Leeds Utd v Swansea City Match Thread

[1964white]

Excellent/Very Good/Good pieces of play

30 Rothwell
23 Rodon
19 Struijk
17 James
17 Piroe
13 Bogle
12 Byram
11 Aaronson

Most errors

13 Rodon
12 James
12 Bogle
11 Soloman
11 Aaronson
09 Piroe
07 Ampadu

Least errors from our starting XI

02 Rothwell
02 Meslier
04 Struijk
06 Byram

[Jammy 07]

Then we make mistakes and throw the game away. Joseph and Ramazani guilty of mistakes at the end, giving the ball away. I put that down to Farke allowing them to get rusty, not giving them game time. In Joseph's case, he needs to develop the experience of closing out matches like this. And I blame Farke for not developing him as a player. And if Farke thinks he's not ready to spot Piroe for the occasional start, that he doesn't trust him for the occasional start then why did he say he was happy with no signings in January?

Think maybe we need to go back to Joseph's U9's coach for the reason he couldn't control the ball rather than Farke. Let's be honest the basics don't really fall under an elite's coach's remit and so that's 100% down to the player.

[Jaydog]

It's noon in London. According to Farke's recent excuse book, we can't win that game.

And the clocks have just gone forward. Unbelievable

[Jaydog]

Excellent/Very Good/Good pieces of play

30 Rothwell
23 Rodon
19 Struijk
17 James
17 Piroe
13 Bogle
12 Byram
11 Aaronson

Most errors

13 Rodon
12 James
12 Bogle
11 Soloman
11 Aaronson
09 Piroe
07 Ampadu

Least errors from our starting XI

02 Rothwell
02 Meslier
04 Struijk
06 Byram

I think we know the most significant errors.
Oooh my gloves are not velcro. Sacre bleu. Merde.

[1964white]

Passes - Rothwell (12)

Runs/dribbles - James (12)

Defensive headers - Struijk (6)

Good defending - Struijk (4)

Interceptions - Rothwell (4)

Saves - Meslier (3)

Crosses - James (2)

Defensive clearances - Rodon (2)

Tackles - Rodon (2)

Shots saved - Piroe (2)

Goals - Aaronson (1) Gnonto (1)

Excellent crucial moments

Penalty save - Meslier

Cross leading to our first goal - Bogle

Important defensive header - Rodon

Header saved - Struijk

Corner kick for Struijk's header - Rothwell

Corner kick that led to our 2nd goal - Rothwell

Two delightful passes - Rothwell

Two shots, one saved, one just past the far post - James

Goal 1 - Aaronson

Delightful cross for Piroe's shot saved - Aaronson

Shots saved x 2 - Piroe

Goal 2 - Gnonto

[1964white]

Then we make mistakes and throw the game away. Joseph and Ramazani guilty of mistakes at the end, giving the ball away. I put that down to Farke allowing them to get rusty, not giving them game time. In Joseph's case, he needs to develop the experience of closing out matches like this. And I blame Farke for not developing him as a player. And if Farke thinks he's not ready to spot Piroe for the occasional start, that he doesn't trust him for the occasional start then why did he say he was happy with no signings in January?

Joseph's touch & hold-up play has always been poor, not great in the air too.

[1964white]

My conclusion was that the lads absolutely gave their all and at the end of the day that's all we can ask. If ultimately it proves we're not good enough for automatic promotion then we get behind the manager and all the players to give the play offs one hell of a go.

However with 7 games to go and currently occupying 2nd place there's absolutely no need to panic. Plenty of us have said all along that this season could go to the final game and if we end up going down to Plymouth needing 3 points on the final day then the lads will have the perfect opportunity to prove all the doubters wrong.

Surely we require a victory at Luton to get us back on track.

[1964white]

Have been an avid supporter since the early 70's so I've seen plenty of times when we've not been able to get the job done. However there have also been some memorable successes as well so let's hope this season turns out to be one of those.

One thing for sure is that fans adding to the pressure won't be any help whatsoever but hey the players and manager will just have to deal with that as it goes with the territory.

I've endured more disappointments than you, Jammy, although I did see us win in the 60s....

Division 2 (1963/64)
League Cup (1967/68)
Inter Cities Fairs Cup (1967/68)
Division 1 (1968/69) - we only lost two games (away) in that title winning season.

