We need to bring in free agents now

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should we get a free agent in now

Poll ended at Fri Oct 11, 2024 9:35 am

no
5
24%
yes
16
76%
 
Total votes: 21

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Irish Ian
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Re: We need to bring in free agents now

Post by Irish Ian »

1964white wrote: Thu Oct 10, 2024 12:02 pm Scores goals from corners & set-pieces too.


We will soon knock that out of him Leon :roll:
'
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Re: We need to bring in free agents now

Post by 1964white »

Irish Ian wrote: Sat Oct 12, 2024 8:13 am We will soon knock that out of him Leon :roll:
Would be very Leedsy, Ian.
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Re: We need to bring in free agents now

Post by Cjay »

One of the waccoe itk lot (the reliable ones) has said and i quote

Kouyaté will not be signing
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Re: We need to bring in free agents now

Post by 1964white »

Cjay wrote: Sun Oct 13, 2024 12:43 am One of the waccoe itk lot (the reliable ones) has said and i quote

Kouyaté will not be signing
Maybe he's not fit enough, or they can't agree contract terms.
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Re: We need to bring in free agents now

Post by Cjay »

1964white wrote: Sun Oct 13, 2024 7:38 am Maybe he's not fit enough, or they can't agree contract terms.
Must be something like that.

Would be poor though to have nobody in before Friday and have to rely on Tanaka and Aaronson who both have long haul flights mid week and probably won't be able to train till atleast Thursday morning.
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Re: We need to bring in free agents now

Post by PhoenixUnited »

Cjay wrote: Sun Oct 13, 2024 12:52 pm Must be something like that.

Would be poor though to have nobody in before Friday and have to rely on Tanaka and Aaronson who both have long haul flights mid week and probably won't be able to train till at least Thursday morning.
This issue is not about just the match this coming Friday is it but about having a bit of resilience between now and January and that with another fortnight out for yet another International break in November.

What is needed in a free agent is match fitness and readiness and up to speed with team tactics and the ability to settle in with team mates extraordinarily quickly plus be a player to Daniel Farke's liking.

There isn't any such player available "off the shelf" as it were. Cheikhou Kouyate has been spotted around Thorp Arch apparently but is that as some kind of insurance against further injury problems I wonder. If we recruit him can't see him being thrown into the team for the game this coming Friday. This is the proverbial "Hail Mary" and success seems more than unlikely to me.

Even if we do find just one such player, patience would be a key necessity and I'm afraid that there are many fans very short on that commodity and before you know it January will be here!
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Re: We need to bring in free agents now

Post by 1964white »

As a club, we don't do normal things like bringing in a 34yo footballer from a PL club.

A progressive club like Brighton makes these type of signings, such as Danny Welbeck & James Milner, both performing well for the Seagulls.

As for the Leeds United's transfer market, it's generally sluggish & complex signing new players.
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Re: We need to bring in free agents now

Post by 1964white »

Seems like we are considering other options now.

Yet another waiting period, very Leedsy.
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Re: We need to bring in free agents now

Post by The Subhuman »

We don't do well in the Jan window, to start with you have to over pay for quality, we'll likely drag our heels as usual, as we did in the summer which was not a good window for us.

I've a feeling we're likely to be using this small squad of players to get through a 50 game season with fingers firmly crossed. We do have a good first team, as good as anything in division if not the best but leagues are usually won using depth. We ran out of steam last season with a more complete squad. An injury to Rodon or Struijk would be a disaster right now.
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Re: We need to bring in free agents now

Post by 1964white »

The Subhuman wrote: Mon Oct 14, 2024 10:21 am We don't do well in the Jan window, to start with you have to over pay for quality, we'll likely drag our heels as usual, as we did in the summer which was not a good window for us.

I've a feeling we're likely to be using this small squad of players to get through a 50 game season with fingers firmly crossed. We do have a good first team, as good as anything in division if not the best but leagues are usually won using depth. We ran out of steam last season with a more complete squad. An injury to Rodon or Struijk would be a disaster right now.
The internationals & fatigue ruin us.

