The #LUFC Breakfast Debate (Tuesday 17th August) - Winning start for the U23's

[Ellandback1]

Thats a quality post, from a fan who has a right to his views and opinions, we have to be careful what we wish for, but I too feel your concerns

Appreciated pal, its healthy to create debate too!

[Irish Ian]

I would assume Bielsa has a say with future signings now Ian.

I know he does Leon and he is hard to please but imagine when he and Orta have another 100M to spend.

[BGwhite]

Knives not out for me either, I am very grateful for what he has done thus far, every season has been a progression, but, keeping faith in players like roberts and that £3.99 latte could ultimately cost him his hero status, like I said in another thread, Wilko was a hero and look how it ended.
For me MB needs to stop standing by players who wont cut it, the top teams improve their squads, some gamble and fail, we simply dont have the dosh to compete with the big boys but we can make it difficult with the right personel , MB thinks he has the right personel, so what do I know.
How long will we be able to keep the young U23s ? other clubs will come calling and take them with a promise of 1st team football, for me I'd have gone and got Perreirra from west brom whilst we had the chance.

That last paragraph is absolutely right. There is no time to tread water especially in this league. Our youngsters need to be tested at this level to see if they have any future with us,. Not wait for them to be snapped up . Until MB trys them he'll never know. Surely they're worthy of a runout against teams in the bottom half. He plays risky football but seems totally against giving youngsters a chance.
Pereira was a no brainer for me.

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[1964white]

Seeing what I have of him, I'd even say McGurk is definitely one to watch. He's got a natural attacker's instinct for being in the right place at the right time, and for a midfielder that's even more impressive. Looks and plays like a wee Gordon Strachan!

Yes unlike our subs in the first team, McGurk came on for the second-half & swiftly settled into the game very nicely taking his goal exceptionally well.

[Eireleeds1]

Totally sick to death of reading about taking the knee. Has a habit of constantly being brought up. If players feel they have a good reason to do it then let them and move on. Get on with supporting your club

[Overman]

Just imagine the consternation each year when Bielsa hasn't signed his contract, and the relief that ensues when is finally announced that he is here for one more year.

We fear if there is a rumor that he may be poached by Tottenham Hotspur. We despair that we never will be able to find a replacement as good as him.

Without a vision the people perish, but this is not the case with Bielsa. in the last 4 years he has dedicated his life to improving Leedss and giving them a identity and a vision.

He has transformed the ethos of the club and the city, the fans on the team... but it appears that for some people on this forum it is not enough.

A single setback and all the good that he has achieved is trashed. There is no sense of perspective.

Honour is the gift that Marcelo gives to himself, no one can give it to him and no one can take it away.

Indeed, but he also gets paid incredibly well for it and he is all too aware that it comes with the territory. It is the manner of the defeat and the opponents (yet again) that has invoked such emotive reactions. In terms of perspective, it is worriyng that MB hasn't substantially been backed in this transfer window. Whether Marcelo is fine with the current recrutiment and squad, is very much open to conjecture.

[Leeds1000]

Winning start for the U23's

I didn't see the game. They had a player sent off early i think. Great penalty save by the new keeper. Will the young lad Gelhardt continue with his hop, skip jump approach to penalties? It looks silly when it goes awry.

Where do Leeds need to strengthen.

In all honesty to compete at the top everywhere. I still think we are FT short at FB, no 8, another striker. I admire what the club are doing in terms of bringing on the kids. You don't win anything with kids... Alan Hanson

If it makes the players feel better by taking the knee that's their choice. Personally i find it a bit silly. I am with big Wilf.

[The Subhuman]

Surely worth integrating one of our better young players as a different option at sometime.

Our subs are so predictable & rarely change or effect a game, we may as well play without subs.

Difficult to say Matt as the PL is a steep rise in class but I would definitely give Summerville a chance, lets face it he can't be less effective than Costa & Poveda, worth a go!

Klaesson, Drameh, McCarron, Jenkins, Bate & Miller were our top performers imo!

But not Summerville ?

[Lumiukko]

I'll start with the knee...I really don't care if players, particularly those whom have experienced racism and hate, want to take a knee. It takes only a brief moment and like many I'm sick of it being a talking point.

Per the U23s. It is a total chicken and egg scenario. Yes, they play at a lower level, so are they good enough to step up to the seniors? Yet, if we don't start to integrate them with a few minutes, we will never know. I know some say it would have been a bad time to introduce them on Saturday at 5-1 down, but in my opinion, with the game lost, it was an opportunity to throw one of them on and tell them to go enjoy themselves without the pressure of a mistake giving the game away. Watching the highlights of yesterday's U23 game, I would say that Summerville is well worth a shot as a substitute. He was excellent last season and has certainly gone through pre-season and the first u23 game looking as good or even improved.

Signings: we definitely need a quality 8/10 and/or a 4/8. Ideal world we'd see a KP backup and a full-time ACM come in but it's looking less and less likely as the days pass.

Marcelo: I wouldn't change him from the world, but his stubbornness to certain things like substitutes square peg/round holes are both frustrating and his biggest flaws in my opinion. No panic yet until we've played a few games and seen how he and the team respond.

[weasel]

Seems only a few days ago most fans were suggesting our youngsters were absolute sh*te after they got drubbed by Ajax. Now it seems they are suddenly back to being amazing again and all good enough for first team football after beating Crystal Palace U23s. If they are good enough then Bielsa will play them or get them into the matchday squad. The players that have left, or gone on loan, haven't exactly gone on to play at our level so maybe they aren't good enough yet.

And again Bielsa is getting slaughtered for having loyalty to players. Where would we be without the loyalty to Bamford, Dallas and others. Fans moaning about round pegs then saying how poor we are without KP - a player Bielsa converted from box to box to a defensive midfielder, a position he'd never played before. Same fans that no doubt voted for Dallas as player of the year.

Fans complaining about our fitness after the 1st game of the season despite us being the fittest team by quite some distance last season. Yes we weren't sharp on Saturday but there are 37 more matches to go so it's perhaps not vital to be 100% for the first game but pace ourselves for the full season. I am sure our fitness will not be an issue, hardly like Bielsa will have put them on a fags and chocolate diet.

[1964white]

But not Summerville ?

Wrong of me to omit Summerville as he only played for 45 minutes, his goal was sublimely taken & he certainly shone whilst on the pitch, they all played well to be fair!

[Carrick Dave]

Anyone questioning Bielsa's capability or commitment needs to give their head a shake and look at his achievements over the past 3 years.

They should also look at the potential alternative management options for a mid-table team with just one recent season in the Premiership to crow about, and realise that any replacement will be probably be a high-functioning journeyman. Another visionary with the intelligence and drive to improve virtually every player he comes into contact with is as likely a find as a bucket of rocking horse s*it.

Yes, he's stubborn and frustrating at times. Yes, we can't understand his thinking on substitutions, and what he sees in Roberts and Costa is lost on me for one, but I dread the day that he decides his Leeds race is run. If we have a great season we might get one more out of him, but ultimately Rosario beckons.

When he's gone we'll all look back at this time in our history with pleasure that we were there to experience it, so let's enjoy it while we can and actively encourage both manager and players, rather than adding to the groundswell of unjustified discontent that constantly seems to lurk just under the surface.

One swallow doth not a summer make, even if losing 5-1 to the Scum is a bloody big swallow.