Leeds Banter Archive January 19 2020

19 Jan 2020 20:31:00
We create just as many chacses as prem teams we can't take um we need to get off players and club backs I am sure they mis on perpus bub as done great with this squad for last to seasons never been out top 6 now come on get behind um they need us the most now MOT.

19 Jan 2020 21:20:46
Good post, I’m with ya Wigan,

19 Jan 2020 23:54:12
The reason we don't convert our chances is simple, most teams have a goalscoring forward and we have Patrick Bamford.

19 Jan 2020 18:28:12
Simple observation here, just watched pool v utd,
United were def coming into game more in last quarter.

Klopp changed formation Totally from 4-3-3 to more traditional 4-4-2, another goal scored, job done, plan b accomplished.

Why can't our man at times just make the simple change, Jurgen was man enough to do it at ease why doesn't bubs adapt to different scenarios in games?

19 Jan 2020 19:07:58
Chris MB does change formations during certain games.
As for Liverpool’s 433 that can easily be called a 451. People get too caught up in formations imo.

19 Jan 2020 19:15:35
Simples. Get Bielsa out. Get Kopp in.

19 Jan 2020 20:47:45
Cork
Origi - Salah. Up top is called 2 strikers not 1.

19 Jan 2020 21:43:32
Chris
Salah doesn’t play through the middle.

19 Jan 2020 22:24:16
That's my point Cork., Klopp changed in the game when Manè+ Bobby came off.

20 Jan 2020 07:31:28
maybe people get caught up in formations but the questions should be this

when klopp can do something to influence and change a game why can't belisa. in two years i have never seen him do anything that that affected a game.

20 Jan 2020 09:23:07
Difference been berm he has one player who cost more than are whole team. My point is the difference in quality.

19 Jan 2020 17:48:53
It seems, if you want a team to hold there own (generally) and play lree flowing football then send for Bielsa. If you want a team to consistently win then you need someone else.
Remember when he first came. The new Messiah. Hard work, fresh approach with football rarely, if ever, seen in the Championship. Now there is a groundswell of questions aimed at the great man some even touching on the "quit" word.
Now is the time for Bielsa to regain the high ground. He has nothing to lose as we are nervously looking over our shoulders. Wether it's a formation or a personnell change (or both) something needs to be done. Now!

19 Jan 2020 18:25:20
Bielsa is a winner in the making trouble is he's to set in his ways.

20 Jan 2020 07:34:08
wex is bielsa a winner. i think his record is more also ran? moruino is a winnger, fergouson is a winner, pep is a winner. belisa is someone who winners quite like. now time for him to prove me wrong.

19 Jan 2020 14:35:18
just been on line about costa . says he agreed a 4 years contract till 2024 but it doesn't say its been signed so fingers crossed.

19 Jan 2020 13:30:25
Form has changed since the 3-3 game V Cardiff having been 3-0 up
. It seems to have changed our mindset and we have lost confidence
Yet again it's mid January and we have no centre back cover and no centre forward cover .
Even if we signed a player today the likelihood is bielsa won't even put him in first team squad for about 6 weeks until he gets up to speed . I can't understand how we have 1 win in 8 and we are still persisting with same players but we don't have anyone else to bring in.

19 Jan 2020 15:24:05
Yes Mighty Wrighty I have said this before that it was the CARDIFF game that really drained the confidence from the team. Bamford and Klich said that match was 'devastating '

Some of the players yesterday looked really dispirited and devoid of confidence from the first few minutes.

Said at the beginning of this window that Radz and Orta would not actually sign any outfield players (just possibly a goalkeeper) . so far that is true due to a combination of a number of things

Hope a takeover actually happens asap because another year (s) of threadbare squads under Radz is unpalatable.

19 Jan 2020 16:37:47
Good point Bazooka Belisa is a hard line boss and much has been said about his faith in players like Edmondson but I think the squad have now lost faith in him

Reading Belisa comments in the paper, he has lost the plot and speaking like a manager who has run out of ideas and faith.