Mainly full appearances

Leeds - 9 players made 40+ appearances
54 Ampadu
52 Gray
51 Rodon
51 Rutter
50 Meslier
49 Summerville

Southampton - the only 6 that made 40+ appearances
47 Armstrong
46 Walker-Peters
45 Harwood-Bellis
44 Bednarek
41 Bazuni
40 Smallbone

Ipswich - 7 players made 40+ appearances
47 Hladky
47 Chaplin
44 Davis
44 Morsy
42 Woolfenden
40 Burgess

Leicester - 10 players made 40+ appearances
49 Dewsbury-Hall
48 Winks
48 Mavididi
44 Hermansen
42 Vesterguard
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Re: We need to bring in free agents now

Post by andrewjohnsmith »

1964white wrote: Mon Oct 14, 2024 12:30 pm The internationals & fatigue ruin us.

Mainly full appearances

Leeds - 9 players made 40+ appearances
54 Ampadu
52 Gray
51 Rodon
51 Rutter
50 Meslier
49 Summerville

Southampton - the only 6 that made 40+ appearances
47 Armstrong
46 Walker-Peters
45 Harwood-Bellis
44 Bednarek
41 Bazuni
40 Smallbone

Ipswich - 7 players made 40+ appearances
47 Hladky
47 Chaplin
44 Davis
44 Morsy
42 Woolfenden
40 Burgess

Leicester - 10 players made 40+ appearances
49 Dewsbury-Hall
48 Winks
48 Mavididi
44 Hermansen
42 Vesterguard
I'm curious about those appearance numbers and how many were international appearances.

It could also be that Farke depended too heavily on too few players. Most of us felt - wrongly or rightly - that he didn't rotate enough.
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Re: We need to bring in free agents now

Post by 1964white »

andrewjohnsmith wrote: Mon Oct 14, 2024 3:06 pm I'm curious about those appearance numbers and how many were international appearances.

It could also be that Farke depended too heavily on too few players. Most of us felt - wrongly or rightly - that he didn't rotate enough.
All the players I mentioned were mainly starters & were rarely subs.

James (12 sub), Gnonto (17 sub), & Piroe (14 sub) made over 40+ appearances each.

International appearances.
5 Rodon
5 Ampadu
4 James
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1964white
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Re: We need to bring in free agents now

Post by 1964white »

andrewjohnsmith wrote: Mon Oct 14, 2024 3:06 pm I'm curious about those appearance numbers and how many were international appearances.

It could also be that Farke depended too heavily on too few players. Most of us felt - wrongly or rightly - that he didn't rotate enough.
Mainly because our subs were weaker than the other clubs.

When we have a fully fit squad, we have a stronger bench this season.

Losing Ampadu, Gruev, James, Soloman & Wober for long periods decimates our bench.
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Re: We need to bring in free agents now

Post by The Subhuman »

1964white wrote: Mon Oct 14, 2024 4:54 pm Mainly because our subs were weaker than the other clubs.

When we have a fully fit squad, we have a stronger bench this season.

Losing Ampadu, Gruev, James, Soloman & Wober for long periods decimates our bench.
That's a matter of opinion and the most we can say is Farke didn't use them. Cresswell and Joseph were quality, Anthony is a starter this season for a rival, we know Roberts is good and should have had much more game time. Byram, Darlow, Piroe, (assuming Paddy was the 9 if fit) James made for a very strong bench last season

Second half of the season our best 11 was

Meslier
Roberts
Firpo
Gruev
Rodon
Ampadu
Gnonto
Gray
Bamford
Geo
Summerville

So the bench should have been

Darlow
Byram
Cresswell
Kamara
Shackleton
Anthony
Piroe
Joseph
James


That's a much stronger bench than this seasons and there's a downgrade in several areas in the starting 11 too
....

