Luton Town v Leeds Utd Match Thread

[1964white]

Tattoo's galore

Have to say I'm not a fan

[The Subhuman]

So watching the highlights on Quest and a clearer picture

Not a foul by Phillips on Brown.
Bamford still profligate
It was an own goal
Stunning ball from White for Bamford who's finish was excellent but it's a one in 20 occurrence
Stunning ball from Berra to Bamford who hit the crossbar.
Phillips confirmed as the best player on the park over 90, almost perfect game for me outside of the late FK, Berra best player on the park first 45
Berra not at fault for the goal at all, hardly beaten for pace. Just clever footwork from a very good footballer

[The Subhuman]

Tattoo's galore

Have to say I'm not a fan



Screenshot 2019-11-24 at 12.15.38.png

Neither am I and they're going to look naff when they get to their 60's and 70's

[1964white]

Neither am I and they're going to look naff when they get to their 60's and 70's

And I need to retain my young looks

[BGwhite]

this result for me papers over the cracks a bit -yes we are now 3 points clear of third and its a great result but we're having the same problems every single game right now - putting the ball in the back of the net. If it's not bamford or klich missing the chances, then its the opportunity being ruined by a bad pass etc. Promotion really does depend at this stage on whether we can scrape together enough goals to win enough games because there will be plenty (judging on this performance) where we aren't able to score enough goals to win games.

2 strikers(?) and 2 cb for a whole season is senseless...now I'm beginning to sound like a broken record. With our history with injuries since Bielsa arrived he should've realised he needed a deeper squad but he's repeated the same as last year because HE prefers it that way, as in - it makes HIS life easier to look after fewer players. This is about LUFC getting promotion but I just can't see Bielsa's philosophy working over 46 games + cup matches. The lack of goals is the main reason why we aren't running away with it but Bielsa can't turn to anyone else as Eddie is out....this is ridiculous for a promotion chasing club.

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[danhirons]

So watching the highlights on Quest and a clearer picture

Not a foul by Phillips on Brown.
Bamford still profligate
It was an own goal
Stunning ball from White for Bamford who's finish was excellent but it's a one in 20 occurrence
Stunning ball from Berra to Bamford who hit the crossbar.
Phillips confirmed as the best player on the park over 90, almost perfect game for me outside of the late FK, Berra best player on the park first 45
Berra not at fault for the goal at all, hardly beaten for pace. Just clever footwork from a very good footballer

Would like to see foul/tackle on brown again in a different angle, definitely looked a foul to me, looks like kp swipes his legs away!

Sorry but Berra being beaten by brown is at fault regardless of whether it was good skill or not. In any event he just flicked the ball past him way too easily for my liking but tbh must happen quite a few times during a game and doesn't lead to a goal. Was a great cross tho

Also their offside goal was definitely not offside, so we were lucky with that

[Norm]

Hopefully this game has broken Bamford's drought and he will score more in the near future.

[1964white]

Hopefully this game has broken Bamford's drought and he will score more in the near future.

Paddy's first goal was an exceptional strike Norm, much more difficult than many of the chances he's missed. Cracking goal from back to front in two passes.

[weasel]

2 strikers(?) and 2 cb for a whole season is senseless...now I'm beginning to sound like a broken record. With our history with injuries since Bielsa arrived he should've realised he needed a deeper squad but he's repeated the same as last year because HE prefers it that way, as in - it makes HIS life easier to look after fewer players. This is about LUFC getting promotion but I just can't see Bielsa's philosophy working over 46 games + cup matches. The lack of goals is the main reason why we aren't running away with it but Bielsa can't turn to anyone else as Eddie is out....this is ridiculous for a promotion chasing club.

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As I have gone into before having a small squad has its benefits, as well as drawbacks if major injuries bite. Too many players leads to unrest and unfit players - then when players get into the team they are woefully short of match fitness. If for example Berardi wasn't able to step in at centreback then he may well spend all season on the bench then suddenly an injury at fullback and he would be in the team but totally ring rusty (the U23s matches are no substitute for real matches). Having a smaller group of players means nearly all of them will get regular minutes, be they starting or as sub, so they will all be match ready. It also means every player feels like they are part of the team which is crucial for team spirit. What you lose by having say Berardi step in at centreback for a couple of games is greatly outweighed by the positive effects for the squad.

