Leeds Utd v Preston North End Match Thread

[whiteswan]

Sounds weird, but it almost feels like a win.....I was so disheartened with the first half performance I saw us losing that.

[The Subhuman]

We'd have lost that last season ..

[rab_rant]

You would take a point from any team in the top six and be glad of it.
Poor first half but Akioski had two great hits in the second half and it looked
like all the pressure would pay off. Nice strike by Dallas and a deflected goal
Can't complain with that. Preston were dead on their feet and had to make
their three subs in the last 10 minutes.

WBA draws with Barnsley who are near the bottom of the league, Fulham
draw with Luton who are again near the bottom, The only team on a roll
in the top six is Brentford... still 8 points clear from the chasing pack.

Nketiah played well when he came on and changed the dynamic of the game.
But it was obvious that Preston were into fouling our players in an attempt to
take the sting out of the game. Crowd were in top form and even when Bamford
went off they were chanting his name. Great support... that's what we need.

[SG90]

A draw fair result. Even then, we still probably should have won. Alioski blazing over and heading straight at the keeper. Still if we don't win, it's important to take points off our rivals and change the momentum at the end of the game. Preston best team we've faced so far this season, but I still feel we gifted it to them too much today with sloppy passing and the goal came from Klich over running the ball. Results went our way again, but time for us to get back to winning ways.

Sky going on about the goal getting luck, but what about Preston getting luck off the post? It's works both ways.

[SG90]

It doesn't feel like a win, but we've taken 2 points off a rival, so that is more important.

[BGwhite]

2 pts gained from 2 games in the last few minutes against Preston but it could easily have been 0 for us and 6 for them instead of 2. That is why it is very important that you don't lose to your rivals if you can't beat them.

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[Chilli D]

A little bit in shock by than performance to be honest.
What a missed opportunity to widen the gap but no team is going to just roll over and give us the points, we have to earn it.
In the end no major harm done thanks to other results.
The second half pressure was enough to justify a draw.
Alioski very unlucky with the shot off the post.

[John in Louisiana]

Massive difference between a draw and a loss.

So at least we got that.

PNE showed, however, that, without Pablo in the lineup, the same sort of high pressure tactics we make work against others will work against us. They took it a little farther, though, and fouled constantly in order to break up any rhythm we might develop. Without Pablo's ability to play his way out of pressure we struggled to build any flow.

If this is what we can expect for the next four weeks, it's a very good thing the cushion is eight and not six.

[jindy30]

What a god awful display. Bielsa kept it the same at the interval which surprised me, as it was so bad. We managed a late equaliser which is not enough to cover over the cracks. Physical weak, slow and nervous, way too much like last season! We need an alternative system as teams know how to beat us, especially when Hernandez is not available. What have we to lose as today it looked like we were playing with no formation/shape aswell, with alot of players like for like.

Also how about bringing Bamford on as the sub instead of Eddie, so we have more pacey options at the beginning of the game. We were so slow to start playing in the first 20 minutes we never got going. Dallas and Klich were in another universe in the first half.

[60sUnited]

I think we get too much hype... The top 6 to 8 teams are more or less as good as each other in different ways so obviously the games can go either way, but we seem to believe we are alot better and shouldn't concede points, 2 points out of 9 is the reality ! I still think we will be involved at the end of the season but not necessarily in the automatic places.

[SG90]

We really need a replacement for Pablo in January. NO excuses!

[BGwhite]

Dallas and Ali are not midfielders, this is why we look disjointed, the old square pegs in round holes, they can play in 11 different positions but they are s**** in 10 of them. Bielsas choice and he's just about clinging on with his philosophy but it's only a matter of time before they fall off the cliff imo. Only 22 left

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[Cjay]

Dare i say the players looked more like they have in the past?

Dallas totally ineffective but lots of endeavour.

Ayling lots of energy but technically poor and worrying.

Coops was error prone and iffy all game, more like the player who most of us wanted sold 18 months ago.

Phillips (tin hat on) but when pressed he isnt comfortable, easy to do well under no pressure but when pressed not so good, teams will press in the Prem a lot more then here. Still dont think his position play is prem quality, sorry.

