Leeds United Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours 2020/2021

Ceist_Beag

4 minutes for VAR, someone needs to put a stop to this nonsense

GoldFour4

On to Palace. Hopefully Rodrigo is back available.

Palace will be another tough game - they’ll sit back completely and try to sneak a winner.

Much better second half from the lads tonight albeit the last 10 minutes have been disappointing.

c.p.w.g.w

Ceist_Beag wrote: »

4 minutes for VAR, someone needs to put a stop to this nonsense

was the contact actually inside the box?

purple hands

Match won by team with better players shocker

event

We'd a good 30 mins, not good enough. Id take a draw vs palace then international week to get some bodies back

event

c.p.w.g.w wrote: »

was the contact actually inside the box?

Was on the line so a penalty

Ceist_Beag

event wrote: »

I know we are missing players but thats part of football. Only 2 of them play regularly so its not like its 4 starters.

I think aiming for Europe is silly and way beyond us.

We do not have a consistent scorer.
Our keeper is a kid and he will inevitably have a wobble. His back up is a racist that no one wants to see playing.
We have the youngest squad in the league as well as one of the smallest.

I dont think we'll struggle or anything but top 6 or so? Nah, dont see it

Yeah, we have a lot to learn this season but I do see enough positive signs that we can learn.
Radz said his aim is Europe in 2 or 3 seasons, I'd go along with that.

That's a paddlin', and a bit of a reality check after the Villa result.

It could have been different, the misses, the woodwork. But Leeds can't have any huge complaints either, only got back into the game with a fluke goal.

Leicester are a very good side and will rightly have ambitions to make it to Europe. Realistically, Leeds don't.

event

Ceist_Beag wrote: »

Yeah, we have a lot to learn this season but I do see enough positive signs that we can learn.
Radz said his aim is Europe in 2 or 3 seasons, I'd go along with that.

Yep. Stay up this season, consolidate next year and then push on in the 3rd is a good plan

purple hands

purple hands wrote: »

Match won by team with better players shocker

Not just better players, but when you see Maddison as a sub, a much better squad.

Plus for all we think of Bielsa as a football genius, Rodgers is a very good manager, and has had years at this level with various clubs. And is working with those better players.

10000maniacs

Deleted User wrote: »

Not just better players, but when you see Maddison as a sub, a much better squad.

Plus for all we think of Bielsa as a football genius, Rodgers is a very good manager, and has had years at this level with various clubs. And is working with those better players.

It's critical we put away our chances. Bamford scores in the 2nd minute (anywhere but into the keepers hands) and its a different game. A proper striker would put that away.
A minute later and Koch, anywhere but into the path of Vardy For fcuks sake!

Eggs For Dinner

There will be better nights and some more like this. We wanted Premier League and this is what it can be like playing with the big boys

whiterebel

Costa and Poveda seem to be too lightweight. Easily pushed off the ball, no great desire to tackle. Only consolation tonight is that this is the same team that spanked City away as well.

Didn’t like Pablo's reaction at being subbed, i did think it was too early, especially after he came so close to scoring.

Hijpo

10000maniacs wrote: »

It's critical we put away our chances. Bamford scores in the 2nd minute (anywhere but into the keepers hands) and its a different game. A proper striker would put that away.
A minute later and Koch, anywhere but into the path of Vardy For fcuks sake!

Just do the simple thing and put it out. No matter how hard he passed that ball Vardy was either going to get on the end of it or be on top of messlier immediately.

Unlucky with the second also, messlier had it going back where it came from but it looked like it hit his face and bounced straight out.

10000maniacs

whiterebel wrote: »

Costa and Poveda seem to be too lightweight. Easily pushed off the ball, no great desire to tackle. Only consolation tonight is that this is the same team that spanked City away as well.

Didn’t like Pablo's reaction at being subbed, i did think it was too early, especially after he came so close to scoring.

If we play with tonight's approach at the weekend, we will be spanked. Bielsa has to change something. Palace have two or three top class players who will do us in.

stryker mcqueen

Rodrigo out of the Palace game due to covid protocol... He's a huge loss

10000maniacs

10000maniacs wrote: »

A proper striker would put that away.