19 Jan 2020 21:25:38
Bw I think the squad first and foremost like most of the Leeds fans have lost faith in Radz and Orta.

19 Jan 2020 13:12:47
For a little perspective, don't forget it Bielsa who got up to where we are.
For me the problem is not having enough depth of squad to allow for players playing to the intensity of the system.
The system works as proved over the first half of last season and the first half of this.
It is all about the money invested in the squad.
Loans, loans to buy and working with the best of the players inherited is what Bielsa has to work with.
Lowest spenders in the Championship.
As I have said repeatedly, two more players of quality in the last 3 windows and we would be 12 points clear.
If you add up the cost of all the poor players and their wages that have come in since Rads came in you would have had enough money to buy the players needed.
So for me it is Orta on recruitment and Rads on money who are the weak link.
Don't think any manager could better from the players we have.
It will be very difficult for us in a post Bielsa era, if there is a change of system for most of our players would not cope with that.
There might have to be a complete re-build and that takes time and money, which Rads is not spending.
So any successor would have to try and improve on the system and the same problems will all just reappear.

19 Jan 2020 13:39:00
I agree with your comments regarding Orta and Radz but feel that Bielsa is also part of the issue and potentially the solution. If Bielsa wanted a larger squad, the owner would have an obligation to increase it, otherwise Bielsa would probably walk. If Bielsa had more players of a better quality, would he rotate the squad more? I am not sure he would. Whoever comes to the club as a striker will be second fiddle to Bamford. Bielsa's soundbites after yesterday's game were bemoaning that Nketiah had gone back to Arsenal and that we had been treated unfairly. If Bielsa had played Nketiah more it would have been more likely that he would of stayed. However, a new striker will have to spend time on the training ground learning the Bielsa way and therefore will not likely challenge for a starting spot for up to a month. That is the Bielsa way, he is part of the problem and part of the solution. Adapt your principles for the greater good.

19 Jan 2020 14:11:37
Notts Top post. His lack of adaptation a big problem but his naivety regarding Eddie and generally even bigger. It's costing us. Another post of yours refers to the physical and mental frailties in our squad and club. Correct. I feel the personalities of ROB are in the wrong places. Orta is known to be the aggressive one but I see that as counterproductive to high standard incoming transfers. Poveda deal looking shaky now. Radz too soft and lacks knowledge and we all know about Bielsa who really is a mixed bag and possibly over the hill for a competition as fierce as the English championship.

19 Jan 2020 15:14:58
Of course Belisa deserves some credit but it comes down to one simple question will he get us up

Great fpotballl lovely improvement brilliant but promotion? That’s all that matters.

19 Jan 2020 12:12:07
Morning lads! Disheartening performance from the boys yesterday! Could see the pattern of the game panning out from the first few minutes! Its like Deja vu happening all over again.
The boss and squad need to give their heads a wobble and start fresh, they have to adopt a different mindset and or approach. How do you guys think bielsa should turn around the sides form? With current squad as i don't listen or believe any of the transfer rumours as some are ridiculously lazy and won't believe it unless i see them in a white shirt on OS. To me it seems like a mental thing, 2nd half of the season pressure scenario! We know they have the ability but don't seem to be able to adopt a strong mindset, Something has to change but what my fellow leeds sufferers? Or its groundhog day all over again and a reoccurring nightmare you just can't get rid of! I still remain optimistic more in hope though! Answers on a postcard please! MOT brothers 😎.

19 Jan 2020 12:44:07
Think its all down to what happens in this window and who we get in and whether Bubs thinks they are good enough to go straight in the team. Otherwise we will be relying on youth which is not fair as not many have been given a proper chance yet. Look at the bench yesterday most of them wee just warming it for the day. Got to be up to the players now to pick themselves up and show the belief they have shown in other games. Need to be more direct and get players attacking defenders instead of trying to play around them. Although we are playing well not many of the lads seem to be enjoying it, that's one thing that's missing.

