Leeds United Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours 2020/2021

c.p.w.g.w

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Agree fully.

Leeds have a lot more rivals in the Championship, Derby, Forest, Hull, Huddersfield, Wednesday, even Cardiff and Milwall. And though I could be accused of being stuck in the 80s, I'd regard a lot of Championship clubs as being far bigger than some of the Premier League outfits, that may have richer owners or just be better run.

But as you say, the risk of staying stuck in the Championship is seeing players and managers move on.

Sure Forrest are 2 time European champions...which in my mind make them bigger than a whole group of PL clubs...

Jimmy Two Times

Going to be difficult trying to recreate the visceral atmosphere of games against Cardiff, Wednesday, Milwall etc in places like Watford ( if they stay up ) Bournemouth ( ditto ) , Southampton and Brighton.

Be weird playing teams where the fans don't hate us :-)

DVDM93

pretty cool this.

is_that_so

Radrizzani interview about next season. More Sheffield United than Aston Villa is very good to hear.

https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/sport/football/leeds-united/leeds-united-owner-andrea-radrizzani-whites-investment-new-signings-49ers-qsi-and-premier-league-plan-2918450

jacool

In 2004, the year that Arsenal went through the season unbeaten, Leeds United were relegated from the Premier League, sandwiched between Leicester City and Wolves, on goal difference and goals scored. Their relegation was actually confirmed on 02 May 2004 when they lost to Bolton. In those 16 long intervening years, Norwich have gone at this relegation thing in an Olympian fashion, i.e. getting relegated on average every 4 years. Just behind them, as not quite the history Leeds will want to be making, are Birmingham, and trying-again-to-be-promoted WBA, both with 3 relegations.
Of the teams relegated in 2004 and since, Bolton Wanderers (who technically relegated Leeds) have just slipped into League 2, leaving Blackpool, Sunderland and Portsmouth behind them, in League 1.
Most of the rest are in the Championship and it’s clear that some have yo-yo’ed with their Premier League status over the years! 8 of those yo-yo clubs (Crystal Palace, Southampton, Sheff. Utd., Watford, Newcastle, Burnley, West Ham and Wolves) are the ones that Leeds will want to be in the mix with, as well as trying to stay ahead of their promoted rivals. You only have to find 3 clubs worse than you to survive.

The gap between relegation and promotion was a gap of 5921 days, 16 years, 2 months and 16 days!
A lot of things have happened since then.
Back then, I was single, had a dad, had (some) hair and football was an all-consuming passion.
Now, I am a dad, have lost my dad, have lost my hair, and football is less-consuming, but still in there, a glow, that was dimming with the crushing blows of season after season in the lower leagues. Until now.
LEEDS ARE BACK!
Back, and back in a big way.
I can’t believe how much I’m reading about them and hearing about them in the media.
A sleeping giant, and hopefully for a whole new generation of fans too.

A frightening statistic that I don’t want Leeds involved in, is that fact that 44% of clubs promoted, so straight back down. Leeds need to harness the positivity and drive on, right from the start.
28% of relegated teams go back up again, but I believe it Leeds went down, El Loco would be off, and the struggle would be massive.
Personally, I’m hoping he’s really looking forward to going toe-to-toe with the top managers in the Premier League, and vice versa.

There were two good stories on the radio today.
The first one was about the FA Cup game against now-finalists Arsenal, where everyone said Leeds were the better team for well over 30 minutes. Just rinse and repeat 38 times. (Not 46!)
The second was a story Pep told about an after-match chat with Bielsa, when Bilbao played Barcelona. He said that Marcelo knew more about Barca than Pep did!!
So he’ll have his homework done!

here are what the bookies think of Leeds 2021
5/6 - Finish above Sheff Utd
1/5 – not to be relegated
100/30 - To be relegated
7/2 - Top half finish
14/1 - Top six finish
33/1 - Top four finish
16/1 - Bielsa to win a Manager of the Month award (worth a nibble!)

Now though, is a summer to wait for the fixture list to come out, and find out when the big guns are coming to town, or when those big away dates are planned, waiting for fans to be allowed back in, and then picking those games to get to see.
It’s a summer to sit back, relax and enjoy . . . . .