Ah in fairness that's harsh. Sometimes strikers will miss.

Bamford is a proper striker. And at Stg£6 or 7 million, a lot better and cheaper than other proper strikers that have flopped in the Premier League. YouTube has lots of videos of proper strikers that cost more, missing easier chances.

is_that_so

10000maniacs wrote: »

If we play with tonight's approach at the weekend, we will be spanked. Bielsa has to change something. Palace have two or three top class players who will do us in.

You might argue that it was too many enforced changes. Cooper coming back was good but was it the right game for him, especially with Koch having another wobbly game? The loss of both Rodrigo and the option of Raphinha didn't help and much as I like Shackleton he needs others around him to be playing well. Bamford not nailing at least one of the chances also made it tougher but Leicester were the better team for most of the match. A good lesson but time to move on to next match.

NuckChorris1

Deleted User wrote: »

That's a paddlin', and a bit of a reality check after the Villa result.

It could have been different, the misses, the woodwork. But Leeds can't have any huge complaints either, only got back into the game with a fluke goal.

Leicester are a very good side and will rightly have ambitions to make it to Europe. Realistically, Leeds don't.

10000maniacs wrote: »

If we play with tonight's approach at the weekend, we will be spanked. Bielsa has to change something. Palace have two or three top class players who will do us in.

Wouldn't have Palace as close in quality to Leicester. Zaha and maybe Van Aanholt their best players. They have a solid team and tactics but I'd be a lot more optimistic against them. Start with a back 4, let Klich be 8 instead of DM and we'll have a much better game.

We're gonna get beat quite a lot but we have a lot to take from that even losing by 3. Pablo's shot and one or two from Bamford's chances makes it very different. They could have had another one or two aswell though. When Shackleton is starting and Alioski, Roberts and Poveda are the subs we bring on it shows that we are still a way behind the established PL teams but we are improving and these players will too. Koch will have more mistakes and he was doing them before we signed him but 6-12 months of Bielsa training should have him rock solid and top quality.

Seathrun66

event wrote: »

I know we are missing players but thats part of football. Only 2 of them play regularly so its not like its 4 starters.

I think aiming for Europe is silly and way beyond us.

We do not have a consistent scorer.
Our keeper is a kid and he will inevitably have a wobble. His back up is a racist that no one wants to see playing.
We have the youngest squad in the league as well as one of the smallest.

I dont think we'll struggle or anything but top 6 or so? Nah, dont see it

Phillips and Rodrigo are regulars. Both would have been on the teamsheet last night if available. Llorente nullified Ronaldo when Spain played Portugal. But for his injury he'd have worked his way into last night's team. Raphinha would have been ahead of Costa and Poveda. For me last night we were without four of our best eleven.

We've been inconsistent but last night was by far our sloppiest performance in the PL. It may also have been greatly different had Bamford scored in the second minute or later, or had Pablo's shot been 3cm lower, but they were undoubtedly smarter and better. In terms of the table we're one win off the European places. Had things gone differently either last night or against Wolves we'd be in thee top six right now.

In terms of a consistent scorer I agree, though we've not yet seen the best of Rodrigo who is, after all, the player the Spanish national team choose to lead the line. Fifteen goals from both him and Bamford would be a good return as others will be chipping in regularly.

Very happy with Meslier. Ikeer Casillas, Petr Cech, David De Gea and others handled that position very well at an even younger age and I've complete faith in our young man. We also have Ella Caprille and Dani van den Heuvel as options.

Our current first-tem squad is twenty seven, one less than Liverpool and four more than Manchester City. As for them being young, well as the man said you'll win nothing with kids.

10000maniacs

NuckChorris1 wrote: »

We're gonna get beat quite a lot but we have a lot to take from that even losing by 3. Pablo's shot and one or two from Bamford's chances makes it very different. They could have had another one or two aswell though. When Shackleton is starting and Alioski, Roberts and Poveda are the subs we bring on it shows that we are still a way behind the established PL teams but we are improving and these players will too. Koch will have more mistakes and he was doing them before we signed him but 6-12 months of Bielsa training should have him rock solid and top quality.

