Leeds Utd v Burnley Match Thread

[andrewjohnsmith]

Struijk was solid today. He didn't contribute much (barely had any touches), but he didn't make any mistakes, either and was solid along the back. Just what we needed from him.

He looked really comfortable today. Nice change since the Liverpool game when he looked like he was defending a freight train.

[andrewjohnsmith]

Bamford said post match that he wasnt expecting to take the penalty, but Klich came to him and said it was his. Maybe Klich is feeling it a bit, maybe a drop of confidence in his own game right now.

[Carrick Dave]

Struijk is a CB not a DM

I agree - he played at CB for all the junior sides didn’t he, so I wonder why Marcelo wants him to play DM suddenly?

Square pegs, square holes - buy a specialist backup DM if we really need one.

[Mick Jones shoulder]

Think you'll find I called him a slow moving lump with a turning circle of an oil tanker when he played for us..My memory is fine. Happy to see him leave...

No idea what you said about him to be honest, but I was happy with his goals. Certainly more productive than some we have now. Thankfully neither you or I pick the team.

[CHAPELALLMAN]

Regarding Harrison at LB, he is probably the best we have at taking down and controlling long balls. So many chances have been created from the quick transition that gives us.

What makes people think he would be good enough in defence to sacrifice his forward wide play?

I seem to remember that someone on here made a comment after a recent game that he had noticed that when Alioski overlapped Harrison, Harrison either tried to beat his man a second time, or just delayed his pass so that when he did eventually pass he nearly always ended up playing the ball sideways. End result is a LB out of position high up the pitch having wasted energy with his run.

With Harrison as a left winger and Alioski as a LB I think we end up with the worst of both worlds - Alioski is not great defensively, and Harrison is a winger with little end product. Harrison on the other hand can defend better. Alioski is being played out of position and being asked to do a job which he is not great at. At least with Alioski as a left winger there is a high chance that he will come up with some goals - he is not that bad a finisher.

[andrewjohnsmith]

I seem to remember that someone on here made a comment after a recent game that he had noticed that when Alioski overlapped Harrison, Harrison either tried to beat his man a second time, or just delayed his pass so that when he did eventually pass he nearly always ended up playing the ball sideways. End result is a LB out of position high up the pitch having wasted energy with his run.

With Harrison as a left winger and Alioski as a LB I think we end up with the worst of both worlds - Alioski is not great defensively, and Harrison is a winger with little end product. Harrison on the other hand can defend better. Alioski is being played out of position and being asked to do a job which is not great at. At least with Alioski as a left winger there is a high chance that he will come up with some goals - he is not that bad a finisher.

Really can't believe I'm reading this. Alioski as a left winger ahead of Harrison? I mean, if we had a Harry Kewell or a Gary Speed as an alternative, I'd be talking about it. But Alisoki ahead of Harrison?

[CHAPELALLMAN]

Really can't believe I'm reading this. Alioski as a left winger ahead of Harrison? I mean, if we had a Harry Kewell or a Gary Speed as an alternative, I'd be talking about it. But Alisoki ahead of Harrison?

Sadly neither Alioski or Harrison are a Kewell or a Speed. I'm not sure if you have read previous posts, but a few are suggesting the idea...

[Cjay]

I agree that Harrison would probably make a decent left back. I saw him play there in his one U23 game this year which makes it clear that Bielsa sees him as an option. But I think for now, it's only as an emergency back up. What makes everyone think he shouldn't be on the wing? His dribbling and ball control are top class. And while his end product gets knocked a lot, he's created more chances for us than anyone else.

Wouldn't say his dribbling is very good myself, Costa, Poveda and Raph all complete more dribbles per 90mins.

He is also far ahead of any other senior regular for being dispossessed per 90mins and even his first touch (which i agree is good) only Costa has a worse poor touch rate per 90mins.

He has created more chances than anyone else true but how much of that is down to the style? Possession we have etc and the fact he
has played more minutes by a mile than any other attacking player apart from Bamford?

Just dont think he will ever make it at the top level as a winger, certainly not if we want to progress to the top half and top 6.

But at full back imo he has more of a chance.

[CHAPELALLMAN]

Wouldn't say his dribbling is very good myself, Costa, Poveda and Raph all complete more dribbles per 90mins.

He is also far ahead of any other senior regular for being dispossessed per 90mins and even his first touch (which i agree is good) only Costa has a worse poor touch rate per 90mins.

He has created more chances than anyone else true but how much of that is down to the style? Possession we have etc and the fact he
has played more minutes by a mile than any other attacking player apart from Bamford?

Just dont think he will ever make it at the top level as a winger, certainly not if we want to progress to the top half and top 6.