It may all work out fine as it might be we don't need as strong a team and depth as it looks a weaker league with more contenders likely to take points off each other.. Perm and 6 from 8 for the two auto's and 4 playoffs?
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Re: We need to bring in free agents now

Post by andrewjohnsmith »

The Subhuman wrote: Mon Oct 14, 2024 6:19 pm That's a matter of opinion and the most we can say is Farke didn't use them. Cresswell and Joseph were quality, Anthony is a starter this season for a rival, we know Roberts is good and should have had much more game time. Byram, Darlow, Piroe, (assuming Paddy was the 9 if fit) James made for a very strong bench last season

Second half of the season our best 11 was

Meslier
Roberts
Firpo
Gruev
Rodon
Ampadu
Gnonto
Gray
Bamford
Geo
Summerville

So the bench should have been

Darlow
Byram
Cresswell
Kamara
Shackleton
Anthony
Piroe
Joseph
James


That's a much stronger bench than this seasons and there's a downgrade in several areas in the starting 11 too
....

It may all work out fine as it might be we don't need as strong a team and depth as it looks a weaker league with more contenders likely to take points off each other.. Perm and 6 from 8 for the two auto's and 4 playoffs?
I would make the same point:

Anthony (as you say) is starting for a rival
Roberts - same
Gelhardt - was a starter for a top team 2 years ago
Cresswell - performed really well for Millwall
Shackleton - Played frequently for Millwall
Poveda - did really well for Wendies
Drameh - played really well at championship level
Hjelde - established champiosnhip player

Those are just the players that Farke didn't use. I'm not saying those players would have lit up our first 11. Just saying they could have all played more minutes last season. All proved they're good enough for the championship. But Farke couldn't make much use of them. As a result, we had fatigue among our best players.
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Re: We need to bring in free agents now

Post by The Subhuman »

andrewjohnsmith wrote: Mon Oct 14, 2024 7:03 pm I would make the same point:

Anthony (as you say) is starting for a rival
Roberts - same
Gelhardt - was a starter for a top team 2 years ago
Cresswell - performed really well for Millwall
Shackleton - Played frequently for Millwall
Poveda - did really well for Wendies
Drameh - played really well at championship level
Hjelde - established champiosnhip player

Those are just the players that Farke didn't use. I'm not saying those players would have lit up our first 11. Just saying they could have all played more minutes last season. All proved they're good enough for the championship. But Farke couldn't make much use of them. As a result, we had fatigue among our best players.
Sunderland used Gelhardt to lead the line, they were a decent team then and even if Joffy didn't threaten the stat sheet he was an important player for them. Some players just aren't stat sheet stuffers but bring a great deal to a team. He's trying way to hard atm, needs to relax and play his normal game but then he only gets 5 minutes.

Gyabi is another that could and maybe should have been depth for us last season. Not match day squad but in case of injury useable. This season he'd be the 5th or 6th name on the reserve sheet
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Re: We need to bring in free agents now

Post by Jammy 07 »

Roberts got skinned late on to cost Wales 2 points against Iceland and he's been dropped tonight.
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Re: We need to bring in free agents now

Post by 1964white »

The Subhuman wrote: Mon Oct 14, 2024 6:19 pm That's a matter of opinion and the most we can say is Farke didn't use them. Cresswell and Joseph were quality, Anthony is a starter this season for a rival, we know Roberts is good and should have had much more game time. Byram, Darlow, Piroe, (assuming Paddy was the 9 if fit) James made for a very strong bench last season

Second half of the season our best 11 was

Meslier
Roberts
Firpo
Gruev
Rodon
Ampadu
Gnonto
Gray
Bamford
Geo
Summerville

So the bench should have been

Darlow
Byram
Cresswell
Kamara
Shackleton
Anthony
Piroe
Joseph
James


That's a much stronger bench than this seasons and there's a downgrade in several areas in the starting 11 too
....

It may all work out fine as it might be we don't need as strong a team and depth as it looks a weaker league with more contenders likely to take points off each other.. Perm and 6 from 8 for the two auto's and 4 playoffs?
Our play generally became worse when we used those subs.

There is a reason why several coaches didn't fancy Cresswell.

Shackleton is a trier at best.

Still unconvinced about Anthony, even if Burnley are rate him. Summerville, James & Gnonto were far more effective & productive. I suspect Ramazani will be more useful to us than Anthony ever was!