Here lies the problem. It's hard against good teams to create the amount of chances Bamford needs to score. Vardy puts nearly every chance away.
Villa were letting us in at will. Bamford missed a ton of chances in the first half in the Villa game before he scored those three.

Seathrun66

10000maniacs wrote: »

Here lies the problem. It's hard against good teams to create the amount of chances Bamford needs to score. Vardy puts nearly every chance away.
Villa were letting us in at will. Bamford missed a ton of chances in the first half in the Villa game before he scored those three.

In fairness it was two half-chances.

Jimmy Two Times

Honestly not surprised that we were done by Leicester.

In his pre game interview you could almost see Rodgers licking his lips at the thought of the amount of space they were going to get to play in.

Was however,really surprised that Bielsa picked Klich in the Phillips role after seeing him for 70 minutes against a Villa team that really don't seem to have the work ethic needed to be a force at this level. Don't understand why he didn't stick with Struijk and leave Klich at 8. Agree that Costa is very poor and physically weak defensively compared to Harrison.

Realistically, we put out a team of Championship players against a team that were in the CL places for most of last season,playing a counter attacking game ( Koch being the only change, but we had White last season ) so unless everything went right for us we were always likely to struggle. Any team that plays with a back five and can double up on our wide players will cause us huge problems with the way we play. Leicester were so disciplined for most of the game that Harrison and Costa / Poveda got very little joy.

Palace will try play a similar game but hopefully without the quality Leicester have.

I'd have taken a point against Villa and a point against Leicester so in the end we're one better than that.

DoctaDee

event wrote: »

Oh Pablo......

... kills me to say .. but Pablo isn't up to the pace of PL football .. less time on the ball is showing up his limitations and the general ebb and flow is passing him by..

Jimmy Two Times

DoctaDee wrote: »

... kills me to say .. but Pablo isn't up to the pace of PL football .. less time on the ball is showing up his limitations and the general ebb and flow is passing him by..

Yep, particularly against the better teams. Think he might be OK against some of the others,even as a second half sub. He did seem to be making an impression when he was whipped last night as we were definitely on top at that stage. Five minutes later Roberts goes on a solo run to the edge of their box,runs out of ideas,loses the ball and we're 3 - 1 down and it's game over.

is_that_so

Jimmy Two Times wrote: »

Yep, particularly against the better teams. Think he might be OK against some of the others,even as a second half sub. He did seem to be making an impression when he was whipped last night as we were definitely on top at that stage. Five minutes later Roberts goes on a solo run to the edge of their box,runs out of ideas,loses the ball and we're 3 - 1 down and it's game over.

There are one or two, who were excellent last season, coming under scrutiny now. Pablo still has moments in him, but it may well be his last season. Alioski and Roberts too I wonder about. I think there's a good reason there were rumours about a Roberts move as he doesn't seem to be kicking on yet. I'd keep Alioski for his spirit and energy. He can have great bench impact at times. I also reckon it's important to have Raphinha available and fit to put pressure on Costa in particular. There's also a need to find a solution to Phillips getting injured, that's still not happening.

event

10000maniacs wrote: »

If we play with tonight's approach at the weekend, we will be spanked. Bielsa has to change something. Palace have two or three top class players who will do us in.

This wont really happen though. He sticks to his philosophy and doesnt have a Plan B

Seathrun66 wrote: »

Phillips and Rodrigo are regulars. Both would have been on the teamsheet last night if available. Llorente nullified Ronaldo when Spain played Portugal. But for his injury he'd have worked his way into last night's team. Raphinha would have been ahead of Costa and Poveda. For me last night we were without four of our best eleven.

You dont pick the team though. There is not a chance that Bielsa would have started with Lorente and Raphinha last night. He doesnt do that. We had destroyed Villa in the previous games and you think he would give full debuts to two new players? Not the way he works.

Seathrun66 wrote: »

We've been inconsistent but last night was by far our sloppiest performance in the PL. It may also have been greatly different had Bamford scored in the second minute or later, or had Pablo's shot been 3cm lower, but they were undoubtedly smarter and better. In terms of the table we're one win off the European places. Had things gone differently either last night or against Wolves we'd be in thee top six right now.