But at full back imo he has more of a chance.

Very true - some tend to forget that he has started just about every game since he came to the club.

[andrewjohnsmith]

Wouldn't say his dribbling is very good myself, Costa, Poveda and Raph all complete more dribbles per 90mins.

He is also far ahead of any other senior regular for being dispossessed per 90mins and even his first touch (which i agree is good) only Costa has a worse poor touch rate per 90mins.

He has created more chances than anyone else true but how much of that is down to the style? Possession we have etc and the fact he
has played more minutes by a mile than any other attacking player apart from Bamford?

Just dont think he will ever make it at the top level as a winger, certainly not if we want to progress to the top half and top 6.

But at full back imo he has more of a chance.

I'd be willing to talk about Harrison at LB, only if we signed another player of Raphinha's quality

[CHAPELALLMAN]

Really can't believe I'm reading this. Alioski as a left winger ahead of Harrison? I mean, if we had a Harry Kewell or a Gary Speed as an alternative, I'd be talking about it. But Alisoki ahead of Harrison?

Bringing in Raphinha on the right wing for the ineffective Costa just shows how our attacking threat can be transformed by using a quality winger. We need now to do a similar upgrade on the left wing. Alioski however isn't in the same league as Raphinha. Maybe the answer is to move JH to left back and then play Poveda on the left wing, with Alioski as a back up.

[andrewjohnsmith]

Bringing in Raphinha on the right wing for the ineffective Costa just shows how our attacking threat can be transformed by using a quality winger. We need now to do a similar upgrade on the left wing. Alioski however isn't in the same league as Raphinha. Maybe the answer is to move JH to left back and then play Poveda on the left wing, with Alioski as a back up.

I think Poveda is still work in progress. I've seen a lot of dribbles from him, but no shots of note and can't think of an assist. When he played for the 23's last week he was a lot more dynamic - getting into different areas of the pitch and a couple of threatening shots. But at the senior level, I still think he's another year away

[Cjay]

I'd be willing to talk about Harrison at LB, only if we signed another player of Raphinha's quality

Hopefully we will by this time next year.

Slow and steady progress.

[Cjay]

Very true - some tend to forget that he has started just about every game since he came to the club.

His professionalism is admirable to be able to remain fit for so long tbf.

[gessa]

Hopefully we will by this time next year.

Slow and steady progress.

And that's exactly it Cjay, slow and steady, we're going in the right direction and that is the main thing.

[LUFC_BOS]

Good discussion folks, always enjoy how people view our games.

My initial thoughts are hey we won and that is what our end game is about. On the subject of Klich, as many have said, he has been uo and down the pitch for every game so no surprises if he was not at the races today. Also I think the 5th yellow card is a factor here as he does tend to irritate opposition players but was a bit more coy today. Thought Strujik did what he had to do as did so many of the team. Good to win a scrappy game against an industrial team like Burnley.
Also a precursor to Sam's 5-5-0 formation coming up next. Would make it a better holiday with 6 points from these two teams.

[1964white]

Should have been 3-0 up at HT, our profligacy gave Burnley hope they were still in the game. They huffed and puffed second half, but was Meslier really tested? Ugly win, but I'll take that all day long given the makeshift defence (again). Wasn't pretty, lacked fluidity but it's another 3 points against a team in our peer group. Half way to safety in 15 games, there aren't many of us who wouldn't have taken that when the season started.

Thought Kalvin was excellent, Ayling and Struijk both solid today (not sure why the young lad is taking grief when he has been thrown in again with little game time) and Meslier wasn't always totally convincing but dealt with everything that came his way. Klich needs a rest, don't think there's anything left in the tank. We still have a propensity to give away needless free-kicks in dangerous positions, which is just plain stupid given how ropey we are at defending them. Hopefully the clean sheet will give the team a boost after taking so much flak for the scum result. ALAW

Those four earned their corn today Nick

Excellent defending, we saw a different side to Leeds today remaining solid throughout the 90 long minutes. Proud of our defence brilliantly marshalled by Kalvin

[Cjay]

Incidentally our pitch is in an appalling state.

Its not helpful to our style of play.

[CHAPELALLMAN]

Interesting thoughts, but JH has improved season on season, and I don't think he's reached his ceiling yet.

I prefer Bielsa's approach of improving the players we have, where possible, rather than paying for upgrades.

interesting article ;

https://www.footballfancast.com/leeds-u ... ier-league

[CHAPELALLMAN]

I'd be willing to talk about Harrison at LB, only if we signed another player of Raphinha's quality

You never know - JH may end up being another Dorigo...