19 Jan 2020 12:58:49
Very good post mate

Bamford face when taking the pen said it all he never looked confident defence just as jittery as well

Mindset is awful and Rot has set in I’m not Belisa fan but even if I was I think we need a fresh face to pick boys up

During fa cup coverage players spoke about Belisa

Awkward distant not the type of guy to put an arm around you was said, . this is as big a problem as the quality of players

Let’s get in mr motivator he ain’t doing much at the moment.

19 Jan 2020 12:07:59
Some great post in the last 24 hours and nearly all the points made are very valid.
Fatigue is our biggest enemy and in part this is caused by the small squad, this also happened last season, so it is mad not to have sorted the problem of squad depth out by recruiting more players of a good enough caliber.
We see players every week playing well against us, but we think we are too good to have them play for us.
The big question now is:
Do we stick with what we have and try and improve it by strengthening
OR
Do we go for a gamble on change and run the risk of it not working and the wheels falling off.
Are fresh players from the U23's who lack experience going to do better than the senior pro's and how many can you put in.
The over use of first team players who then loose form and end up injured against players who Bielsa has less confidence in .

19 Jan 2020 12:54:26
Think Bubs has underestimated the teams in this division believing his style is best, which it is if you score, and it has got to be played whatever. He does not seem to look at opposition threats and use counter measures. Seems more concerned about formation and discipline than actually winning the match.

19 Jan 2020 11:45:50
What a dull, dank, depressing, post match blues based, Sunday this is. I hope it's the last one for a while!

19 Jan 2020 11:55:46
I am not down yet but on my way. There is a chance we can turn it all around again next 3 or 4 games but you look at Millwall and think .

19 Jan 2020 11:56:38
Sadly Brighty on that form and with no major surgery, I regret.

19 Jan 2020 12:04:47
BB. I’m seriously worried about big Matt Smith next week! Then I think a raft of changes for Wigan, to give some of the lads, like Meslier, Casey, Mccalmont, Shacks, Bogusz a shot. Give the senior players a kick in the ass!

19 Jan 2020 12:22:59
Wall are flying full of confidence good manager and perfectly set up to exploit our weaknesses both ends of the pitch. I’m dreading it.

19 Jan 2020 11:36:56
For those of us feeling a bit deflated, down in the dumps or downright bloody disappointed today, I have found a positive. At the end of the day, as it stands this instant, we have still won more games than anyone in the division, Brom included. We can do it, just not consistently.

19 Jan 2020 11:58:24
I can feel myself inflating already. Onwards and upwards.

19 Jan 2020 12:25:40
Form mate form. last season in relate but maybe even a bit worse.

19 Jan 2020 13:07:44
The only good thing is other teams are not that consistent either but we have to be and we are not. Its all up in the air folks.

19 Jan 2020 09:38:56
Looking like the play offs again guys. That was a poor result when we needed the win. ARE the players to blame for it though. Against Birmingham although it was chaotic and the gameplan went out the window but we showed fire and passion and we snowed we could score. Next match all that seemed to have been sucked out of us and back to playing keep ball. I ask myself would Bam score more for Brom or Fulham or Brentford and i think he would. We have seen Costa can easily go past players and cross the ball but not happening for us. For all the possession we can not score and we can not defend. Think major fault is lack of height at both ends. If we had some one at the front who could get his head on the ball Costa and Harrison may be more useful and set pieces would not be wasted as much. At the back height is an obvious problem to anyone. If you do not have a tall striker to come back and help then you have to have a tall cb.
Keeping faith with players for the sake of it is a problem. Dallas offers very little at left back and for me is not a cm but is ever present all over the place. Guess he will fill in for KP next game. How anyone can think Berardi and White are a good cb pairing is beyond me.
So i think i am allowed at this stage to look at Bubs and ask what is happening. Have you learned from last season. You need to compete and score goals to get out of the championship. By compete i mean battle not just play pretty football. We have proved possession means nothing if you do not win. that's your legacy so far Bub. Ethics are fine and belief in the system is fine but if we are not prepared to spend the money to make it a success then let's throw Edmo and Pascal in and let Costa do what he does best. Klich has been poor for most of his games yet is an ever present. Left back spot needs to be given to some one not changed every game.
Some thing needs to be done quickly as once again in the games that matter we do not know what to do and play like robots. Once again Orta and Radz are stumbling around in the transfer market going after unrealistic targets and ending up signing a load of young ones. Would a signing matter, would Bubs play them before the end of March.
The optimism is slowly being sucked out of me. Now go on a four match winning spree and fill me up again. MOT.

