White Riot wrote: ↑Sat Sep 25, 2021 4:33 pm
Watford, Southampton, Wolves, and Norwich coming up, we should be taking maximum points from all those matches and kick-starting our season.
I'll lay money on it, we won't take maximum points.
No games are easy when a team can't defend, struggles to score goals, loses confidence & are lurking at the wrong end of the table.
I suspect those four teams are thinking the same, we can take points off Leeds.
Confidence...that's massive in any sport. I go back to pre season and the 'its all about fitness ' philosophy. In terms of results pre season was crap and it does nothing for anyone's confidence when defeat follows defeat no matter how fit you are and right now the confidence will be very low and the trust in Bielsa will be ebbing away too. Only an idiot keeps throwing on the same subs who never have any impact and I know what I'd be thinking as a player witnessing the same old throw of the dice every week. More trust needs to be shown towards our youngsters otherwise we don't have an 18 man squad , we have a 14 man squad.
Style of play predictable, substitutions predictable and results predictable.
I like the style of play but it exposes poor players when it's not going well.
Any really good side can defend we currently can't massive holes all over the show and exploitable by decent players.
I will say you can't afford to miss sitters though.
Last edited by Mick Jones shoulder on Sat Sep 25, 2021 4:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
SG90 wrote: ↑Sat Sep 25, 2021 4:06 pm
Nope it's the lack of control in midfield, which we didn't strengthen due to Forshaw playing a few games for the u23s.
Cjay wrote: ↑Sat Sep 25, 2021 4:44 pm
Me to and I know I am seen as negative but I see myself as realistic.
This was coming imo the natural downturn was guaranteed eventually.
You can't use the same players year on year and not expect to get caught out eventually.
We're realists, not negative. We both agreed about the cycle and now relying on players like Dallas, Ayling, Klich and Harrison has shown us up. We needed to freshen up the starting xi.
Unfortunately, we will panic buy Lewis O'Brien for £20m in January, which will just make things worse!
What injuries are we missing? Llorente that's it really. Ayling has been dreadful this season and Koch never plays anyway.
It wasn't injuries who:
Turned down Noa Lang
Panic bought Dan James for £25m
Said Forshaw was a new signing
Let Pablo go without a replacement
Picks the same players every week
Never gives Gelhardt a chance
Makes Firpo a crap defender
Such a frustrating result. I'm not as bothered by the loss so much as the way we lost. We really managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Which, it pains me to observe, is a characteristic typical of relegation sides.
SG90 wrote: ↑Sat Sep 25, 2021 5:06 pm
Oh dear Radz giving it out on Twitter again. He made a fool of himself with his Forshaw tweet and now it's come back to bite on the backside.
It was a stupid thing to say, put unnecessary pressure on Forshaw and effectively made him (Forshaw) a target.
He needs to think before he tweets, this isn't his first Twitter error
Roberts puzzles me and I have to say bringing him on for Raphinha - Twice! and them playing him as a wide player is the most baffling substitutions Bielsa has ever made! I understand Raph having to come off as he isnt 100% but Roberts out wide is even worse than in the middle. Please Please Bielsa give Gelhardt the chance to show us his what he has got. I am actually sick of the sight of Roberts in a Leeds shirt now. He is Championship at best at the minute and needs a loan out.
It is as if Leeds are convinced he is a turd who can be polished up and then sold on at some point for a hefty profit.
Dallas and Klich don't look as if they have 90 minutes in them. And we had no-one on the bench who could come on for them and shore up our midfield.. Forshaw injured again? Another month on the sidelines.
A point at home today was not the end of the world but we didn't have enough on the bench to even try and see that out.
Harrison is such a better player when he reacts instinctively or spontaneously, but give him time to think and he stuffs up. It was his daydreaming that let to them overturning the ball for the OG.
Firpo is safety first with his passing but to be fair to him it must be awful having to play alongside Cooper who has no pace, and likes to back off players. Oh and did you see Cooper with his arms around Antonio today defending one of their corners?
KP had an off day which made it worse when they went two up top and forced KP into centre mid for a while, and as per usual the huge hole opened up in midfield which allowed them to control large periods of possession.
Rodrigo was immense first half but they managed to keep us on the back foot for most of the second half and as a result he was isolated at times. Shackleton was ok at RWB but for me he needs to be in the middle, making nuisance of himself. Raphinha is the best player we have signed.... ever. Or will be. He is that good, three goals from the wing already and hopefully he will make double figures this season. Meslier is probably wondering what he needs to do to have a quiet game. Cooper made some great blocks but imo he should be in his final season here. His lack of pace is a worry as well as those hands of his... James looked as if he was playing on his own. We will need to be patient with him. I think that was a planned 45 minutes today, he has a new kid and probably hasn't slept all week. Cresswell looked the part. He wont have a more torrid game all season I imagine, he did make a few errors but it was a confident performance and hopefully the centre mid issues wont be as difficult to resolve now. His passing wasnt great but he did very well against Antonio, Benhrama and Bowen.
Overall the subs were not great. I get Harrison for James, but Roberts... I wonder if he was worried about WHs physicality and that is why he opted against Jimmy?
In hindsight at 80 minutes I would have liked a def mid to come on to help KP out but we had no options there and paid the price.
' "Football is about the people and the players,” he said. “Then there are those who will mingle in the middle: the coaches, executives and journalists. That last group represents the worst part about football" Marcelo Bielsa
SG90 wrote: ↑Sat Sep 25, 2021 4:58 pm
We're realists, not negative. We both agreed about the cycle and now relying on players like Dallas, Ayling, Klich and Harrison has shown us up. We needed to freshen up the starting xi.
Unfortunately, we will panic buy Lewis O'Brien for £20m in January, which will just make things worse!
Bang on
At some point recruitment needs to be discussed to.
Has Orta bought well since promotion? You'd have to say no.
Is he solely responsible? Probably not as we know MB didn't want De Paul and Lang to start with, are we buying players because they run about a lot?