However a long term injury to a key player would be a big concern but because of the way the team plays under Bielsa it is far easier for players to switch into another position and look comfortable, maybe sometimes after a match or two to acclimatise, so the only real concern would be an injury to a striker as you can't usually transform another player suddenly into a 20 goal striker, although given Bamford's lack of goals output during his dry spell it could be argued that another player could have slotted in and not done much worse!

[Cjay]

I think a small squad has its benefits as Weasel says above.

But i do agree with those who think 2 cbs isnt enough, and it will cost us, once you play players out of position for any period of time then you will drop points. Case in point are Manchester City, they have had to play Fernandinho at cb recently and it hasnt worked. I cant for the life of me understand MB's refusal to give Struijk a chance, he has even played Davis (a short fb at cb).

I wrote about it somewhere else, the u23 back up thing is a myth, it rarely happens. MB has a group of 18 players and will rotate and shuffle them around until it is impossible to do any more, only then will he use anyone outside of his group of 18.

Personally while i think the small squad is a hindrance long term and i do believe that our injury problems are directly linked to the style and training which increases my belief that a small squad is unsustainable if you want promotion. I think that one of the reasons MB hasnt been as successful as his students is (amongst many things) his insistence in a small squad and a lack of depth.

However, i think that the lack of rotation is a massive issue. You have to rotate, in this league you need to rotate a lot more then MB does.

For example we play again on Tuesday, Pablo has just come back from a long injury layoff and played 95minutes yesterday, should we not protect him to a degree and bench him for Tuesday?

I think its not a bad thing to freshen things up from time to time and MB doesnt do that enough for me.

That being said i thought he got his subs spot on vs Luton. Harrison was having a poor half and Costa came on and created 3 chances and was key in the build up to the goal.

Berardi was struggling and Cooper (still not a huge fan) but is a far more natural cb of course.

And Roberts wasnt providing the creativity in the centre so allowing Pablo to move inside with Clarke coming on was the right thing to do.

[BGwhite]

As I have gone into before having a small squad has its benefits, as well as drawbacks if major injuries bite. Too many players leads to unrest and unfit players - then when players get into the team they are woefully short of match fitness. If for example Berardi wasn't able to step in at centreback then he may well spend all season on the bench then suddenly an injury at fullback and he would be in the team but totally ring rusty (the U23s matches are no substitute for real matches). Having a smaller group of players means nearly all of them will get regular minutes, be they starting or as sub, so they will all be match ready. It also means every player feels like they are part of the team which is crucial for team spirit. What you lose by having say Berardi step in at centreback for a couple of games is greatly outweighed by the positive effects for the squad.

However a long term injury to a key player would be a big concern but because of the way the team plays under Bielsa it is far easier for players to switch into another position and look comfortable, maybe sometimes after a match or two to acclimatise, so the only real concern would be an injury to a striker as you can't usually transform another player suddenly into a 20 goal striker, although given Bamford's lack of goals output during his dry spell it could be argued that another player could have slotted in and not done much worse!

I do understand your point Weasel, I am mainly talking about the striker and defence departments. The pressure on our defenders is immense due to the fact that PB needs many many chances to score 1 goal and not enough goals are scored by our other players to take the pressure off him. I don't think he's a natural finisher or poacher but MB doesn't have any other options right now due to Eddie's injury which I find ludicrous given that Leeds are searching for promotion again and it was a lack of goals that cost us last season.
The cb dept came to the fore again yesterday and MB recognized this by putting Cooper on in place of Berra which surely tells him something or may be it was a case of he didn't want to risk Cooper unless he thought it was urgent which proved to be the case in the end. In many ways that substitution alone says that MB isn't really happy with putting Berra in at cb otherwise why sub him. It's an admission in itself.
I've never believed in using players out of there preferred position/s and I really understand the importance of having versatile players but strikers and cb's are speciality positions and we certainly lack depth in these areas.

[BGwhite]

I think a small squad has its benefits as Weasel says above.

But i do agree with those who think 2 cbs isnt enough, and it will cost us, once you play players out of position for any period of time then you will drop points. Case in point are Manchester City, they have had to play Fernandinho at cb recently and it hasnt worked. I cant for the life of me understand MB's refusal to give Struijk a chance, he has even played Davis (a short fb at cb).

I wrote about it somewhere else, the u23 back up thing is a myth, it rarely happens. MB has a group of 18 players and will rotate and shuffle them around until it is impossible to do any more, only then will he use anyone outside of his group of 18.