[The Subhuman]

Casilla - 6 - Not his best game, distribution a bit suspect and maybe got caught on his line for their goal.
Ayling - 4 - A shocker in terms of passing even if he did supply the assist. His usual over the bar shooting and some really poor crossing.
White - 8 - Cool calm and collected, just did his job
Cooper - 4 - Shocker, pushed off the ball like a rag doll twice leading to good chances, some rank passing out and not great captaining
Alioski - 7.5 - Bit of a curates egg, got "involved" a litle too much, missed an open goal but kept going and kept getting into good positions in the box
Phillips - 5.5 - off the pace today, booked, mis timed tackles, caught out of position and his long range passing missing. Didn't protect the defence very well untill the last 20 or so
Klich - 7 - Not at his best but was basically our captain today, stepping up to motivate the troops and acted the enforcer well
Dallas - 7 - Mostly because he scored, he played ok, though got caught in defence a couple of times, but he's not a creative mid and we need a creative mid
Costa - 8 - By their nature wingers drop out of games and that was the case today but we had some moments of magic not least the ball for Alio he should have scored from.
Harrison - 4/8 - Two scores for two halves. Stank the place up first half, was unlucky not to have 2/3 assists second half. The average would be 6 but that wouldn't be a fair reflection
Bamford - 3.5 - No comment

Nketiah - 8 - Lively and dangerous, his pace scared their tiring defenders and they sat deeper. Took on defenders, some tantalizing crosses and always seemed to be creating havoc. They looked a lot less assured when he was on..Saw him defend too and hold the ball up so no idea where the theory he can't do that comes from.

[SG90]

I think KP has been terrible since coming back from his ban. (Hides from 64).

[BGwhite]

Dare i say the players looked more like they have in the past?

Dallas totally ineffective but lots of endeavour.

Ayling lots of energy but technically poor and worrying.

Coops was error prone and iffy all game, more like the player who most of us wanted sold 18 months ago.

Phillips (tin hat on) but when pressed he isnt comfortable, easy to do well under no pressure but when pressed not so good, teams will press in the Prem a lot more then here. Still dont think his position play is prem quality, sorry.

No need for sorry, I'm with you. This team do not convince me at all, the rest of this league are just spoilers when it comes to playing us but PL teams will batter us - apart from the bottom couple who we might stand a chance against.

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[SG90]

We're definitely the happier ones tonight. If we lost, we'd have to see Preston celebrating and hearing how we're falling apart while the dressing room is flat. Now Preston are the ones feeling flat and that could give us some momentum in the right way.

[Norm]

I almost presaged this in my comments after the Cardiff game but I got slammed for it, not in a bad way but enough that I stfu.
Glad we got the point and wished it had been 3 but we're only picking up scraps atm.

The Cardiff game shocked the players and we've been lucky to get 2 points from our last 3 games.
I don't know if our team is nervous or something but it sure sounds like it - hopefully Dallas' goal will be seen as a real positive and we come out with a better performance in our next game against Brum. We.ve got a hard few games to play including West Brom away, then Sheffield Wednesday at home, with a difficult FA Cup game against Arsenal in between.

I know the busy Xmas/New Year period is the same for all teams, but we just seem a bit lost without Pablo. We definitely need someone to step up to the plate until he is fit enough to return. Klich and Costa can be better and I'm hoping Marcelo uses them accordingly.

[Cjay]

No need for sorry, I'm with you. This team do not convince me at all, the rest of this league are just spoilers when it comes to playing us but PL teams will batter us - apart from the bottom couple who we might stand a chance against.

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No substitute for natural talent and with players like Coops, Dallas and Ayling we have to remember that imo, they have played EFL football all their careers for a reason.

MB coaches players to make them better but if the talent isn't their it has limits.

KP has time to grow and learn (if the talent is their) but the older players will always be what they are now, inconsistent and limited.

Dallas, Kp, Coops and Ayling were our 4 lowest pass accuracy players incidentally, Kiko was better

[WhiteRose]

We need better in central midfield Dallas playing there today shows our lack of decent options, klich,forshaw,shack and Robert's are not good enough we need someone powerful and good on the ball who can drive at defenses and put fear in to them a bit like saiz did in his prime - where we find one I dont know but wba managed to find one.