead of our 19yo kid Gnonto who plays the game with his heart on his sleeve, still full of running after 90 minutes.

Time to play the game forward & not take the simple option sideways & backwards that generally leads to mistakes when pressed. If some of our players continue to make these stupid errors, it's time for them to go, imo!

Gnonto runs at people Leon. It is great, and easy crowd pleaser. Thing is our strategy is awful and that is on the gaffer.
Our CBs get exposed every game and get made to look silly by Marschball (if such a concept exists)

Play the game forward... hoofball.

[Chilli D]

I'm sorry everybody, but our players have to take responsibility, especially the experienced ones, too many of them commit simple schoolboy errors which you can't blame any coach on the sidelines. Marsch must be tearing his hair out just as much as our fans are, humiliating some of them may make them think about eradicating the errors of their ways.

Come on now 64, you know that Aaronson's attempted pass to Roca which led to a West Ham goal was all Marsch's fault. We have no width

[thatchapcarnell]

So if we signed this Ounahi chap we're really in a good but tricky place to fit in all our attacking talent...

In Marsch's preferred 4-2-3-1 formation:

Meslier

Rasmus/Drameh
Cooper/Wober
Koch/Llorente
Firpo/Struijk

Adams/Forshaw
Roca

Harrison/Gnoto
Ounahi/Aaronson
Sinisterra/Summerville

Rutter/Rodrigo/Bamford


That's six players playing in attacking midfield roles battling for three places. A lovely dilemma to have but will be a struggle to keep them all happy.

[BGwhite]

Paddy shouldn't be anywhere near the bench tonight, he's hardly kicked a ball in 18 months.
He needs to build up his fitness levels in U23 games first.

Absolutely chilli. It's bloody ludicrous putting him on the bench before he's played reserve games.

Sent from my moto g(9) plus using Tapatalk

[The Subhuman]

Rutter is a 10 for me, not a striker and Ounahi would be an 8... a direct replacement for Klich, his competition would be Roca if he was allowed to play his natural position

[White Riot]

I'm sorry everybody, but our players have to take responsibility, especially the experienced ones, too many of them commit simple schoolboy errors which you can't blame any coach on the sidelines. Marsch must be tearing his hair out just as much as our fans are, humiliating some of them may make them think about eradicating the errors of their ways.

Meslier & Rodrigo have improved under Jesse, there is always a mistake from Rasmas, Coops, Koch, Pascal, Roca, Jack & Forshaw, time for them to follow the lead of our 19yo kid Gnonto who plays the game with his heart on his sleeve, still full of running after 90 minutes.

Time to play the game forward & not take the simple option sideways & backwards that generally leads to mistakes when pressed. If some of our players continue to make these stupid errors, it's time for them to go, imo!

Hear! Hear!

Unfortunately though Leon, regardless of what the players do on the pitch, or in the physio room , they're guaranteed their wages and contracts. Whereas, if they fail and we don't get results there's only one fella that'll get the finger pointed at him and swiftly ushered out the same door as his predecessor.