The #LUFC Breakfast Debate (Tuesday 17th February) Late goals a real problem for Leeds

[Ellandback1]

How many goals has Pascal scored this season.....???

He got an assist against manure

[ruttermania]

I'm not sure which 3 you are referring to as the only one that I can see as having been definitively dropped is Perri. One of the things that we have got to realise is that for a successful season in the Premiership you need squad depth which can only be achieved over a period of time . When players get injured you hope that the replacement will on a like for like basis not weaken your first team but as we have see this year some players find it hard to get up to the required standard and the team is weakened . However some players ( e.g. Struijk , Gruev , Aaronson) who were not expected to do so get up to speed and are then hard to displace when an injured player gets back. That does not undermine the recruitment teams assessment but rather justifies their decision to retain the bulk of last years squad.

[Ellandback1]

I read stat saying that we have dropped 17 points by letting in goals in or beyond the 90th minute. Even if we had dropped only half that number we would be comfortably placed in the top half of the division.

The only thing we would need to change is to be a bit more savvy. Break up the play, waste time, roll around on the floor, kidnap the referee, keep possession. It doesn't take a new squad of players - they just need to be a bit more street smart.

[Carrick Dave]

He got an assist against manure

See you've got the big spoon out today Elland...

[Irish Ian]

I repeat that the rush to dismiss Buananotte after one poor performance in an underperforming team is a nonsense but it won't stop the groupthink. On our recruitment team the evidence is there that on a points gained to money spent ratio since the 49ers took over that they have been very successful and focused

Well said.

I think sometimes folk look for things to worry about. You cant write off a player so easily.
Plus the recruitment team have produced a united, performing squad which can be built on in the long term.

[The Subhuman]

Well said.

I think sometimes folk look for things to worry about. You cant write off a player so easily.
Plus the recruitment team have produced a united, performing squad which can be built on in the long term.

So you're saying that Buonanotte will be an intergral first team player in the next 10 games?

[Irish Ian]

So you're saying that Buonanotte will be an intergral first team player in the next 10 games?

No.

He was signed as cover. So circumstances will dictate his minutes.

[Carrick Dave]

So you're saying that Buonanotte will be an intergral first team player in the next 10 games?

As I posted yesterday, who's to say that Farke/Underwood didn't bring Buonanotte in knowing that he wouldn't be able to contribute at the minute, so they could assess him ahead of a low-ball permanent offer in the summer?

[The Subhuman]

No.

He was signed as cover. So circumstances will dictate his minutes.

Was he? Cover for who?

[Irish Ian]

Was he? Cover for who?

Its not a who its a where.

Essentially the right side of the midfield

[ruttermania]

He's clearly still some way off full match fitness because of the lack of minutes due to an ill considered/ill advised move to Chelsea so the opportunity against Birmingham may have come a bit too soon . As he is clearly a player who was highly rated and we have demonstrated an ability to resucissitate flailing careers I would still have some optimism that he will have a contribution to make at some stage over the next few months . It also gives us an opportunity to have a closer look at him over a period to assess whether we should maintain an interest in him for the future or write that off on a considered basis.

[The Subhuman]

Its not a who its a where.

Essentially the right side of the midfield

Well we're not short of those, Gnonto, James, Aaronson, Nmecha, maybe Okafor...

[ruttermania]

It was very clear that one of the misses of the summer transfer window was a No.10 / Right sided player who would provide some creative spark like if one was setting a high bar the role that Pablo played for Bielsa in his first two seasons . Buananotte was identified as one of the possible candidates and was missed out on due to the Brighton/ Chelsea axis . Aaronson was given time and has grown into a similar type role which with the formation change has meant that it wasn't as big a miss as first feared . As the chance came to secure the player with the advantage that the cost for half a season was much less than originally budgeted for it would seem to have been a risk worth taking despite his lack of minutes at Chelsea . Given that Farke has shown a level of tactical flexibility which has come as a surprise to many of our fans it makes complete sense to have a player available who offers a different skillset which enables other options. As I believe the 3-5-2 system had already been used in training prior to the City game I believe there is a good chance that other systems which fit Buananotte better will be being worked on . The problem for him which is a bonus for the club is that various squad members who have got the chance through injury etc. have stepped up to the plate in the last couple of months which has made it harder for those trying to get an opportunity including those coming back from injury.