Sure if my grandmother had wheels she'd be a bike. There's a lot of 'ifs' in that statement.

Seathrun66 wrote: »

In terms of a consistent scorer I agree, though we've not yet seen the best of Rodrigo who is, after all, the player the Spanish national team choose to lead the line. Fifteen goals from both him and Bamford would be a good return as others will be chipping in regularly.

If we get 15 goals out of Bamford I'd be delighted. I think it'll be 12/13 PL goals. And Rodrigo should get the same, but he wont get that playing where he does now. He will have to start up front to get that goal return. And we know how much MB loves Bamford.

Seathrun66 wrote: »

Very happy with Meslier. Ikeer Casillas, Petr Cech, David De Gea and others handled that position very well at an even younger age and I've complete faith in our young man. We also have Ella Caprille and Dani van den Heuvel as options.

Not quite. At 20 years old, Cech was playing for Sparta Prague, DDG was playing for Athletico but had already played at world cups at youth level and Casillas would go on to be one of the best. Lets not just compare him to them.
I am very happy with him but he will have a wobble, it happens

Seathrun66 wrote: »

Our current first-tem squad is twenty seven, one less than Liverpool and four more than Manchester City. As for them being young, well as the man said you'll win nothing with kids.

Our first team squad is 27?

Keepers - Meslier, Casilla, Caprille
Defenders - Ayling, Cooper, Koch, Alioski, Dallas, Llorente, Struijk, Davis
Midfielders - Poveda, Costa, Pablo, Phillips, Harrison, Raphinha, Klich, Shackleton
Forwards - Bamford, Rodrigo, Roberts

Please dont say you are including the likes of Berardi, Forshaw, Gelhardt, Casey etc

I am not being all doom and gloom or anything. Far from it. I think we will dish out some hidings this year and wont burn out or anything. But I think Europe is a stretch is all

Zaph

Rodrigo has tested positive. He was going to miss the Palace game anyway, and presumably it'll keep him out of Spain's upcoming games. Hopefully he'll be back after the international break.

Shlippery

****e, Rodney has Covid, at least he isolated in fairness and didn't wipe out the team. Hopefully a mild dose and no longer term impacts..

Zaph

Zaph wrote: »

Rodrigo has tested positive. He was going to miss the Palace game anyway, and presumably it'll keep him out of Spain's upcoming games. Hopefully he'll be back after the international break.

Jesus.

That's worrying. Never mind the upcoming games, but it could have long term health implications. I see some speculating that Pogba's particularly awful patch started after his Covid news.

adaminho

Deleted User wrote: »

Pogba's particularly awful patch started after his Covid news.

I never knew Covid was around 4 years ago

Seathrun66

event wrote: »

This wont really happen though. He sticks to his philosophy and doesnt have a Plan B




You dont pick the team though. There is not a chance that Bielsa would have started with Lorente and Raphinha last night. He doesnt do that. We had destroyed Villa in the previous games and you think he would give full debuts to two new players? Not the way he works.



Sure if my grandmother had wheels she'd be a bike. There's a lot of 'ifs' in that statement.



If we get 15 goals out of Bamford I'd be delighted. I think it'll be 12/13 PL goals. And Rodrigo should get the same, but he wont get that playing where he does now. He will have to start up front to get that goal return. And we know how much MB loves Bamford.



Not quite. At 20 years old, Cech was playing for Sparta Prague, DDG was playing for Athletico but had already played at world cups at youth level and Casillas would go on to be one of the best. Lets not just compare him to them.
I am very happy with him but he will have a wobble, it happens



Our first team squad is 27?

Keepers - Meslier, Casilla, Caprille
Defenders - Ayling, Cooper, Koch, Alioski, Dallas, Llorente, Struijk, Davis
Midfielders - Poveda, Costa, Pablo, Phillips, Harrison, Raphinha, Klich, Shackleton
Forwards - Bamford, Rodrigo, Roberts

Please dont say you are including the likes of Berardi, Forshaw, Gelhardt, Casey etc

I am not being all doom and gloom or anything. Far from it. I think we will dish out some hidings this year and wont burn out or anything. But I think Europe is a stretch is all

In terms of our best eleven the four that were missing were very significant. Phillips and Rodrigo certain starters yet you dismissed Llorente and Raphinha. The latter is almost certainly superior to Costa and Poveda while the former had Ronaldo in his pocket when Spain played Portugal last month. Unlikely that he'd not have had a better game than Koch or Cooper last night.