19 Jan 2020 10:18:58
Agree totally about height. Our corners are easy meat for all defences. But we still have 4 points to spare, and in this division anybody can take points from anybody, so I still have confidence/ hope we will click again.

19 Jan 2020 10:26:10
sadly i agree with this post 100% and been saying it for ages.

i still think there is hope but not with belisa. we are in a good position in the table and with a turn around of form we will go up. we need a harry redknapp or dave basset type of manager to come in and lift the place. get these players back to there best.

19 Jan 2020 11:12:28
Look what Redknapp did with Brum Bermo, which led to their points deduction.
And Bassett, he’s a bloody dinosaur.
I’ll stick with Bielsa, thanks.

19 Jan 2020 11:13:28
Great post, try looking at it another way, 6 pts from 21, if this was start of the season and its wasnt bielsa, what would all be thinkin, totally love what bielsa has done for the team, and I'm not in sacking camp, but his stubbornness will cost us, thick skinned Oldman who doesn't want to be proved wrong IMO, but still radz needs to gamble and dig deep, for me orta is the problem, who is our scouting network, look at the lad on the wing for QPR, peanuts from Blackpool, yet were willing to pay 13 mill 4 costa, who was better?, look at our last 2 opponents, both beat us, 1 thumped 5 at home by Blackburn, 1 thumped by brentford.
MOT.

19 Jan 2020 11:21:36
Berms, half of these players were beneath mediocre when Bielsa arrived. B'bud, I agree with most of your post, but not the bit about Bamford. He would not score more at any of the teams you listed, or any other playing in the fourth tier or above. Bamford couldn't even score in a cheap brothel, despite his fame, fortune and boyish good looks. Christ I hope Bielsa recognises that now. Watching "pet" players get selected week in week out is becoming excruciating. I let out an exasperated sigh yesterday upon hearing that Bielsa thought that Ed needed an Eddie Nketia on the bench. NSS!

19 Jan 2020 11:37:07
LUFC i was trying to be kind to Bamford but sort of agree but still think midfield have to score goals as well and not doing it.

19 Jan 2020 11:37:43
basset and redknapp are not my suggestion to take over just saying we need someone of that type.

we was playing well. so players can do that. now we just don't look like we have a win in us. so new manager bounce could change that. leeds are falling apart again. i'm getting same texts from last year with pics of leeds crumble from tescos. if i'm getting same joke we must be doing same thing. therefor a need to change must be due

lets remember this time in the summer i was calling for belisa out due to lack of height inability to change his problems. i predicited the same thing to happen again

what was my answer back then. get in pearson. the man who has turned watford around. again this is not a i told you so post. just trying to highlight my frustration of leeds falling apart and the club doing nothing to stop it

belisa must go. tonight. every game is a game wasted and points lost. do we really think we will pick up enough points to go up automotacily? if not we will be too low in confidence to win playoffs as that is about form. so let's not repeate last season. come on leeds fans do something about it. against wigan when we lose. start chanting bleisa out. let's not do what we did last year.