. . . . . and to dream!

DVDM93

Enjoy.

Lots of tears, salt & lemons in this one

https://twitter.com/5liveSport/status/1284601337343348741?s=20

Mushy

DVDM93 wrote: »

Enjoy.

Lots of tears, salt & lemons in this one

https://twitter.com/5liveSport/status/1284601337343348741?s=20

Was up there as my favourite part of the weekend. He should worry about his own team not having the honour to show up to play a game of football yesterday

davedanon

DVDM93 wrote: »

Enjoy.

Lots of tears, salt & lemons in this one

https://twitter.com/5liveSport/status/1284601337343348741?s=20

"And how would you like those grapes served, sir?

Extra-sour? Very good."

whiterebel

Aw, diddums. Forgetting his club being investigated for avoiding FFP, players going on the p*ss and driving......yeah, real honourable are Derby.

quarryman

No new season tickets will issued for the 20/21 season.

I shall be wrapping mine up in cotton wool safely. Roll on United making a league return to Elland road!

blaa85

Poor Berardi, out for up to 9 months with ACL tear.

Mushy

blaa85 wrote: »

Poor Berardi, out for up to 9 months with ACL tear.

I hope they give him a 1 year extension just to cover rehab etc. He had a great season when called upon, took the extra month contract to play till the end (although probably easier than fighting a relegation battle and getting injured), so would be deserved

championc

Mushy wrote: »

I hope they give him a 1 year extension just to cover rehab etc. He had a great season when called upon, took the extra month contract to play till the end (although probably easier than fighting a relegation battle and getting injured), so would be deserved

Mr. Dependible is Berardi. He could be out of the first team for ages but can be counted on to deliver when called upon

Always Be Closing

quarryman wrote: »

No new season tickets will issued for the 20/21 season.

I shall be wrapping mine up in cotton wool safely. Roll on United making a league return to Elland road!

:rolleyes:

10000maniacs

jacool wrote: »

In 2004, the year that Arsenal went through the season unbeaten, Leeds United were relegated from the Premier League, sandwiched between Leicester City and Wolves, on goal difference and goals scored. Their relegation was actually confirmed on 02 May 2004 when they lost to Bolton. In those 16 long intervening years, Norwich have gone at this relegation thing in an Olympian fashion, i.e. getting relegated on average every 4 years. Just behind them, as not quite the history Leeds will want to be making, are Birmingham, and trying-again-to-be-promoted WBA, both with 3 relegations.
Of the teams relegated in 2004 and since, Bolton Wanderers (who technically relegated Leeds) have just slipped into League 2, leaving Blackpool, Sunderland and Portsmouth behind them, in League 1.
Most of the rest are in the Championship and it’s clear that some have yo-yo’ed with their Premier League status over the years! 8 of those yo-yo clubs (Crystal Palace, Southampton, Sheff. Utd., Watford, Newcastle, Burnley, West Ham and Wolves) are the ones that Leeds will want to be in the mix with, as well as trying to stay ahead of their promoted rivals. You only have to find 3 clubs worse than you to survive.

The gap between relegation and promotion was a gap of 5921 days, 16 years, 2 months and 16 days!
A lot of things have happened since then.
Back then, I was single, had a dad, had (some) hair and football was an all-consuming passion.
Now, I am a dad, have lost my dad, have lost my hair, and football is less-consuming, but still in there, a glow, that was dimming with the crushing blows of season after season in the lower leagues. Until now.
LEEDS ARE BACK!
Back, and back in a big way.
I can’t believe how much I’m reading about them and hearing about them in the media.
A sleeping giant, and hopefully for a whole new generation of fans too.

A frightening statistic that I don’t want Leeds involved in, is that fact that 44% of clubs promoted, so straight back down. Leeds need to harness the positivity and drive on, right from the start.
28% of relegated teams go back up again, but I believe it Leeds went down, El Loco would be off, and the struggle would be massive.
Personally, I’m hoping he’s really looking forward to going toe-to-toe with the top managers in the Premier League, and vice versa.

