Sunderland v Leeds Utd Match Thread

[The Subhuman]

You are kiddin'

I've just explained the poor defending in my above post, we were slack at the back for both goals.

As were they for ours. Any goal you can sit and say so and so should have done better. And it's Championship defending anyway, we're not paying 50M for defenders and paying prem league salaries anymore

[1964white]

I honestly don't think there's any excuse. Goalies train with balls coming from all sorts if directions at them and quickly. He should have done better imo.

Folks are making excuses for him on here. Meslier is a calamity waiting to happen.

His new name is Calamity Jane, for me. As I posted earlier, he should have made a better effort for the penalty at Norwich instead of being stood rigid with a soft taken spot-kick a foot away from the middle of the goalposts.

[1964white]

As were they for ours. Any goal you can sit and say so and so should have done better. And it's Championship defending anyway, we're not paying 50M for defenders and paying prem league salaries anymore

We spent some money on our defence, you can't have defenders stood ball-watching, looking gormless at each other wondering why the ball ended up in the net.

FFS we don't have to defend that often with our possession rate, but at times our defending from open play is right out of the school playground.

[Musicman1965]

I reckon it best imo to focus on how we dealt with Sunderland over the 90 minutes and although they did have spells that tested our defence I think we coped quite well. We really took the game to them and scored two good goals. We got a point at the stadium of light but all 3 should have been in the bag for us. Meslier made a crucial mistake and I hope he learns something from all of this. Another point to the tally and we move onto the next game...

[1964white]

I reckon it best imo to focus on how we dealt with Sunderland over the 90 minutes and although they did have spells that tested our defence I think we coped quite well. We really took the game to them and scored two good goals. We got a point at the stadium of light but all 3 should have been in the bag for us. Meslier made a crucial mistake and I hope he learns something from all of this. Another point to the tally and we move onto the next game...

We did take the game to them & deserved the three points, that's why I'm so annoyed, we chucked away another two points due to isolated moments.

That's the third time in eight games we've made costly errors. We need to rid our sloppy play.

[Musicman1965]

We did take the game to them & deserved the three points, that's why I'm so annoyed, we chucked away another two points due to isolated moments.

That's the third time in eight games we've made costly errors. We need to rid our sloppy play.

Yes I agree, and lets not forget that some players are on good money per week and need to put in the performances.. I am annoyed as well especially with a certain french goalkeeper but its not going to change a thing. The best we can hope for is the manager fixes the sloppy play on the training field and the next game gives us a more solid display.

[1964white]

Should we pretend we won?

[andrewjohnsmith]

Agree and why is the first reaction to drop him, strip him of his co-captaincy, make him walk the plank, etc? Not trying to be overly touchy-feely but where's the empathy or at least the consideration that something else could have been at play? In CJays post-game write up DF said "Struijk said he never seen anything like this. He said the ball bounced in a different direction. I cannot tell you if it did, but this is what Pascal said." Surely that means the ball bounced oddly and went off in a strange direction at the last second--as painful as they are to watch, the replays seem to show this. If that was the case, does that squelch the anger at all? Everyone f*cks it from time to time. Surely that can apply to this situation. He'll need support to not get head-f*cked over this, not the angry mob mentality. Let's all collectively breathe and cut the kid some slack.

Strujik and Meslier are best mates too. Might be sticking up for him a bit. We never got a direct camera angle on it. From the best angle it didn't look to do much. But maybe Strujik is telling the truth. Maybe we'l get some iPhone footage eventually from behind the goal.

[andrewjohnsmith]

Love messlier

He will feel crap

Got to support him. He will be even more committed to ensure we succeed now.

Purposely short post ( still in shock).

I love Meslier too. My criticism for him was in no way a reflection of any prejudice. Great young keeper. Great reflexes. I've defended him all the way up until last week. But like any professional in team sports, he has to judged on performance. I think he had a bad week when you consider the penalty against Norwich too. He did make a cracking save before Sunderland scored their first.

