Leeds United v Fulham FC - MATCH THREAD - Cooper & Rodrigo in for Struijk & Hernandez

[mothbanquet]

Hence my reflection and reversal of acquiring a rock solid defenceman. Also Mitrovich used Coops as a ladder on his goal, so the challenge wasn't as good as it could have been....the point I was making was that Coop's and Koch will be fine.

That said, watching their second back repeatedly, Cooper was way too far forward and left that space behind him. It's so hard to tell when they've got either Jarhead haircuts or Shoreditch Samurais.

Still Harrison at fault for the third imo.

[Chilli D]

yeah I know exactly what cross you mean...and it wasnt exactly a great clearance of a punch

I'm not sure about meslier atm..everyone remembers the arsenal game. His distribution was insane..but since then, its been know where near as good. Yes hes an improvement on casilla and hes pretty good with his feet. But I'm not as fully confident as I should be if we had a been there and done it prem keeper.

He also seems to fall in slow motion to low shots lol.

I'm not saying hes not one for the future..just feel atm we need something stronger. Especially with how much space we seem to be giving opposing teams .

Southampton are prepared to let either Fraser Forster or Angus Gunn go out on loan apparently. Just saying.

[gessa]

Southampton are prepared to let either Fraser Forster or Angus Gunn go out on loan apparently. Just saying.

Well we'll need someone, Kiko could be out for a couple of months, so any injury to Meslier and we have 2 18 year olds to choose from.

[gessa]

For what it's worth, the biggest problem for me yesterday was our inability to hold on to the ball, the passing was awful far too often

[mothbanquet]

For what it's worth, the biggest problem for me yesterday was our inability to hold on to the ball, the passing was awful far too often

Agreed, a lot of it not even under much pressure if any. So frustrating when we were 4-1 up and looking to go on to a massive win. Even when the fourth went in I was saying to myself 'remember Cardiff'.

[Chilli D]

Agreed, a lot of it not even under much pressure if any. So frustrating when we were 4-1 up and looking to go on to a massive win. Even when the fourth went in I was saying to myself 'remember Cardiff'.

Yeah, when we went 4-1 up I almost put "game over" on this thread but I remembered Cardiff and thought better of it.
The last 15 minutes seemed to take forever and Paul Merson wasn't helping matters with his oohs and aahs every couple of minutes on GSS.

[mothbanquet]

Yeah, when we went 4-1 up I almost put "game over" on this thread but I remembered Cardiff and thought better of it.
The last 15 minutes seemed to take forever and Paul Merson wasn't helping matters with his oohs and aahs every couple of minutes on GSS.

Yeah I won't be saying game over till we start looking as solid as we did last season. In this league, that's going to take a while. The more I watch that second Fulham goal, the only one we've really conceded so far by being 'outplayed', the more Cooper looks to have switched off. It was his first game back so hardly panic stations, but we're going to have to just accept the fact that for a long while we're going to leak goals at this level.

[1964white]

The issues with this game weren't our CBs. Break down the specifics of each goal and you'll see just that. Maybe Meslier could have done a bit better but the crux of the issue was a) an unusually large gap left between Cooper and Dallas for the Fulham second because Harrison didn't track all the way back, and b) Harrison not getting back in time to stop the cross for their third. You can actually see him arrive too late and waft a leg up to block even though he was six feet away.

It's a well known fact that if you stop Mitrovich's service, you stop Mitrovich. He would've scored that header against most teams in the league, it's his bread and butter. The failure was in stopping the service.

Honestly I was worried that Harrison had picked up some sort of injury not long into the second half. He wasn't moving right all game.

Jack should have been subbed after a non-existent first-half & that 2nd goal, Dallas was struggling at times but with little help from Harrison he was left no mans land.

Even the BT commentary team were saying Fulham have to deliver the ball into the box much better to give Mitrovich a chance, their first decent cross into that area & Mitrovich beats Cooper easily in the air.

No problems from the right with Ayling & Costa doing their job efficiently

I did think we stood off too much when Fulham ran at us with pace!

[1964white]

For what it's worth, the biggest problem for me yesterday was our inability to hold on to the ball, the passing was awful far too often

Particularly from the back, players in the premier league anticipate passes much quicker.