In terms of the 'ifs' in my statement it was entirely devoid of them. Literally none. Assessing the quality of our performances is paramount. Beat Palace and we'll be close to the European places come end of weekend.

Denigrating Meslier as just a kid is, I believe, unfair. Particularly when the goalies I'd pointed out were all playing Champions League football at a younger age. Cech for Sparta Prague at 19, Casillas for Real at 18 and De Gea for Atletico at 18 also. Meslier will have a wobble but don't underestimate his ability due to his age.

The first team squad is indeed 27. That's three more than Man City and exactly the same as Leicester. We don't have a smaller squad that other teams. They are also carrying injured players. You listed 26 but forgot Cresswell. And don't deprecate Gelhardt. You'll be seeing him play this season. Possibly also Greenwood drafted into the squad.

We may not make European football but we won't be too far off, 7th/8th. There are too many mediocre teams who are going to finish below us.

Zaph

Seathrun66 wrote: »

In terms of our best eleven the four that were missing were very significant. Phillips and Rodrigo certain starters yet you dismissed Llorente and Raphinha. The latter is almost certainly superior to Costa and Poveda while the former had Ronaldo in his pocket when Spain played Portugal last month. Unlikely that he'd not have had a better game than Koch or Cooper last night.

Llorente may well have had a better game than either Cooper or Koch had he played last night, but you're missing event's point - he was never going to be playing with those two available. If one of them gets injured and is out for a prolonged period of time, then he'll have a chance to establish himself ahead of them, but for the time being Bielsa is always going to start with Cooper and Koch if they're fit.

I'm sure we all agree one thing.

We'd rather read the recriminations after Leeds are soundly beaten by Leicester in the Premier League, than after the usual home loss to Wigan in the Championship...

whiterebel

True dat.

event

Seathrun66 wrote: »

In terms of our best eleven the four that were missing were very significant. Phillips and Rodrigo certain starters yet you dismissed Llorente and Raphinha. The latter is almost certainly superior to Costa and Poveda while the former had Ronaldo in his pocket when Spain played Portugal last month. Unlikely that he'd not have had a better game than Koch or Cooper last night.

As said above, Llorente wouldnt have played. What he did on international duty doesnt matter. That doesnt always translate to club football and vice versa.

Denigrating Meslier as just a kid is, I believe, unfair. Particularly when the goalies I'd pointed out were all playing Champions League football at a younger age. Cech for Sparta Prague at 19, Casillas for Real at 18 and De Gea for Atletico at 18 also. Meslier will have a wobble but don't underestimate his ability due to his age.

Im not underestimating his ability at all
You've agreed with me that he will have a wobble

The first team squad is indeed 27. That's three more than Man City and exactly the same as Leicester. We don't have a smaller squad that other teams. They are also carrying injured players. You listed 26 but forgot Cresswell. And don't deprecate Gelhardt. You'll be seeing him play this season. Possibly also Greenwood drafted into the squad.

If we are counting those kids, sure then city, liverpool etc can count theirs and have a larger squad. You can only officially name a PL squad size of 25, then include youth prospects. Expecting lads signed for the U23s to come in and play in the PL is a big much

We may not make European football but we won't be too far off, 7th/8th. There are too many mediocre teams who are going to finish below us.

I hope you're right. I just think you're setting up to have a feeling of disappointment come the end of the season if we 'only' finish 14th

Jimmy Two Times

Seathrun66 wrote: »

We may not make European football but we won't be too far off, 7th/8th. There are too many mediocre teams who are going to finish below us.

Be so happy to be proved wrong but I just can't see it.

Between going to ER and TV I've been lucky enough to have seen every game since Forest away last season and most of the ones before that and the one thing that stands out above all others is that if teams try to play against us we have every chance of winning ( Villa, Liverpool and City ) , when they sit back and allow us come on to them and defend well we will struggle ( Wolves, Sheff Utd, Leicester ).