[CHAPELALLMAN]

Just a quick question - Is there any part of Leeds United that you do like ?

Born in Leeds actually, and still have a close relative living there, so I visit the city often. Have golden memories of being a child during the Revie years. Have followed the ups and downs ever since. Of course, you don't have to have grown up in Leeds to be a LUFC supporter - the more the merrier - but I do sometimes get irked by one or two who have never been near the city in their lives very likely, yet imply that I am in some way disloyal or " not a real Leeds supporter. " Such a cheek, and such arrogance !

I'm just not a rose tinted specs kind of supporter. Some were like that when we were losing matches 7-0 under Bielsa.

You would think that we've been in the top 3 in the PL since it began in 1993 listening to some, rather than having been relegated a few short years after getting to two European semis, going into administration soon after that and then being relegated to League One.

And then the messiah Bielsa arrived and it's all wonderful again in the first season back in the PL - except it wasn't, and we got relegated again soon after. Turns out that the Messiah was a very naughty boy when he stubbornly failed to listen to critics of his man marking system, the over training of players etc, and got us battered in matches against clubs that we have a long history of rivalry against. It was humiliating for long standing fans.

I guess I'm a weather beaten Leeds United fan, which kind of makes me a realist. So you'll never find me amongst the happy clappy camp. I've followed the club for too long to fall into that trap.

I presume you thought that the previous regime got everything right, given that the 49s had some say in what went on ?

Oh, and I've already stated a couple of times on here that I rate Farke as already the 5th best Leeds manager of all time, after Revie, Wilko, O'Leary and Armfield.....

[The Subhuman]

For me since the initial relegation we've had 6 "eras" You could label them as you would a book series

The Bates Corruption
The GFH Disaster
The Cellino Chaos
The Rads/Orta Rebirth
The Rads/Orta/Niners Mess
The Niners Progression

[Ellandback1]

Rads/Orta - looking back on it, thank goodness they're gone. In his own words, he was trying to copy the Leicester City blueprint.

[Irish Ian]

Well we're not short of those, Gnonto, James, Aaronson, Nmecha, maybe Okafor...

And now we have another, plus he can play centrally behind the striker.

[Irish Ian]

Rads/Orta - looking back on it, thank goodness they're gone. In his own words, he was trying to copy the Leicester City blueprint.

They won the League, the cup, had European nights.

The death of their chairman and the effect of covid 19 on their retail business were top hammer blows.

But they have young fans with memories, not that bad.


We are still banging on about Wilko and Alan Clarke haha

[ruttermania]

It was only the initial relegation if you ignore the several others in the club's history. It seems to me that Revie , Wilko , Bielsa and DF share the achievement of taking a sleeping giant and shaking off years of underachievement to secure promotion to the top English league but that both Revie and Wilko were able to build on that achievement albeit in a different era when the gap between divisions wasn't as great . I think the conviction and single mindedness that enabled Bielsa to achieve promotion perhaps blinded him a bit to the gap that had to be bridged. Orta was the worst possible sporting director in a situation where the success of the 'Covid season' covered up some of the gaps in the squad . DF having learnt the lessons of the Norwich fiascos is better placed to manage the pragmatic approach that will sustain a couple of seasons of 'squad building' and so far I am reasonably optimistic that there is a plan in place which will enable that to take place and I don't think that is relying on rose tinted spectacles .

[weasel]

Hopefully, Buonanotte just needs time as Leeds are starting to look tired at times. I'm amazed we didn't bring a second loanee in...

So we bring a second loanee in but who's to say the second loanee gives us more than Buanonotte is doing? We could have 2 players on the fringes of our squad, maybe sometimes not even making the bench, maybe then getting fed-up, no loyalty to the club so why should they put the effort in if they don't think they will play. Don't think that is healthy in a united squad.