[Jaydog]

Should we pretend we won?

I actually thought the 1st goal conceded was abysmal tbh. I mean we castigate Meslier (quite rightly) but 3 or 4 grown men cant stop a cross apparently and then a few others cant clear it. Maybe if people do their jobs then the Meslier calamity is null and void

[andrewjohnsmith]

I guess being clobbered by Struijk's knee didn't help. I felt he should've been subbed off then, but I guess Farke has no confidence in Darlow. It feels like a defeat, another game we should've won, we've gifted to the opposition. Makes the blunts game a must win now, as we can't keep gifting points to sides at the top.

We won't even get a rest, as half the squad are away on international duty. Even players like Crew are getting call ups now, it's a joke. There should be a maximum number of call ups a Championship side can have. Not sure Firpo, Aaronson or Tanaka will even be available for the blunts, given they'll be on the other side of the world in midweek.

Both Rodon and Bogle are a booking away from a suspension now too.

You can't limit the number of players going on international duty. But you make a good point.

Would be useful to implement something like they have in the lower leagues. They still have fixtures during the international break because their players generally won't be on international duty. But if too many players are called up, they can postpone the fixture.

In our case, we should be able to request a delay on that Friday kick off. No way we should have the number of players we do going out on international duty and having to play the game on Friday.

[andrewjohnsmith]

I honestly don't think there's any excuse. Goalies train with balls coming from all sorts if directions at them and quickly. He should have done better imo.

And I really don't see much deviation in that video

[andrewjohnsmith]

Nonsense. He keeps a lot of clean sheets, as we don't give away too many chances. But how many times do teams score with their first shot on target?

He only ranked 19th in the championship in save percentage last season

https://fbref.com/en/comps/10/2023-2024 ... 2nd%20Tier

[andrewjohnsmith]

We spent some money on our defence, you can't have defenders stood ball-watching, looking gormless at each other wondering why the ball ended up in the net.

FFS we don't have to defend that often with our possession rate, but at times our defending from open play is right out of the school playground.

Can offer a bit of defence for the defence

We invested in Bogle and Firpo who are better going forward than they are at defending. That's countered by Farke's formation. He has Ampadu or Gruev that will always drop into a central back 3. With both those out we don't have a midfielder capable of dropping in.

In a way, it's a case of the personnel being ideal for the system at the start of the season. But that system isn't good for the personnel we have now. Maybe needs a rethink in how we set up. Or more defensive drills for our ful backs and whoever replaces Ampadu.

[Jaydog]

And I really don't see much deviation in that video

You dont need much if your body is already going the other way. Still very poor goalkeeping mind you

[1964white]

Can offer a bit of defence for the defence

We invested in Bogle and Firpo who are better going forward than they are at defending. That's countered by Farke's formation. He has Ampadu or Gruev that will always drop into a central back 3. With both those out we don't have a midfielder capable of dropping in.

In a way, it's a case of the personnel being ideal for the system at the start of the season. But that system isn't good for the personnel we have now. Maybe needs a rethink in how we set up. Or more defensive drills for our ful backs and whoever replaces Ampadu.

Far too many errors from our defenders, especially Bogle.

10 from Bogle
5 from Firpo

[1964white]

Didn't realise watching the game live how many poor errors we made as a collective team.

128 good pieces of play.

60 errors.

[AcrossThePondAsh]

You dont need much if your body is already going the other way. Still very poor goalkeeping mind you

Seems too like the issue may have been even before the weird spin/no spin. A bad initial read and Mes seemed to leave himself too close to the bounce to react correctly but to far back to catch it before the bounce.

[1964white]

Firpo our best wing-back

Rodon easily our best centre-back.

Rothwell our most efficient central midfielder.

Gnonto our MOTM.

Good display from Piroe playing up top.

[1964white]

Aaronson should have sealed the game for us in the 93rd minute, a truly woeful shot.

Brenden seems to rush things at times, needs to show more composure.