Most of the mediocre teams like Palace ,Burnley,Southampton, Newcastle will see this as the way to play us and will frustrate us. It's all well and good noting that we dominate the possession stats but when teams play this way,that's always going to happen.

My hope is that the gap we have already opened up between ourselves and the bottom 3 will be too much for them to make up and that we can win enough games to be relatively safe with 10 games to go. At that point I will start to look up and not down.

Seathrun66

Zaph wrote: »

Llorente may well have had a better game than either Cooper or Koch had he played last night, but you're missing event's point - he was never going to be playing with those two available. If one of them gets injured and is out for a prolonged period of time, then he'll have a chance to establish himself ahead of them, but for the time being Bielsa is always going to start with Cooper and Koch if they're fit.

But for the international injury I believe that Llorente would have played himself into the team by now. He's better than Cooper and more experienced than Koch. Bielsa may have opted for him rather than than take a chance on a guy returning for injury.

And my points were in response to event downplaying the extent of our injuries, believing that Leicester were worse off. We were missing Kalvin Phillips and three out of our four major Summer signings. That's significant.

Seathrun66

event wrote: »

As said above, Llorente wouldnt have played. What he did on international duty doesnt matter. That doesnt always translate to club football and vice versa.




Im not underestimating his ability at all
You've agreed with me that he will have a wobble



If we are counting those kids, sure then city, liverpool etc can count theirs and have a larger squad. You can only officially name a PL squad size of 25, then include youth prospects. Expecting lads signed for the U23s to come in and play in the PL is a big much



I hope you're right. I just think you're setting up to have a feeling of disappointment come the end of the season if we 'only' finish 14th

But for the international injury I believe that Llorente would have played himself into the team by now. For me's he's better than Cooper and more experienced than Koch. Bielsa may have opted for him rather than than take a chance on a guy returning for injury. You'll probably disagree but I expect Koch & Llorente to be the defensive partnership after Xmas.

Your statement was 'Our keeper is a kid and he will inevitably have a wobble.' He's older than the great goalies I mentioned who were playing at a higher level than the PL at an earlier age. And of course he'll have a wobble, every keeper does. It's akin to Paul Merson saying that he's 'unconvinced' by Leeds and someone will give us a hammering. Every club gets a hammering yet Merson can now say 'told you so' which is pretty disingenuous.
Have faith in Meisler. We've done veery well with him, and teams will be sniffing around very soon. How many keepers in the PL would you swap him for?

Happy to have a wager on Gelhardt making an appearance this year. And Greenwood also, though maybe in the FA. Both a year older than Milner when he first appeared at ER and Liverpool have been bringing kids through since Klopp's arrival. Trent Alexander Arnold is only 22 still and has made 144 appearances thus far, his debut two weeks after his 18th birthday. Rhys Williams is 19 and has made five appearances. Joe Gomez debut at 18 and 120 appearances. I'd be very surprised if our two didn't appear but happy to eat humble pie if wrong.

And if we finish 14th then that's fine. I'd be disappointed as I think we're better than at least 8/9 clubs in the division. However I wouldn't criticise the manager or players. It's looking like we have good times ahead. Hope you enjoy them.

Seathrun66

Jimmy Two Times wrote: »

Be so happy to be proved wrong but I just can't see it.

Between going to ER and TV I've been lucky enough to have seen every game since Forest away last season and most of the ones before that and the one thing that stands out above all others is that if teams try to play against us we have every chance of winning ( Villa, Liverpool and City ) , when they sit back and allow us come on to them and defend well we will struggle ( Wolves, Sheff Utd, Leicester ).

Most of the mediocre teams like Palace ,Burnley,Southampton, Newcastle will see this as the way to play us and will frustrate us. It's all well and good noting that we dominate the possession stats but when teams play this way,that's always going to happen.

My hope is that the gap we have already opened up between ourselves and the bottom 3 will be too much for them to make up and that we can win enough games to be relatively safe with 10 games to go. At that point I will start to look up and not down.