Learning process for our players!

[lufc1304]

Passing off, CH pairing changed again, KP poor (though exposed) by his own standards and Harrison anonymous. Yet we won, and personally thought we outplayed Fulham for most of the game. It is a learning curve for the entire squad, only Pablo and Bamford have actually played in the Prem. It will take a little time, but I've seen enough in both games to think we will be fine. Do agree that we need another keeper. Not necessarily to replace Meslier, but to keep him honest with Kiko hurt. I think his situation is like a heightened version of BPF's, only Meslier is doing his on the job learning in the Prem goldfish bowl. I'd like him to be a bit more dominant in his area, and he's going to have to work on shot stopping low to either side (I think it was faaip said it's tough for very tall keepers to get down quickly), but he's a decent keeper who will only improve with experience.

[Boo Radley]

Yeah I won't be saying game over till we start looking as solid as we did last season. In this league, that's going to take a while. The more I watch that second Fulham goal, the only one we've really conceded so far by being 'outplayed', the more Cooper looks to have switched off. It was his first game back so hardly panic stations, but we're going to have to just accept the fact that for a long while we're going to leak goals at this level.

The second Fulham goal was a real concern for the reason you mentioned mothbanquet. Philips was far too easily rounded, Dallas was caught out of position, Cooper also out of position and I also thought that Meslier should have gotten to the shot. That may be a bit harsh but a fully extended right arm would’ve gotten a touch on that.

At 4-1 up we need to have a policy of securing that score. Let the opposition have that score sink in. Getting caught out so badly all over the defence then is just too naive. We should look to change the tempo and be more cynical. Any team 3 goals down in the second half will either give up(possibly not) or they will get reckless and we can pick them off on the counter - which we can do better than most. If we stay frantic it opens an unlikely door for them. It’s just unnecessary.

[mothbanquet]

The second Fulham goal was a real concern for the reason you mentioned mothbanquet. Philips was far too easily rounded, Dallas was caught out of position, Cooper also out of position and I also thought that Meslier should have gotten to the shot. That may be a bit harsh but a fully extended right arm would’ve gotten a touch on that.

At 4-1 up we need to have a policy of securing that score. Let the opposition have that score sink in. Getting caught out so badly all over the defence then is just too naive. We should look to change the tempo and be more cynical. Any team 3 goals down in the second half will either give up(possibly not) or they will get reckless and we can pick them off on the counter - which we can do better than most. If we stay frantic it opens an unlikely door for them. It’s just unnecessary.

I would be more concerned if it was a regular thing, Boo. We'll see how it goes. I've watched that goal back dozens of times and yes, Cooper left some space but Harrison still didn't pick up their RB - if he had him covered then Dallas could've made up the ground quicker for whatever error Cooper made. At first I thought Dallas lost his man but it was a combination of those two factors and made poor Stu look bad when he was busting a nut to do an impossible task.

I'm going to cut Jack some slack here because we gave away possession so sloppily at times. It's not his fault if he bombs up the pitch after we win it back, only to give it away two seconds later and he's not only got to realise that's happened - but then double back and get to his man. I'm not sure if that was the case for either/both goals since the highlights don't show it but thinking about it, that's only logical.

Ironically, Fulham were playing such a high line in the second half that both our third and fourth came from counters. In the last ten minutes we could've probably nicked another 1 or 2 if it wasn't for some poor quality on the ball in the attacking third, likely caused by nerves at that point.

[WhiteRose]

I might be repeating myself here but shows the annoyance I have with journalists and pundits bringing up this leeds have always had defensive problems under bielsa myth and that the aim is just to outscore the opp and not worry about defence , danny mills at it now. Bielsa will be as concerned as anyone about why the defensive system isn't working as well as it should be, we are two games in, have played liverpool the best attack in the world with 2 novices in central defence and conceeded dubious penalties. People want us to adapt our football to the premiership, well screw that the premier can adapt to us, I know what's more entertaining!

[Boo Radley]

I would be more concerned if it was a regular thing, Boo. We'll see how it goes. I've watched that goal back dozens of times and yes, Cooper left some space but Harrison still didn't pick up their RB - if he had him covered then Dallas could've made up the ground quicker for whatever error Cooper made. At first I thought Dallas lost his man but it was a combination of those two factors and made poor Stu look bad when he was busting a nut to do an impossible task.