There were two good stories on the radio today.
The first one was about the FA Cup game against now-finalists Arsenal, where everyone said Leeds were the better team for well over 30 minutes. Just rinse and repeat 38 times. (Not 46!)
The second was a story Pep told about an after-match chat with Bielsa, when Bilbao played Barcelona. He said that Marcelo knew more about Barca than Pep did!!
So he’ll have his homework done!

here are what the bookies think of Leeds 2021
5/6 - Finish above Sheff Utd
1/5 – not to be relegated
100/30 - To be relegated
7/2 - Top half finish
14/1 - Top six finish
33/1 - Top four finish
16/1 - Bielsa to win a Manager of the Month award (worth a nibble!)

Now though, is a summer to wait for the fixture list to come out, and find out when the big guns are coming to town, or when those big away dates are planned, waiting for fans to be allowed back in, and then picking those games to get to see.
It’s a summer to sit back, relax and enjoy . . . . .


. . . . . and to dream!

I have just put on a bet of €50 at 200:1 for Leeds to be champions in 2021.
We have to believe.

davedanon

If we finish ahead of everyone bar City, Pool, MU, Chelsea, Spurs, Arse, Wolves & Leicester it'll be a very decent season.

is_that_so

davedanon wrote: »

If we finish ahead of everyone bar City, Pool, MU, Chelsea, Spurs, Arse, Wolves & Leicester it'll be a very decent season.

Anything above 18th would be very decent, 12-15 for a good season and top 10 amazing!

davedanon

is_that_so wrote: »

Anything above 18th would be very decent, 12-15 for a good season and top 10 amazing!

I expect us to surprise with the quality of our football, but if we don't score goals we will inevitably struggle.

Always Be Closing

First game of the season I expect

Meslier
Ayling
Cooper
Dallas
Klich
Phillips
Costa
Harrison
Bamford

All to start.

Ben White or his replacement next to Cooper

Personally if we could go big on White, a Pablo replacement and back up to Bamford (He will still be Bielsa's main man, love him or hate him) to compliment the likes of Alisoki,Roberts,Shackleton, Struijk, Poveda et al, I'd be happy with that.

is_that_so

davedanon wrote: »

I expect us to surprise with the quality of our football, but if we don't score goals we will inevitably struggle.

Oh I agree, just trying to set my expectations. Number one purchase for me is a proven goal scorer.

event

Yeah 17th and I'll be happy. And the same the next year.

Clubs get way too ahead of themselves and think they'll be flying. Even Sheffield united, next year their target should be 17th. You dont become a solid PL club in one summer. And lets not forget, before Bielsa this was a midtable squad. So there could be drop off, there could be lads who were flying in the champo and now will struggle. Some people dont think Cooper is cut out for the championship and now is is going to start in the PL.

Ill be very patient next year. And of course when we are down the bottom, you'll get people moaning that Bielsa only plays one way, needs to change tactics, needs to lump it etc. That wont happen.

Jimmy Two Times

quarryman wrote: »

No new season tickets will issued for the 20/21 season.

I shall be wrapping mine up in cotton wool safely. Roll on United making a league return to Elland road!

Wonder how they will work this if there's a partial reopening of the stadium and we can fit 14/15,000 in initially.

With 22,500 Season Tickets presume they'll allocate everyone a portion of games they can attend. Be just my luck to get Southampton,Burnley and Brighton while quarryman gets Liverpool, City and the other shower :-)

davedanon

event wrote: »

Yeah 17th and I'll be happy. And the same the next year.

Clubs get way too ahead of themselves and think they'll be flying. Even Sheffield united, next year their target should be 17th. You dont become a solid PL club in one summer. And lets not forget, before Bielsa this was a midtable squad. So there could be drop off, there could be lads who were flying in the champo and now will struggle. Some people dont think Cooper is cut out for the championship and now is is going to start in the PL.

Ill be very patient next year. And of course when we are down the bottom, you'll get people moaning that Bielsa only plays one way, needs to change tactics, needs to lump it etc. That wont happen.

