Leeds Utd 2-1 Wolves Match Thread - TSB at their best with Wolves rants.

[Irish Ian]

And lets face it we can expect to lose 14 games this season just like the rest of those in the bottom third of the Premier League which is essentially where we are at this point.

[Overman]

I think on balance we just about deserved the 3
It’s a good start. You’ve got to be a seriously negative miserable git if you don’t agree

I heartily agree, though the Bielsa cult may not . Only gripe for Jesse, don't play Struijk at LB, his form has carried over from last seeason.

[Jaydog]

And lets face it we can expect to lose 14 games this season just like the rest of those in the bottom third of the Premier League which is essentially where we are at this point.

Exactly. I think Cjays is a fairly balanced opinion tbh. Mid table is like winning the league for us atm. But it’s better than the championship. Don’t believe all that nonsense about going back there. Hang on in the Prem and grind it out like most other teams

[Jaydog]

I heartily agree, though the Bielsa cult may not . Only gripe for Jesse, don't play Struijk at LB, his form has carried over from last seeason.

He got that wrong in fairness but I understand why. Experience over youth v Hjelde. I would of played the Norwegian all day tbh. I hope I’m wrong about Firpo because LB is a real specialist position in the modern game and we need him to be up to it if we’re not buying one.

[danhirons]

Need a left back and a striker. Nothing new

[weasel]

It was absolutely miles away from being reminiscent of the worst of the Bielsa matches defensively Weasel.

Off the top of my head Everton had over 20 shots to our 7. Brighton I am fairly sure had 20 shots to our 10,11.

Southampton had 20 shots or very close to it to our 3 or 4.

And I haven't included the top 6 who often had well over 20 shots.

It wasn't perfect today but to suggest it was defensively as bad as some of MB's worst is simply untrue.

Reflected in the xG where Wolves managed just 1.06 to our 1.11

Wolves took a lot of pot shots from outside the box, 7 to our 5.

Is a case where stats don't tell the whole story offensively. We had the Bamford header, the 2v1 as well.

We didn't see any cbs walking through our midfield today either which was nice.

I like everyone have concerns about the narrowness of the style and the high line because we have snail cbs and the amount it may expose our full backs because of having no wingers in front of them.

We are vulnerable to a switch of play as well.

But I took encouragement from today despite the concerns.

Concerns I understand Weasel but saying it was reminiscent of BielsaBall at its worst defensively is plainly untrue.

Don't forget we are only aiming for 10-14th

Saw enough today to think 14th is achievable so Radz will be delighted.

What worries me more is that if we get something vs Southampton I can see this board deciding to leave the squad as it is.

They have shown before they are afraid to put cheapness ahead of the team.

The performances you listed were fairly dire from start to finish as such the stats were woeful. We weren't dire from start to finish today but there were several times Wolves cut us apart hence reminiscent of the worst facets of Bielsaball.

[1964white]

Just the start we all needed with three points in the bag, no having to wait seven games for a victory this time. Also, we've beaten a decent team.

A shaky opening ten minutes, but we overcome going a goal down by playing some fine football, with shots & opportunities peppering the Wolves backline, it only took us twenty minutes to find an equaliser with the lively Rodrigo firing in at the near post. Leeds should have gone in at half-time with a lead had we'd been more clinical in front of goal.

Our fans sang "where the fook is VAR" after Rasmus was taken out by Sa, nothing relating to this incident on the big screen.

Unsure what our players had in the tea at the interval as we were shocking after the break allowing Wolves to retain possession in loads of space for that period, we couldn't win the second ball & when we got the ball we gave it away cheaply. We barely made it into their half

Cue Mateusz Klich giving us some order to our play. Our Polish star picked-up the ball & threads a pass to Bamford who crosses the ball perfectly into a dangerous area with a Wolves defender pursued by Aaronson scrambling the ball into his own net, we all thought Brendon had scored his debut Leeds goal, he certainly deserved a goal in his glittering first start in a Premier League game, he reminds me of Strachan. Paddy was unlucky not to give us a 3-1 cushion with a fine header superbly saved by Sa.

Meslier was equal to the Wolves keeper making some fine saves throughout the game.

As expected, there is a downside to this current Wolves side

Wolves players should get equity cards. Disgraceful play-acting and time-wasting when ahead and drawing. Ref didn't have the balls to intervene. Different story when Leeds went ahead surprisingly!

My main concern, worryingly we still look shaky at the back.

[The Subhuman]

A bizarre posting Cjay. Suggesting that fans can't be harsh on the defensive aspects because it is the way we play that leads to that. That though is precisely the point though in that if we keep playing that way will we continue to be so open defensively - and if that is the case it is a huge worry. We were playing against a team that was abysmal as an attacking force last season, we weren't playing against a good attacking team.

As Mr Dog puts it the performance was reminiscent of the worst of the Bielsa matches defensively without the same attacking swagger (note we only had 39% possesion and onyl 12 shots compared to Wolves 15). All systems have strengths and weaknesses, Bielsa's did, Marsch's does but we should hopefully be good enough to get enough wins against poor sides to survive.

Ahh the shots stat ... another meaningless stat... If Wolves had 15 quality shots today I'll be amazed.