I'm going to cut Jack some slack here because we gave away possession so sloppily at times. It's not his fault if he bombs up the pitch after we win it back, only to give it away two seconds later and he's not only got to realise that's happened - but then double back and get to his man. I'm not sure if that was the case for either/both goals since the highlights don't show it but thinking about it, that's only logical.

Ironically, Fulham were playing such a high line in the second half that both our third and fourth came from counters. In the last ten minutes we could've probably nicked another 1 or 2 if it wasn't for some poor quality on the ball in the attacking third, likely caused by nerves at that point.

It does seem harsh to be critical at this stage when it is so obvious that we lost out in not having friendlies and because of the international games disrupting our preparations. We will improve but we do need additions to the squad in defence. Any injuries or suspensions will see more of this trouble later.

[mothbanquet]

It does seem harsh to be critical at this stage when it is so obvious that we lost out in not having friendlies and because of the international games disrupting our preparations. We will improve but we do need additions to the squad in defence. Any injuries or suspensions will see more of this trouble later.

Absolutely. I mean yes, the silly international rubbish has affected most teams in the league but I'm looking at teams who haven't changed managers nor players in their back line since last season (Scum and West Brom off the top of my head) and thinking at least we've got those excuses and know we'll improve. It must be disheartening to see your team do poorly defensively and knowing there's no excuse.

We'll see what's happening with this Gvardiol lad, he seems to be our answer to that question.

[mothbanquet]

I might be repeating myself here but shows the annoyance I have with journalists and pundits bringing up this leeds have always had defensive problems under bielsa myth and that the aim is just to outscore the opp and not worry about defence , danny mills at it now. Bielsa will be as concerned as anyone about why the defensive system isn't working as well as it should be, we are two games in, have played liverpool the best attack in the world with 2 novices in central defence and conceeded dubious penalties. People want us to adapt our football to the premiership, well screw that the premier can adapt to us, I know what's more entertaining!

First season it was 'Bielsa's got to adapt to the Championship'. Second season proved them wrong.

It's going to be the same here. We'll stay up despite conceding a fair few, strengthen next summer and kick on to improve. Mid-lower half this season, possible Europe places next. We've already established a pattern, I can see that and I'm just a stupid git on a forum. Pundits and former professionals are showing themselves to be utterly clueless.

[Denman]

It was always going to take time to bed into this league given the much higher quality levels, and the new acquisitions will also be adjusting to a new league and Bielsa’s tactics. So overall I’m very happy so far.

However that penalty decision against Koch was utterly ridiculous, a point made vehemently by Paul Merson on SS. I don’t care if he went to ground, VAR is supposed to eliminate such errors and how the decision stood I am at a loss to explain. I was incandescent, turned the tv off and took the dog for a long walk. If that’s a sign of things to come I don’t think I’m going to enjoy this season too much.

[andrewjohnsmith]

Southampton are prepared to let either Fraser Forster or Angus Gunn go out on loan apparently. Just saying.

Just heard, that Southampton might be playing a two goalkeeper formation next week

[Carrick Dave]

KP was poor because he was against both Anguissa and Reed. When we play Roberts at 10, we get no help in midfield. That's why we struggled first half until Pablo came on after the restart.

This is my take too. I don’t see the point in playing Roberts at 10 in the PL when he failed to make an impact at 10 in the latter stages in the Championship.

I’d like to see Marcelo give Bogusz a go, he wouldn’t be worse in my opinion and might prove a revelation - or give us another option at worst. All academic if we get de Paul in.

Don’t get me wrong btw, I think there’s a player in Roberts, but not at 10 at this point in his career.

At certain points yesterday I thought we were being outdone by Fulham’s press, it was just not like us though the first half at ER last season was similar I suppose.

The bottom line is that there will be no gimmes this year, we just need to find a way to get points on the board irrespective of how we play individually and collectively and that’s what we did yesterday.

On on on.

[Smudge3920]

One thing I have not seen a comment on yet is the referee Tony Harrington... not been a fan for a loooooooong time of his, however fair is fair, and I think he did a good job yesterday... Thoughts?