19 Jan 2020 11:39:33
tory i agree about bamford (to a degree) but like george you want to keep belisa yet want him to change

we either accept belisa. and say don't change anything mate that ain't your style. or we ask him to pack his bags


bamford up front, no 4-4-2 for george, no change at the back with belisa. he doesn't change he is clueless

so let's love belisa as he is or like me want him gone.

19 Jan 2020 11:42:19
Like George has said, Bam would be successful as a 10, with an out and out 9, in a 442, but we won’t play that way. He’d get loads of assists and 10-15 goals. Maybe next year, if Bielsa walks, if we don’t go up.

19 Jan 2020 11:42:28
I think we all agree that we love the style of play that Bielsa has brought to the club and has elivated the performances of some average Championship players. His stubborn streak is starting to annoy me a tad, with either sticking to the same tactics that teams have worked out or sticking with the same players who are either not performing or are physically shot because of his intensity. A truely great manager identifies what works well and adapts what does not i. e. klopp. I do sympathise that Bielsa does not have the depth of squad to necessarily change the style of play, however even if he had, I still don't think he would change anything. Someone posted yesterday that we are physically and mentally weak, which is actually spot on. I believe this weakness runs from the top down. A Chairman who is content in not investing any more on the playing squad. A stronger Chairman would see what we are seeing and influence the manager to allow additional resources to support. Before the Martyn's of this world state the tired phrase "How do you know he has not? " I don't, but the facts are we had a bunch of kids on the bench yesterday that Bielsa did not want to use. We have a DOF who has the ability to pick players up who are ready for the knackers yard - Roberts, Forshaw, Douglas. A manager who will not adapt his principles one inch despite the fact it has brought him very little success during his long career. A captain, who is a nice fella but when the going gets tough he has little influence. A playing staff with little or no leaders. Harsh words I know but we are in a funk at the moment and struggle to see how we will lift ourselves from it. Those that say we are still second with a 4 points gap, I cannot argue with. However I would say, we were second with an 11 points, no 9 points, no 6 points, no 4 points gap .

19 Jan 2020 12:13:07
Good post Notts. If we do not go up this season it is not about the manager, or Radz or Orta, it is all of them they all need to share the blame. When Radz came some thought he was a saviour. I said back then it was Aser whoo held the key. He bought us through Aser who buy failing projects, make them better then sell. That was the agenda from day one whether Radz has his family in Leeds shirts or not. No argument with this its how it works. He has carried on from Cellino and kept us financially sound but player wise we sell more than we buy. We have good players giving their all in a system that's not firing properly. You either change players or change owners? management in that scenario. Hope its owners and Radz decides to sell in the summer promotion or not. I think he has taken us as far as he can.

19 Jan 2020 03:13:59
Meanwhile, look what Alfe-Inge's son did on debut. Why are we frequently the bridesmaid and never the bride? Possibly becoming one of the top 5 strikers in the world born in our city doesn't play for us and we need 🥅.

19 Jan 2020 10:06:51
If you really think he would sign for us george you need to lay off the cherry.

19 Jan 2020 10:50:48
Yeah, those cherries are deadly 😂.

19 Jan 2020 10:52:15
Talent like that is not coming to the championship. Nice dream George now wake up man.

19 Jan 2020 11:08:21
It would have if he had pounced before RBL did and apparently we were interested. Once again, Orta and Radz letting us down.

19 Jan 2020 11:43:29
He was never going to come to us. He might, if we become part of the furniture in the PL.

19 Jan 2020 07:39:02
{Ed's Note - Ed001 has posted a new article entitled, Top 10 Centre-Backs

19 Jan 2020 08:06:48
Ed001 Do I have to click on your article to discover if the towering defensive force which is Liam Cooper is mentioned? I'll err on the side of caution and say he didn't quite make the cut.

{Ed001's Note - if it had been the top 100 centre-backs in the Championship, he might have just made the cut.....Ah who am I kidding, he would never have made that either.}

19 Jan 2020 10:08:32
Might make top 100 in the football league.

19 Jan 2020 10:51:44
Doubt it. Top of the worst 100.