Leeds United v Leicester City Match Thread - Rodrigo and Raphinha out, Shack, Cooper and Pablo in!

[onemoreslogan]

I do worry about Coops, i dont think he is cut out for this level, lack of pace is an issue and i think with respect in time he will be more of a backup for Llorente.

Llorente is moot for the moment as he has yet to play a minute. We don't know what we have there or how he fits.

I thought Cooper played quite well considering the conditions, the opponent, and that he was just back from injury. He made some nice long passes on the night.

Koch had a rough outing but considering his track record so far I'm more than willing to write it off.

[Metro1962]

Not a great game last night and a worse result and and but a bad day at the office.

Ayling dive/cheating hmmm the ref gave him the benefit of the doubt on that,Ayling even said sorry to his opponent which was quite funny but he did look embarrassed by it, there has been quite a lot of dive/cheating going on (examples being Salah and Kane over the weekend )

Is it just me or were the weather conditions on the pitch really that bad that we could not pass the ball correctly?

The season so far has been a strange one (who would have thought that both Liverpool and Man U would get a hiding from teams you would not expect to get one from Villa n Spurs ) and I expect it to get even stranger.

This is our biggest defeat so far this season and expect Bielsa will give the team a big kick up the backside and bounce back (we always do ) so do not be too disheartened and keep the faith.

[mothbanquet]

I think we need to upgrade in terms of Cooper - I think he's going to be found out in the PL.

I agree, I just didn't see much he personally did wrong in that game. A bit slow maybe but so were most of them. Sad truth is until we're the best team in the world, every player is by definition upgradeable and we should always be looking to improve.

[andrewjohnsmith]

Performance wasn't that bad. We struggled against Leicester camping out at the back and their pace up front. For the most part, we were decent and the stats reflected that. I read the game on updates as I was working and watched it finally last night. So my comment reflect the feedback compared to what I saw in the game.

Bamford got too much stick. He could have scored 1 or 2 but his misses were not howlers. The first header, he was in no position to get any kind of power on the ball. The Ayling pass, he should have hit first time with his right instead of trying to control it. But I dot think his misses were as bad as thyre being made out.

Could have been a whole different game had Pablo's wonder effort been 2 inches lower.

Meslier's performance was descriebd as shaky. His only mistakes were in 2 wayward distributions. If he looked nervey, he got kicked in the back of the head in an early challenge with Vardy, then in the face by the ball during the 2nd goal. He did make one fantastic left handed save.

Poveda got several plaudits. Ive been a big fan of his since I saw him at the end of last season. But after Monday I'm starting to see a trend of lots of trickery but not much end product.

Shackleton got a lot of stick which I thought was unjustified. I thought he did OK. My only complaint is that when things arent happening for him he needs to learn to carve out opportunities and find the ball rather than the ball finding him

Koch's stick was generally justified. 99% of the game he was perfect. But the back pass for the first goal was awful and shortly after that he badly misjudged and overran a header from a long ball.

The injuries are hurting us a little right now. 4 big names were out. Phillips was badly missed as he would have filled some of those defensive gaps on the break. I think Bielsa made the right call as Strujik would probably have struggled. But KP, Rodrigo, Raphinha, Llorente, Forshaw is a little too much for a newly promoted team to handle.

I get a little frustrated with Bielsa's rigidity in selection. After Rodrigo and Raphinha went down he just added more defenders to the bench, Surely he could have added Gelhardt instead. Might have been better for the last 10 minutes than substituting a left back for a left back.

[Smudge3920]

Performance wasn't that bad.

Best synopsis yet of a frustrating game, by someone who has named names, nice post Andrew. No calling for heads or need to replace anyone, just the facts...And the fact was it was a bad game , by team and dare I say it... Bielsa decision(s)... That is why I focus on what did not work on the day and what IMO needs to be worked on... To easy to call for heads and then expect the owner to fork out millions on one game.

I will rephrase something I said ... 12th place... 6 points between 12th and 1st... absolutely no need to panic based on one game.

[andrewjohnsmith]

Best synopsis yet of a frustrating game, by someone who has named names, nice post Andrew. No calling for heads or need to replace anyone, just the facts...And the fact was it was a bad game , by team and dare I say it... Bielsa decision(s)... That is why I focus on what did not work on the day and what IMO needs to be worked on... To easy to call for heads and then expect the owner to fork out millions on one game.

I will rephrase something I said ... 12th place... 6 points between 12th and 1st... absolutely no need to panic based on one game.

No problem blaming Koch for the first goal. But he did have a strong game overall

My assessment of Poveda may be unpopular but he has to start producing a little more end game

But overall, think there was too much harsh criticism thrown around. We were not that bad and with a bit of luck could have won the game

[Lumiukko]

Great analysis Andrew. I've finally managed to watch the rest of the game and with the time to think more rationally agree with much of your sentiment. This was the perfect game to bring in Gelhardt to the bench since we were so depleted and by the time we were 3-1 down, give him a run out and who knows? I'm sure Bielsa has sound reasoning of his decisions but this was one where I think he tripped up a little. Onward to Palace where I am sure Bielsa will have the lads fired up. London not the best hunting grounds for us but records are there to be broken etc.

[andrewjohnsmith]

Great analysis Andrew. I've finally managed to watch the rest of the game and with the time to think more rationally agree with much of your sentiment. This was the perfect game to bring in Gelhardt to the bench since we were so depleted and by the time we were 3-1 down, give him a run out and who knows? I'm sure Bielsa has sound reasoning of his decisions but this was one where I think he tripped up a little. Onward to Palace where I am sure Bielsa will have the lads fired up. London not the best hunting grounds for us but records are there to be broken etc.

Most managers would obviously have put Gelhardt on the bench for an extra attacking option. Under what scenario would Davis, Casey, Strujik have got on the pitch? It does speak of Bielsa's loyalty to his squad. But, would definitely have been nice to have seen Gelhardt available for the last 10.

[Lumiukko]

Most managers would obviously have put Gelhardt on the bench for an extra attacking option. Under what scenario would Davis, Casey, Strujik have got on the pitch? It does speak of Bielsa's loyalty to his squad. But, would definitely have been nice to have seen Gelhardt available for the last 10.

Quite. You only have to look at history of when young talent breaks through; Owen, Smith, Rooney, Rashford, Kane, Mason Greenwood; It's near always only when a managers hand is forced via injury that they get league debuts.