Not me. I firmly believe it's the journey that matters here, not the destination. We may well never come close to winning anything with Bielsa in the Prem, but I intend to enjoy every second along the way. This manager is a gift. Other clubs' fans should be jealous that we have him, imo. In a way, you could think of Bielsa as our reward for the suffering of the past decade and a half.

Jimmy Two Times

davedanon wrote: »

Not me. I firmly believe it's the journey that matters here, not the destination. We may well never come close to winning anything with Bielsa in the Prem, but I intend to enjoy every second along the way. This manager is a gift. Other clubs' fans should be jealous that we have him, imo. In a way, you could think of Bielsa as our reward for the suffering of the past decade and a half.

Agree with this. Strangely enough ( final outcome notwithstanding ) I really enjoyed last season. The contrast in the football we saw compared to the drivel we endured in the previous few years was breathtaking.

On another note, everyone keeps harping on about the 16 years of suffering. In my view the 2002/03 and 2003/04 seasons were as bad if not worse than anything we have endured since.........OK maybe except relegation to League 1, but you know where I'm coming from.

To see O'Leary's really exciting team fall apart like that was awful.

Ceist_Beag

Also, the league 1 promotion season was fun, as was the year we started -15 and won our first 7 matches. It certainly wasn't all 16 years of suffering imho. However the last 2 seasons have certainly been better than anything we have enjoyed in many a long year and certainly better than the last few years in the top flight.

event

davedanon wrote: »

Not me. I firmly believe it's the journey that matters here, not the destination. We may well never come close to winning anything with Bielsa in the Prem, but I intend to enjoy every second along the way. This manager is a gift. Other clubs' fans should be jealous that we have him, imo. In a way, you could think of Bielsa as our reward for the suffering of the past decade and a half.

Yeah I think all the regulars in here are fairly reasoned supporters and logical. Im sure there'll be some moaners on twitter and radio phone ins, not that I bother with either

Always Be Closing

Ceist_Beag wrote: »

Also, the league 1 promotion season was fun, as was the year we started -15 and won our first 7 matches. It certainly wasn't all 16 years of suffering imho. However the last 2 seasons have certainly been better than anything we have enjoyed in many a long year and certainly better than the last few years in the top flight.

League One -15 season was better than the Champions League season in my opinion. An absolute hoot from start to finish (well, the ending sucked but you know what I mean)

The start of 08/09 under Gary Mc and the emergence of Fabian Delph

All of 09/10 apart from the March-April period

10/11 up until Xmas when we were 2nd in Championship and Bates wouldn't pony up for a couple of defenders.

Then there was pretty much nothing of note between 2011 to 2016.

We had the Monk season which ended with a whimper

The start of the TC reign (won out first 7 games, 4th at Xmas)

And then of course the arrival of God.

Anything less than a Top 4 finish next season will be an abject failure

quarryman

Always Be Closing wrote: »

:rolleyes:

Oh no. Can’t believe I did that!

is_that_so

is_that_so wrote: »

Oh I agree, just trying to set my expectations. Number one purchase for me is a proven goal scorer.

Looks like Leeds have already spent tens of millions on a striker.

Which serves as a useful reminder as to how difficult it can be to land a player who can just slot in and start scoring freely. This was a player that Bielsa presumably approved...

https://www.forbes.com/sites/manuelveth/2020/07/01/augustin-23-million-contract-dispute-between-leeds-and-leipzig-could-become-benchmark/#62f5106879b3

event

Yeah was a shocking deal. But it had worked out for Harrison and Costa so can see why they did it tbh

whiterebel

I wonder will they try to argue that they were sold a pup. If they knew about his attitude and poor training, they could argue that the contract was based on bad faith. They certainly didn't take long to shift out their supposed "future of the club".

is_that_so

Deleted User wrote: »

Looks like Leeds have already spent tens of millions on a striker.

