Leeds Banter Archive September 13 2020

13 Sep 2020 18:53:49
West Brom - Hammered at home
Fulham - Hammered at home
Leeds - Narrowly beaten, going toe to toe with one of the best teams in Europe (especially in their own back yard) with two centre backs that have never played together, and missing their captain.
Yeah both teams defending was dodgy (but ours was understandable given the situation) .
Was brilliant to see the lads have the attitude "We don't care who you are, this is how we play and we're putting our stamp on this game".
If they play that way all season we can stop sending Bielsa out for post match comments and just send superfan Russell Crowe out in his gladiator outfit to say "Are you not entertained".

14 Sep 2020 06:44:40
Show respect but ne we fear.

13 Sep 2020 14:17:15
Excellent game to watch yesterday. Playing Liverpool at Anfield was always going to be difficult and if we had gotten anything out of it -that would have been a bonus. However, I won't settle until we get our first points on the board. I've seen too many teams play attractive and entertaining football but are too often at the wrong end of a close, sometimes high scoring game. We played well enough against Arsenal last season and lost by the odd goal and it was the odd goal again yesterday. Hope it doesn't get to be a habit. Would like to see more of Rodrigo. He came on, hardly had a touch and gave away a very sloppy penalty. He can only get better. Koch couldn't really be criticised for the penalty but was at fault for Van Dijk's goal although I don't think Cooper would have done any better. Koch got better as the game progressed. I still think we need a replacement for Hernandez. He can't keep going all season. De Paul looks the type but I can't see him coming. Whoever it is we need him quickly so he has time to get up to speed with Biesa's style of play. The same applies to a striker and centre back. I thought Bamford had a decent game even though he missed an easier chance than he scored with. Klitch and Harrison were excellent and I thought Costa had one of his better games. KP played in a more unusual position given the inexperience of the two centre backs. It meant we were very good going forward but pretty shaky when defending. Hernandez was a bit quiet I thought. Two full backs played well. GK did ok.

{Ed025's Note - good assessment that mate..

13 Sep 2020 15:36:36
Good assessment. Early days for our centre backs and disrupted due to injury and international games however I felt that we were a tad naive defensively, particularly when half clearing the ball to the edge of the box and not closing down the opposition on the second phase. Salah scored a good goal on one of these occasions however we were more likely to get away with this type of defending in the Championship as 7 out of 10 times a shot would end up in the stands however in the PL the quality is higher and will probably end up in the net 6/ 7 out of 10 times. Agree with Pablo, I see him being more effective in the last quarter when legs are tiring as his guile will be an asset. Last night he was swarmed by the Liverpool midfield and did not have the strength or stamina to impose himself.

13 Sep 2020 17:50:03
Hesslian the referee won the game for then . you will never win against them never a penalty under the current rules. Liverpool were lucky today. simply as that.

13 Sep 2020 18:34:13
I am a huge fan of King Pablo just maybe the extra intensity, quality and press of some of these EPL teams means he should not start but come on as an impact sub second half.

13 Sep 2020 18:55:45
Very good posts Hess and Notts.

13 Sep 2020 18:57:20
same bv Pablo is a god and deserves our respect and thanks but yesterday was embrassaing. he did nothing was often having to slide to try and keep up with the ball. personally I think we should let him go to another championship club where he could have another season as a match winner. and I say this with the upmost respect for Pablo who I love and think of highly.

13 Sep 2020 19:07:22
Oh, go on then I'll say it. Pablo was absolutely rubbish yesterday. Doesn't mean he won't be brilliant next week though! He probably is too old now to last 90 minutes. I agree bring him on when we need a goal in the last 15.

13 Sep 2020 19:09:55
That is going too far Berm! @@@@ . Pablo stays! . Pablo. as an impact sub is fine.

13 Sep 2020 23:32:42
I don’t think you judge Pablos ability to contribute to a premiership season by the first game of the season away at Liverpool! Let’s see how he does in the next two games. Pablo had those kind of games even in the championship!

I certainly wouldn’t ship him out to a championship club, I’d keep him involved in our club, setting examples to and helping the younger players.