Piroe struggled off the bench last season....Joel is a revelation this season.

Joseph wasn't used so much, because Piroe started well in the first three months of his career at Leeds & Bamford had a rich vein of form from January to March. Also, Farke obviously felt Joseph wasn't quite ready to be thrown in the deep end.

Byram did well when he was called upon.

James was the only effective attacking player off the bench, an exceptional starter too
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Re: We need to bring in free agents now

Post by The Subhuman »

1964white wrote: Mon Oct 14, 2024 8:22 pm Our play generally became worse when we used those subs.

There is a reason why several coaches didn't fancy Cresswell.

Shackleton is a trier at best.

Still unconvinced about Anthony, even if Burnley are rate him. Summerville, James & Gnonto were far more effective & productive. I suspect Ramazani will be more useful to us than Anthony ever was!

Piroe struggled off the bench last season....Joel is a revelation this season.

Joseph wasn't used so much, because Piroe started well in the first three months of his career at Leeds & Bamford had a rich vein of form from January to March. Also, Farke obviously felt Joseph wasn't quite ready to be thrown in the deep end.

Byram did well when he was called upon.

James was the only effective attacking player off the bench, an exceptional starter too
Down to Farke's idiotic chaos football, lots of subs often too late and out of position
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Re: We need to bring in free agents now

Post by Cjay »

1964white wrote: Mon Oct 14, 2024 8:22 pm Our play generally became worse when we used those subs.

There is a reason why several coaches didn't fancy Cresswell.

Shackleton is a trier at best.

Still unconvinced about Anthony, even if Burnley are rate him. Summerville, James & Gnonto were far more effective & productive. I suspect Ramazani will be more useful to us than Anthony ever was!

Piroe struggled off the bench last season....Joel is a revelation this season.

Joseph wasn't used so much, because Piroe started well in the first three months of his career at Leeds & Bamford had a vein of form from January to March. Also, Farke obviously felt Joseph wasn't quite ready to be thrown in the deep end.

Byram did well when he was called upon.

James was the only effective attacking player off the bench, an exceptional starter too
Marcus Harness spent most of his career league 1 and below being a pretty average player hence never progressing, now on loan at Derby.

Jack Taylor best season 10 goals in league 1 next best 9 in national league, similar to Harness basically a league 1 ceiling.

Kayden Jackson 30 year old striker only had 3 double figure seasons in his career in conference, league 1 and 2

Freddie Ladapo playing in league 1 31 year old lower league journeyman.

Those were the players Kieran Mckenna was having to bring off the bench, most used subs.

Our most used subs.

Jaidon Anthony starting winger for 1 promotion winning team and currently for the 2nd placed team.

Mateo Joseph who all of a sudden is good enough for a starting role.

Gnonto again the star now.

Piroe another proven Championship player

Dan James and Conor Roberts were our next used subs.

We were bringing on proven Championship players (whether people rate them or not).

Full internationals in many cases.

Mckenna was using journeyman, all well into the 20s some pushing 30 who hadn't even had spectacular League 1 careers.

Yet Ipswich were the best team in the league statistically at using the bench.

Farke also made the latest subs in the league statistically and his ability to make a team worse from the bench is almost an art form.

Blame the players all of whom are proven at thus level or blame the manager who coincidentally Borussia Mönchengladbach fans said was absolutely useless at influencing the game from the bench.

What good is a squad of 25 to 30 players if the first 12 to 13 players in the squad get regular playing time, while squad player 14 (in the ranking) is only good enough for the last 5 minutes or less? Farke has to take credit for that, amazingly inept at using his squad. 

Mönchengladbach fans.

Our bench last season was stacked for a Championship side, it was the manager whose appalling use of it managed to convince some fans players who'd been genuinely top class Championship players in the past were useless

Bielsa was bringing on Tyler Roberts ffs, he had every right to use the squad excuse.

Farke didn't.

Apologise for the rant but so sick of the squad excuse, the only fans last season who didn't rate our squad was our own :lol:
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