[1964white]

How was it in the flesh Leon? I feel pretty positive tbh. Stuff to work on but a great start surely

Much work to be done, Jay, Hopefully we're getting there, success doesn't happened overnight.

You have good reasons for feeling positive

[The Subhuman]

4-1 would not have flattered us and Wolves are not the mugs they're being painted as.. They'll finish mid table ish and will beat better teams

[1964white]

I agree. But the Bielsa diehards won’t even though the similarities are obvious

Ooh, a grenade

[Jaydog]

Ahh the shots stat ... another meaningless stat... If Wolves had 15 quality shots today I'll be amazed.

Infogol is better if you want a stat. You probably don’t. 1.11 v 1.06 today. I’d say that’s fair.

[March712]

I'm a Bielsa diehard but I agree with Cjay on this one.

I really struggle with this, please explain...he is no longer our manger/head coach?

[Irish Ian]

They certainly got into our box but apart from the Meslier save right on HT we were hardly open.

Just saying.

[Irish Ian]

I really struggle with this, please explain...he is no longer our manger/head coach?

Read back the thread. Context is everything.

[March712]

Read back the thread. Context is everything.

I have and there is no 'context', just nostalgia, do not patronise me...

[The Subhuman]

Also a Bielsa diehard but that was JM's best game for us by a distance

[SG90]

A lot to be concerned with today. Wolves carved us open at times and it was like the worst of how we played last season and better teams will punish us more. We looked absolutely clueless in the second half until Klich came on. Full credit to both Marsch and Klich for that, Marsch for making the right choice and Klich for performing like that - I'm certainly not in the boat to write him off as I think played in the right position, with the right players around him he is still a very good player (having to do the donkey work next to the inept Forshaw will not make many players look good). There are certainly alarm bells with our defending, hopefully having Cooper back soon will help, for his organisational skills, and it may also be that we play a bit more defensive against the better teams but more gung ho against teams that Marsch thinks we can beat.

Both teams had an element of luck with the first goals and both teams wasted good opportunities. I think after seeing that performance I am still extremely concerned about how sh*te we look defensively but thankful we got the 3 points and feel we should have enough about us to finish higher than at least 3 teams. Not convinced about the manager, the players or the tactics but we should scrape enough points. 14th to 18th would be my prediction but hopefully we will improve as a team when the new players all settle in, Bamford gets up to full fitness and a couple come back from injury etc.

Only we could concede 80 goals in a season and then do nothing about the defence.

[SG90]

It was absolutely miles away from being reminiscent of the worst of the Bielsa matches defensively Weasel.

Off the top of my head Everton had over 20 shots to our 7. Brighton I am fairly sure had 20 shots to our 10,11.

Southampton had 20 shots or very close to it to our 3 or 4.

And I haven't included the top 6 who often had well over 20 shots.

It wasn't perfect today but to suggest it was defensively as bad as some of MB's worst is simply untrue.

Reflected in the xG where Wolves managed just 1.06 to our 1.11

Wolves took a lot of pot shots from outside the box, 7 to our 5.

Is a case where stats don't tell the whole story offensively. We had the Bamford header, the 2v1 as well.

We didn't see any cbs walking through our midfield today either which was nice.

I like everyone have concerns about the narrowness of the style and the high line because we have snail cbs and the amount it may expose our full backs because of having no wingers in front of them.

We are vulnerable to a switch of play as well.

But I took encouragement from today despite the concerns.

Concerns I understand Weasel but saying it was reminiscent of BielsaBall at its worst defensively is plainly untrue.

Don't forget we are only aiming for 10-14th

Saw enough today to think 14th is achievable so Radz will be delighted.

What worries me more is that if we get something vs Southampton I can see this board deciding to leave the squad as it is.

They have shown before they are afraid to put cheapness ahead of the team.

I doubt we will sign anyone else. De Ketelaere was an unobtainable target we knew we wouldn't sign, like Aaronson in January. But it looks like the club is trying etc. We just spent the money we brought in. Unless Harrison is sold, I can't see anyone else coming in.

[BlackHillsPaul]

A decent performance and 3 points at Elland Road. That's a nice start and we should be happy. But not satisfied. After the first 15 min I thought we bossed the game. First 25 minutes of the second half Wolves were in charge. Klich changed the game in that moment. Credit to Jesse for making the change. And credit to the player for coming on and making a difference.

Aaronson was MOTM for me. He's the Talisman in this group. Adams and Roca were competent. Each had good and bad moments. But mostly good on balance. They need to keep getting better and forge the relationship. Struijk is NOT a Left Back. Jesse needs to do what he has always done and trust the kids that are ready. It's time to give Hjelde a run out.

To all of you complaining about the shape and tactics. I did not see dour or negative football today. I saw high pressing and a commitment to attacking football. I do not see the narrowness many of you complain about. Pascal and Rasmus were running the touchlines all afternoon. It may not be the kind of width you are used to or maybe prefer. But can we PLEASE stop with all this talk of narrow play. It's just not the reality.

I quite enjoyed Jesse getting into it with the dipshit Wolves Manager. Took me back to his playing days....