Which serves as a useful reminder as to how difficult it can be to land a player who can just slot in and start scoring freely. This was a player that Bielsa presumably approved...

https://www.forbes.com/sites/manuelveth/2020/07/01/augustin-23-million-contract-dispute-between-leeds-and-leipzig-could-become-benchmark/#62f5106879b3

I know, hard to see a way out of that. Financial side of deal has more than a hint of Seth Johnson about it and it could screw up the level of transfer options this season. I'd say Bielsa approved the player but not the deal. Might be best to just write it off and see if any benefit can come of keeping him, even if it's just loaning him off somewhere.

Mushy

Adidas officially confirmed now, hopefully not long to wait to see what they offer up

event

whiterebel wrote: »

I wonder will they try to argue that they were sold a pup. If they knew about his attitude and poor training, they could argue that the contract was based on bad faith. They certainly didn't take long to shift out their supposed "future of the club".

Not a chance. Its a legal contract

event

Ake on the way to city supposedly. Would mean less chance of White going there. And I dont see pool signing him tbh. It's a lazy link cos he'd suit their style of play

davedanon

Mushy wrote: »

Adidas officially confirmed now, hopefully not long to wait to see what they offer up

I ordered this season's charcoal 'n' pink away strip regardless anyway, I love it. If the new one's good I'll probably get the home jersey.

event

Never wear jerseys but a Leeds and Adidas white track top? That's on the list

Eggs For Dinner

davedanon wrote: »

I ordered this season's charcoal 'n' pink away strip regardless anyway, I love it. If the new one's good I'll probably get the home jersey.

Where did you get it? I tried to get one from the club website and all the adult sizes are sold out.

davedanon

event wrote: »

Not a chance. Its a legal contract

And as we know, they are U.N.B.R.E.A.K.A.B.L.E

davedanon

Eggs For Dinner wrote: »

Where did you get it? I tried to get one from the club website and all the adult sizes are sold out.

Club website. The, erm, figure-hugging one the players wear was sold out, so I got a replica one. It is pretty damn snug, too. Luckily I am as svelte as anything.

Eggs For Dinner

davedanon wrote: »

Club website. The, erm, figure-hugging one the players wear was sold out, so I got a replica one. It is pretty damn snug, too. Luckily I am as svelte as anything.

You got in before the rush ðŸ˜

event

davedanon wrote: »

And as we know, they are U.N.B.R.E.A.K.A.B.L.E

Well RB won't let us walk away just because we don't want him now. Naive from our side not to include an appearance clause. We wont pay full 18m, I can see him staying with them but us having to pay around 8-10m

is_that_so

:D Bielsa Rhapsody!

https://open.spotify.com/track/6L62u4EZjjqerKNu5nbuG2?si=VU954DgOSq21dq82y_iJBg

is_that_so

Gotta dream big! Cavani coming?

https://www.leeds-live.co.uk/sport/leeds-united/leeds-united-news-cavani-bielsa-18638522

maximoose

Not a chance I would think, silly season is getting started

davedanon

I don't really want some fading superstar at Elland Road. Unless he plays for someone else and is getting a hammering.

maximoose

Inter stalled on signing him in June apparently because he wants €12M a year. Not a hope we pay that!

event

event wrote: »

Well RB won't let us walk away just because we don't want him now. Naive from our side not to include an appearance clause. We wont pay full 18m, I can see him staying with them but us having to pay around 8-10m

As I've said elsewhere, I guess it would be too much to hope that a young footballer, on seeing 2 clubs fight it out over not wanting him, realises is says a lot more about him than either club and decides it's time to knuckle down...

event

Deleted User wrote: »

As I've said elsewhere, I guess it would be too much to hope that a young footballer, on seeing 2 clubs fight it out over not wanting him, realises is says a lot more about him than either club and decides it's time to knuckle down...

I think the problem is Bielsa doesnt want him supposedly. So even if JKA wants to come, MB doesnt want him.

Really is a bad situation for all 3 parties tbh

c.p.w.g.w

event wrote: »

I think the problem is Bielsa doesnt want him supposedly. So even if JKA wants to come, MB doesnt want him.

Really is a bad situation for all 3 parties tbh

Well if his even half as lazy as it's been reported, he'll be of no use to use under El Loco