14 Sep 2020 05:50:37
Spaniard Exactly. More pressing matters is when will Berm get his ink.

14 Sep 2020 09:35:53
Bringing Pablo on at half time or a little later worked last season after his injury . no reason to think it won’t again. Let’s focus on the positives lads, I’m sure not one of us copped any poo about supporting Leeds after that performance. So we go again against Fulham and let’s remember 46 games in the championship as opposed to 38 this year .

13 Sep 2020 12:21:24
Some very good posts, after a performance that showed what we are all about.
Liverpool needed the benefit of a poor decision to get something out of that game.
All the pundits that said Liverpool were below par, not for me they were trying their best and were only allowed to play as well as Leeds let them play.
Souness said after the game its the first time he has seen an away team have more possession at Anfield than Liverpool.
Thought we were a little rusty and the new faces meant we were not as comfortable with in possession, added to the fact Liverpool are the hardest working and pressing team in the Prem, we didn't have as much time with the ball, our players will need to get up to the tempo of this league.

13 Sep 2020 14:46:58
1970 They were at their best but so we were so it induced errors in their play.

13 Sep 2020 09:22:41
Have read a few comments praising us but needing us to tighten up at the back. I can see this as a major problem as how do you have 4-5 or 6 in the box and still "tighten up" and still be running at the end of a long hard season?

13 Sep 2020 09:53:02
Good shout Leo, but, Last season everyone said we don't score enough for the chances we create, 3 shots on target 3 goals.

13 Sep 2020 11:08:57
Leodis, you’re right in that it’s a feature of Bielsas style and it puts extra pressure on the dm and cbs, who are often the only players close to being back in defensive positions and even less so if chasing the match. It also means at this level you need better quality and faster players to cope with that challenge.

13 Sep 2020 11:46:27
And two quality players for every vital position, Spanish.

13 Sep 2020 11:47:20
Considering we missing cooper, Koch had about 3 days training and strujk has started about 5 professional games, Phillips was away on England duty only a few days before and we played the champions of England and recent European champions and who beat Man City by 18 points last season . I think we did ok . Let’s be honest the first penalty may not have been a penalty and a similar penalty wasn’t given in the West Ham Newcastle games and again a lazy forwards tackle late in the game cost us . We went toe to toe with Liverpool and forced them in mistakes at the back .

13 Sep 2020 12:08:26
Not to mention the club World Champions Mighty.

13 Sep 2020 12:10:01
We conceded 4. Against the PL champions. We are not the first. We won’t be the last. We are going to have a great season which won’t end in relegation, like many pundits predict, most of whom are eating their words today! It’s going to be a rollercoaster for sure, but a very entertaining one! Love the game last night. So proud of my team!

13 Sep 2020 12:29:25
Morning all

Ouch what a sore head

Just scanning the comments and so much positivity. I have decided to not drain the Hottub of Hope til later in the autumn now

Regarding the scoreline, a few of us are worried about our defence but as certain posters mention, Koch, Dallas and Phillips were on international duty this week. Koch had 2 days training with his new teammates. Struick has half a dozen games under his belt. Cooper was injured. And none of our back 6 (include Phillips) has Premier League experience

To top this, we ain't going to be playing against Mane, Firmino and Salah every week. Especially a Salah in that sort of form

I am so proud today. So optimistic. I could care less if we are in a relegation battle all season if the players I support give there all like that. Thank you to everyone at LUFC, I walk a couple of inches taller today.

13 Sep 2020 18:18:18
you know what axe as normal that is a fair assessment and good point, I think koch showed enough for me to think he will come good with more time to fit in. I don't think Cooper is the answer but stuijk played well. Alying was great against one of the best in the world.2nd goal keeper had a mare but he grew and made some good saves. considering what you have pointed out maybe things are not that bad.

13 Sep 2020 07:57:33
Great game for building brand Bielsa and brand Leeds!

For me most important comments on the game came from Bielsa himself and show that he and the club aren't going to be happy with brave losing performances.

But against Liverpool, scored three goals, showed klich, Harrison and Bamford can score at this level. Struick and Koch, brand new cab combo never used before, one dodgy pen!

Of course we will buy more players, the board wants to stay in the premier league.
And Bielsa wants to win playing attractive football not lose.