Personally while i think the small squad is a hindrance long term and i do believe that our injury problems are directly linked to the style and training which increases my belief that a small squad is unsustainable if you want promotion. I think that one of the reasons MB hasnt been as successful as his students is (amongst many things) his insistence in a small squad and a lack of depth.

However, i think that the lack of rotation is a massive issue. You have to rotate, in this league you need to rotate a lot more then MB does.

For example we play again on Tuesday, Pablo has just come back from a long injury layoff and played 95minutes yesterday, should we not protect him to a degree and bench him for Tuesday?

I think its not a bad thing to freshen things up from time to time and MB doesnt do that enough for me.

That being said i thought he got his subs spot on vs Luton. Harrison was having a poor half and Costa came on and created 3 chances and was key in the build up to the goal.

Berardi was struggling and Cooper (still not a huge fan) but is a far more natural cb of course.

And Roberts wasnt providing the creativity in the centre so allowing Pablo to move inside with Clarke coming on was the right thing to do.

Against Luton I would have left Pablo on the bench until the last 30 when Luton start tiring. I would also do the same against Reading. Costa was starting to show some true form and now probably feels like he's going backwards having lost his place to a returning Pablo. We should not be relying on a near 35 year old to see us through games, Pablo won't be able to do this every week. Where we have 2 in a week Pablo should not be playing the full 90 in both. This week could be pivotol as we have 2 very winnable games while the teams closest to us have very tricky games and points will certainly be dropped by them which gives us a chance to open up a nice little gap so we need a fresh Pablo in both games even if it's just for 45 mins each game.

[The Subhuman]

I would like to see more rotation in our matchday team, rest for some and a chance for others to get game time. I do disagree that Berardi isn't a centre back. The second MB arrived he installed Gaetano as a centre back and attacking mid Kalvin Phillips into a sweeper/dmf. No one is criticizing the latter and Berardi has played at least as well as Coop since MB arrived aas a CB. Indeed Berardi was preferred to Pontus at CB initially.

Can we get this out of position nonsense out of our heads. Alio, Dallas, Pablo, Roberts, Ayling, Berardi and Phillips are all playing or have played out of position over the last two seasons and we've generally been successful with it..

[The Subhuman]

We're actually in transition atm to a pure back 3 imo, I'd normally expect results to be dodgy during this process but we've won 3 on the bounce.

[1964white]

Against Luton I would have left Pablo on the bench until the last 30 when Luton start tiring.

No,no no BG

Pablo has had plenty of time to recover, he looked as fresh as a daisy yesterday pulling the strings all over the park, it's no coincidence we created more chances than in our previous games with Hernandez back in the team.

Believe me that was always going to be a tough game, a packed house in a tight compact stadium the type of ground we rarely perform well at plus we struggle when we play in the south, add to that the Izzy Brown factor a player who was always gonna be up for that game it was important we grabbed a victory.

Pablo gives us something no other attacking player provides us!

[weasel]

We're actually in transition atm to a pure back 3 imo, I'd normally expect results to be dodgy during this process but we've won 3 on the bounce.

It definitely looks like Bielsa is tweaking things towards a back 3 but being able to set it up as a back 4 and then change to a 3 without having to change the actual players. Fluidity of tactics at its finest as it means the team can adapt extremely quickly if tactic A isn't working. The evolution of this team under Bielsa is extraordinary.

[Irish Ian]

Just looking at some figures.

So far this season Leeds have used 17 different players in our 17 games.
WBA have used 18.
Leeds have however used 7 in every game, while WBA have used 3.
Fulham stacks up as follows.19 players, with only 1 having been ever present.

It will be interesting going forward how we cope with the busy xmas period that proved imo, our undoing last time.

[1964white]

Just looking at some figures.

So far this season Leeds have used 17 different players in our 17 games.
WBA have used 18.
Leeds have however used 7 in every game, while WBA have used 3.
Fulham stacks up as follows.19 players, with only 1 having been ever present.

It will be interesting going forward how we cope with the busy xmas period that proved imo, our undoing last time.

You've been doing your homework Ian

[Irish Ian]

You've been doing your homework Ian

Yep.

Only rubbish on the TV.

Though might sit up and watch the England rear guard in NZ.

[HarryofOz]

Four words

Three more away points.