Leeds v Bradford

[Jason123]

Get it silky but what we are forgetting is that

AOB, Snods, Paddy, Parker are not fit, they did not play much in pre season and have being thrown in now... Gonna be a long season

[becchio bear]

Nunez, Sam and Clayton for me were our best players tonight with Howson not far behind. As for the poster saying McCormack is better than Becchio pfffft no chance and for once I was not an armchair supporter I was there

[drsdadsotherson]

Nunez, Sam and Clayton for me were our best players tonight with Howson not far behind. As for the poster saying McCormack is better than Becchio pfffft no chance and for once I was not an armchair supporter I was there

I agree. Ross is a player with more pace and flair, Becchio is a target man and hold-up player. They are both good at what they do, it just needs to be remembered that what they do amounts to totally different roles.

[Emsley]

I think AOB is carrying a bad knock that flairs up.
I honestly think he is crocked.

[Silky]

Get it silky but what we are forgetting is that

AOB, Snods, Paddy, Parker are not fit, they did not play much in pre season and have being thrown in now... Gonna be a long season

Paddy looks perfectly fit to me, and Snoddy will hopefully come back from his START with Scotland ready and raring to go...

What you need in defense is composure... the #1 thing i yell to my team, playing at cente half, is 'EASY OPTION' 'KEEP POSSESSION' 'DONT PUSH THE PASS' which is what O'Brien and Paul Connolly seem to be failing at early in the season... O'Dea did it on Saturday too! They're all trying to do too much and getting caught on the ball.... Bromby and Lees seemed to be much calmer, much more relaxed, and quite happy to pass the ball around if there was nothing on in front of them...

I think if he goes with Bromby and Lees on Saturday, and either O'Dea or Parker at LB, along with Paddy... we'll see a much improved defensive performance...

[Dr.Leeds]

Lonergan 6 Showing promise as an all round keeper. Looks composed in the box. Left exposed by his defence again.

Connolly 5 Bizarre Kelly-esque slip up nearly cost us dear. We looked much better when he was replaced.
O'Brien 4 Generally more composed than Southampton but still looks slow and indecisive. Did OK in the air.
Kisnorbo 6 Still far from match sharp but getting there. Pretty dominant in the air but vulnerable to pace.
Parker 5 Also far from match sharp, and understandably so. Still too early to tell whether he will cut it or not.

Sam 6 Some poor decision making and passing in the first half but made more room for himself in the second.
Clayton 8 All over the shop. Getting stuck in well. Some decent passes. MOTM. Looking like a regular starter.
Howson 7 Playing with freedom. Few good surging runs forward but too often chose to pass to Nuñez with Sam in a better position.
Brown 5 Very anonymous first half. Doing one of his jobs well in allowing Howson (in particular) and Clayton to get forward but has yet to show that he is doing his other job in protecting a defence that desperately needs protection.
Nuñez 7 Found himself surrounded with the ball and tried to dribble out of it but a few incisive balls that nearly came off. Can't argue with his goals. Will be a very important impact player for us this season.

McCormack 6 Not a lone striker by any stretch but working hard. Shot from difficult positions when holding the ball would have been better with support arriving. Took his goal well.

Bromby 6 Shored the defence up well.
Lees 7 Not enough time to do a lot but looked solid, composed and confident. Lovely cross for McCormack's goal. Connolly has reason to worry.
Taylor Not on long enough to rate.

Overall, a much weakened team won against a team that were well up for it on a night when so many Championship sides failed to go through. Get Gradel and Becchio back in the mix and I reckon we need only strengthening at LB and CB (unless OB sorts his form out and stays fit...)

[theleedsmango]

The midfield options with Clayton, Howson and Brown looks really good. Clayton literally was everywhere to the point I thought it was a different player from afar, until they zoomed in or mentioned his name. Howson, as usual, gave his all and seems to be a really consistently good player.

I think a Kisnorbo and Lees/Bromby pairing might be better than a Kisnorbo/O'Brien pairing. Kisnorbo has the heading, great play stopping abilities and knows where to be. O'Brien doesn't match these or bring much more to the table other than experience. I would introduce someone to the defence who has pace to match the opposing teams strikers...using O'Brien as cover to the first team and bringing him on for games where experience is important.

Likewise, I think a McCormack and Becchio pairing would be better than a Paynter and Becchio pairing. Ross hit some powerful efforts from outside the box, but as a target man for Sams crosses, he wasn't good enough. Becchio was better at this and at holding up the ball, McCormack buckled under the pressure a few times instead of calmly searching for the pass. Either way I'm glad that will give him more confidence as evident from his post-goal attitude.

With a selection of Becchio (Somma) and McCormack (Paynter) up front, Snodgrass (Sam) and Gradel (Nunez) on the wing plus Clayton, Brown and Howson in the midfield, that aspect of the pitch looks well. Centre-backs are OK, not great but there is cover. The full backs are the big worry.

Lichaj in, a strong defensive midfielder or a pacy centreback, and a forward on short term loan to cover our injuries and we'll have a squad with plenty of choices.

[Twiggster]

From watching on tv - an we do see the game better than those actually there ...
Lonnie is crap at kicking - would like to see Chubby get a start on saturday.
Collins was ok - two great runs and crosses were not picked up on by our powerful strike force
Kis and O'brien were s**t and so unfit against a 3rd division team? DROP THEM BOTH
Parker...See kis and O'Brien.
Sam - body language says he wasn't up for it. Permanent scowl...did try to create tho
Howson/Clayton/Brown....pathetic over 90 mins, tho they all had some good moments. Commitment please, lads?
Nunez - Expected better of him with the fluffed chances...came good in the 2nd ½ and hopefully got on SG's radar at last.
Ross - AGAIN having to deal with hoofball when defenders were 6ft....took his goal well and happy for him. BRILLIANT play from Lees to set it up!
Lees and Brombs - WAAAY better than Kis and O'B - fitter and sharper in CD.
Taylor got a bench start - not sure if I saw him.