Enjoy the football, enjoy the ride, what else did you expect of Bielsa in the premiership!

13 Sep 2020 09:40:14
Great post Spanish, was telling my mate in themm i’mpub before game (West Ham fan but he bet on us to win or draw £70.00 lost but still loved the game Leeds performance) just how untried and new our defensive pairing was against probably the most potent attack in Europe, thought they did us proud.

I remember during your extended stay in the Uk that you highlighted to all of us the potential of Struick think he will continue to grow into a very fine player for us 👍.

13 Sep 2020 09:49:31
Good post Spanish I hope you are right on all points!

And I think it is essential that the club buys players that Bielsa really wants, not who Radz and Orta want! As i am not convinced that Bielsa ever wanted JKA for instance!

As for the Scousers game, I am even more gutted today than yesterday ; that deserving one point would have been so precious and uplifting for the Leeds United team.

For me this crucial first EPL
back season is all about Leeds United retaining premier league status so priority is ACCUMULATING POINTS first and foremost and then the performance style of play.

There are annoyingly no weak teams in this premier league this season and the next EPL match for Leeds against Fulham is in my opinion a MUST WIN 3 points for Leeds so vital to get some immediate winning points accumulation momentum!

13 Sep 2020 11:15:39
Thanks Class, I was lucky enough to meet Pascal and his mum and gf at an under 23 game. Mum very impressive for her knowledge of football, gf, very impressive! and Pascal really nice friendly guy who you could feel would work hard and want to learn under Bielsa. Yesterday he certainly wasn’t perfect but that was a massive jump for him and you can see he is fitting well into the squad and gives us versatile cover.

Bazooka, know what you mean about the points, don’t think the second game of the season is must win but we have a few games coming up where the points should be garnered but Bielsa is always going to try and do it in his style, no other way for him and actually I love watching it, even yesterday.

13 Sep 2020 21:11:39
Agree spanish, heard Bielsa say before in the championship that he had been happy with the level of performance when we had lost . Now he wants to move us on, not happy to be brave Leeds who valiantly got beat, he wants to be the team doing the beating.

Was great to see the spirit of the players who got us up and they do deserve their chance in this league, but saying that we all know we need more strength in depth. Radz I believe knows we need more players and I think he will act on this in the coming weeks. Players coming in need to be bielsa's choice, no point having expensive players he didn't ask for warming the bench.

13 Sep 2020 07:13:46
Abiding thoughts from yesterday . Probably the one injury we could not afford just prior to Liverpool was Coops, exposing an untried and inexperienced combination at centre back both of whom were culpable for two set piece concessions which we really shouldn't be offering at this level . I also thought that we got out muscled and out fought in midfield where only Klich and KP were at it in the dirty parts of the game . Needed more support from Pablo who had a very quiet game by his standards and the wingers who admittedly were much better when on the ball . Positives many : Obviously we will improve at the heart of defence MB will see to that irrespective of new additions . We didn't look out of place in the prem where Bielsa ball was alive and kicking and for once we took our chances . The Klich goal was a thing of beauty and Costa played his part in that . NB : Looking forward to Meslier improving his distribution . Never quite seen the exocets we saw on his debut at Arsenal since . NBB : We still need strengthening in midfield . De Paul please who can do the dirty defensive side as well as create not Kent, Wilson or Benrahma . And we need a seasoned centre back not the Croat kid no matter how good he looks on you tube or what he might be worth in two years time .

13 Sep 2020 08:38:23
Good post RHC, but if we do buy “ the Croat kid” I think it’ll be for now not the future.

13 Sep 2020 12:12:01
Get Gvordial over the line, plus Pabs cover, and we are the real deal. We scared the doodoo outta the champions, and we will do a lot more against the lesser teams. Can’t wait to batter Man U at OT! 🤣🤣🤣.

13 Sep 2020 00:49:04
It’s hard to knock our performance today as it was so spirited. Without doubt, our defense was poor at best. We most certainly missed BW and Coops. I try to find some positives from Koch but there weren’t any, welcome to the Premier League!
He will get better I have no doubt. The positives are that we will rock the boat in the PL.
Feelin’ good 👍.