[1964white]

Surely our managers substitutions had the desired effect and we regained the lead at 2-1 because of them ?

Also if we'd had one more substitute available I'm sure Gruev or Big Josh would have been brought on to try and see it through but you can't fault Farke for making all the changes as we needed a goal which Gnonto duly scored.

Of course he did, almost perfect timing for Gnonto to come on & score in the 87 minute.

Yes,with one more sub, Gruev would have been on had we not been chasing the game.

[1964white]

They could have been tight with their finances and put Joffy ahead of Joseph. I think he's a better player. They sent the wrong player out on loan.

Me too, Andrew.

Joffy has played at Premier League level.

[1964white]

We don't know, he hasn't played since October. Joffy should have stayed, massive error from Farke, one of many. He's a better footballer than Aaronson. Still think Joseph is the better striker, Joffy MOTM for Hull yesterday but he played left wing, he's played left, right and AMF for Hull this season so far

For some strange reason, Farke also played Joffy on the wing.

[Jammy 07]

Surely we require a victory at Luton to get us back on track.

We most certainly do.

The next two games will now go a long way to determining where we end up this season and whilst not exactly last chance saloon we definitely need a win and soon.

[Lufc76Cor]

He was moaning about not having the squad together because of the international break


Then gives them 2 days off. . . . . .

A couple of weeks ago he was moaning about players suffering from fatigue after a midweek game and 3 days later picks the same starting eleven, you have the squad to counteract that and do nothing about it then the you are creating the problem

[Cjay]

A couple of weeks ago he was moaning about players suffering from fatigue after a midweek game and 3 days later picks the same starting eleven, you have the squad to counteract that and do nothing about it then the you are creating the problem

He contradicts himself quite a lot does Danny.

[Tom the Cat]

Would you say he one of the worst we've brought through the Academy?

Anyone with half a brain would have thrown the ball up the touch line away from goal, certainly not in field.

[JoeDenver]

We get left in the dark

I'd imagine Tanaka and Firpo were given a game off
Gnonto came off with an ankle injury the previuos week, probably why he wasn't risked outside of desperation
With Gnonto sidelined, no cover for James who has to start despite the fact he needs a rest
Solomon could have played for Aaronson, with Byram starting it was always unlikely he's have a good game on the left
Rama is more of a natural left wing, not perfect but would allow Byram to play the inverted role
Gruev should have started with Tanaka in midfield. A natural DMF who's an excellent tackler and a natural centre mid who is creative around the box.

All good ideas, Sub. Would be nice to have a manager willing to try some of them out. Even now, I’d prefer to try new ideas and personnel. I mean, playoffs appear to be assured at this point so why not perform some squad rotation and position rotation in the interim? Gets certain players match sharpness, some a needed breather, and the bonus of giving opposing teams something else to think about. I’d rather us start experimenting with new ideas than keep proceeding down a well known path with a guaranteed “unhappy ending.”

Unlikely, but one can dream.

[Cjay]

He opted to start Byram, Aaronson, Rothwell, Amapdu over Tanaka, Firpo, and Gnonto presumably because they'd been around Thorp Arch for the full international break. And all those players are better than Swansea. The international break is no excuse whatsoever.

We apparently had 1 more international player starting than Sheffield United did.

Didn't impact them much.

[Jaydog]

I know people on here get a bit annoyed if money is mentioned but fatigue. Really. Oh dear money has messed up their little brains.
“Hey Jaydog heres 50k for next week but dont forget you have to run around a lot”.
“I’d like to accept but I dont like getting a likkle tired”.

[Tom the Cat]

I've endured more disappointments than you, Jammy, although I did see us win in the 60s....

Division 2 (1963/64)
League Cup (1967/68)
Inter Cities Fairs Cup (1967/68)
Division 1 (1968/69) - we only lost two games (away) in that title winning season.

I was there also - those were the days !!

[1964white]

We apparently had 1 more international player starting than Sheffield United did.

Didn't impact them much.

Where did that information come from?

One of the Blunts YouTubers mentioned they only had four on duty.

Two of them were Welsh, Davies (GK) & Moore, both on the bench & didn't feature at all.

You need to get your context correct, Cjay.