Shyte defending yet again...and TBH - lack of WANTING IT, from all our players.

Shoot me down, but I know what I saw.

[Emsley]

Collins was ok - two great runs and crosses were not picked up on by our powerful strike force

[white.riot]

Offensively we were really good at times. Defensively OB [heavy legged] and Parker [has no idea about marking/positioning] were poor and almost cost us the game. Connolly is not the player he was pre Lihaj.

Nunez is 50% superb and 50% something else - having seen him 4 times now that's a 100% improvement.

Early on in games football is like chess. Don't make mistakes and take your [limited] chances. Nunez fluffed his lines along with OB and Parker. Result - we should be 1 up, we are 1 down. Hello 2010/11 season and 3 to win.

Clayton was good, so too Howson who did not go missing at any time in the game. Tireless worker. 11 Howson's and we win the league so can we end this mindless invisible nonsense. It belongs on waccoe.

Lonergan could have done better for goal 2 but he looks at least the equal of Kasper. Ross found confidence and has good feet. Sam was fine if a little short on confidence.

As a team we are small and lightweight. Ball on the ground essential. Hoof pointless and never part of tonight's game plan.

Cracking cup tie for me and a pleasing result.

Crowd let the lads down tonight. Bates out from 1.5 minutes doesn't help whatever your views on Bates might be. And racist chanting is neanderthal. We are surely better than that.

[Twiggster]

Damn - meant CONNO....! Posted whilst doing summat else - Multi tasking was never my strong point...

[Toby]

Loving the sig Twiggs !

[Twiggster]

Loving the sig Twiggs !

I designed it - you made it happen! CHEERS! :thup:

[Toby]

I designed it - you made it happen! CHEERS! :thup:

We're like the new Ant & Dec aint we!

[Twiggster]

We're like the new Ant & Dec aint we!

Yes dear....





:mrgreen:

[HarryofOz]

Clayton played well and Sam had a good second half. A pretty poor first half overall but a much better second and once we scored our second it looked like we were always going to win.

Defensively still poor as a team - not just the defenders. Grayson needs to sought it out.

Nunez looked lively, wasted some good chances but its good that he is at least getting in position often enough.

We mixed up some good slick passing movements with some poor passing.

But we won which is the main thing and showed that, yet again, that we come overcome the hurdle of going behind.

[Twiggster]

Derby, dipsticks and hull all LOST at home to crap opposition? We WON!!! GET IN!

[Crude]

Always love the match reports and varied opinions despite all watching the same game. Being at work and only listening to the match, I can't offer much in the way of player ratings. But here are some others...

VLR - 6.5 - not many people as there usually is. Banter was okay, but deffo below the usual high standards. I think once we get the back room staff up to speed and some quality transfers, things will improve.
Thom Kirwin - 2 - Getting married on a Leeds United match day?!?! Look for a divorce within the year.
Eddie Gray - 7 - Solid as usual, yes that Eddie Gray.
UStream - 4 - Ads getting on my nerves, 'eff off Bing
VLR Radio - 9 - Superb, as is the consistent standard of excellence by Anna.
Postmatch callers - 5 - Usual assorted rubbish, with Eddie doing his best not to tell the callers to 'eff off and actually pay attention to the match before calling. No Janice, hence today's 5 rating.

[1964white]

Same old same old - 3 to win, nothing has changed, exciting stuff all the same !

If we play as we did in the first half v Boro' & Hull we will find ourselves 2 or 3 down by half-time, 3 points lost & rooted at the bottom of the league

The one major plus this season is young Adam Clayton who was outstanding, he was all over the park, i love the way he looks to play the ball quickly into forward postions. I highlighted this lad in pre-season games & he has progressed significantly whilst on loan with The Posh, a definite starter in the first eleven

What's all this negativity with Howson ? the only player that runs at defences with any purpose

Brown Are you Kilkenny in disguise neat & tidy with sideways & backward passes but didn't impose himself on the game'

McCormack has a quality touch & has a strikers mentality shooting from all angles. Why did our keeper & Defenders hoof the ball to Ross when he was never going to win the ball in the air braindead tactics !
We looked so much better in the second half when we played the ball to feet, football as it should be played

As for our defence, Parker & O'Brien were the culprits for two of the goals conceded, Connolly was very poor !

Lees looks a good young prospect, both Lees & Bromby steadied the ship when introduced shake up at the back required v Boro'

The ironic cheers for OB when subbed/racial chants were not clever

Lonergan - 6
Connolly - 3
O'Brien - 1
Kisnorbo - 6
Parker - 4

Youv'e had three seasons to sort out defence Bates/Larry, my patience is wearing very thin. What the hell have you been doing all summer ? certainly not working hard behind the scenes Sort it out with some quality irons in the fire !
If not we could be heading to League One again & we won't have a Jermaine Beckford next time to get us up

Sam - 6
Brown - 5
Clayton - 9
Nunez - 7

Howson - 7

McCormack - 7

Subs

Bromby - 7
Lees -7

[The Subhuman]

Overall, a much weakened team won against a team that were well up for it on a night when so many Championship sides failed to go through. Get Gradel and Becchio back in the mix and I reckon we need only strengthening at LB and CB (unless OB sorts his form out and stays fit...)

A forward player is necessary too, and we still look a little light in the middle of the park if we're gonna play 451