I agree regarding that set-up by poorer teams against us but it's a risky strategy. We score early and they've got to come out. Wolves got away with it. Leicester were far superior but how would they have reacted had Bamford been more clinical in the first half? All hypotheticals, but it's flattering that teams feel they have to approach us in this way. We'll also win more than we lose when teams take that approach.

event

Seathrun66 wrote: »

It's looking like we have good times ahead. Hope you enjoy them.

After watching sh1te for about 18 years, we all will

---

Follow up on my faulty training top. Emailed the office, they said to send back. Have refunded me the postage costs and already sent a new one out to me, seems pretty good

NuckChorris1

Seathrun66 wrote: »

I agree regarding that set-up by poorer teams against us but it's a risky strategy. We score early and they've got to come out. Wolves got away with it. Leicester were far superior but how would they have reacted had Bamford been more clinical in the first half? All hypotheticals, but it's flattering that teams feel they have to approach us in this way. We'll also win more than we lose when teams take that approach.

Wolves and Leicester always play that way. Not as flattery to us, it just also happens to the style that is most successful against us. I like your optimism but some of the expectations seem close to crazy. We're just about back in the Premiership. We have a great owner and manager but neither has experience in this league. We've spent money and the signings look great but I'm sure plenty of other teams in the past have thought the same. Top 6 after 7 games would make no difference. I'd very gladly take 17th spot right now. We need to be sensible and not replicate fans of other clubs who seem to think that they're entitled to titles and European football just because of who they are.

Wolves/Leicester stats: https://www.premierleague.com/news/1700025

Seathrun66

NuckChorris1 wrote: »

Wolves and Leicester always play that way. Not as flattery to us, it just also happens to the style that is most successful against us. I like your optimism but some of the expectations seem close to crazy. We're just about back in the Premiership. We have a great owner and manager but neither has experience in this league. We've spent money and the signings look great but I'm sure plenty of other teams in the past have thought the same. Top 6 after 7 games would make no difference. I'd very gladly take 17th spot right now. We need to be sensible and not replicate fans of other clubs who seem to think that they're entitled to titles and European football just because of who they are.

Wolves/Leicester stats: https://www.premierleague.com/news/1700025

I agree with that but we came up with possibly the best promoted side I've seen for two decades (Wolves were nowhere near as impressive in the championship as they are after several buys). We were this Summer the fifth highest spending club in Europe. We have a great manager and fans prepared to buy merchandise and shell out on tickets (even during a pandemic our season tickets sold out when other fans would be wary). We're fitter than almost all clubs in the division and have the option of huge San Francisco 49ers cash behind us should we wish.

I'm just happy to be playing the teams we're playing. I don't think there's any entitlement or arrogance from the fans but with cold assessment we are better than half the teams in the division. Does anyone here feel that we're going to finish below Fulham, Burnley, WBA, Sheffield Utd, Villa, Newcastle, Palace, Brighton or West Ham? After that we're competing for positions with Wolves, Southampton, Everton and, I particularly love this bit, Manchester United.

If I'm wrong and we fall apart I'll happily eat humble pie here but I expect us to be in the top 8.

NuckChorris1

Palace game on Saturday is on Premier Sports (with BT Sport package). Just in case anyone, like me until right now, thought it was only on PPV.

blaa85

NuckChorris1 wrote: »

Palace game on Saturday is on Premier Sports (with BT Sport package). Just in case anyone, like me until right now, thought it was only on PPV.

That's great news, I checked Premier Sports the other day and it wasn't listed.

The Golden Miller

Leeds seem to start slow each game this season. Takes time for them get into their rhythm. Leicester are a solid team, and this result was no surprise really. But I don't agree that Leed's were soundly beaten, or it was some sort of Leicester masterclass where they sussed Leed's out.

When Leed's settled they had the measure of Leicester. With a bit more nous they would of got the equaliser. Leicester were under pressure at that stage, they weren't "letting Leeds have the ball" in front of a packed defense, whereby doing some shrewd job as many let on. Leeds overstretched as they had to chase the game, and left a few holes unfortunately, and Leicester capitalised and fair play.

But it says alot, when a battle hardened PL team like Leicester, have to resort to hoping Leeds dont click and play percentages. Leeds need more experience, and with it will come consistency. They are learning, and even now a match for anyone. Not many teams will be brave enough to play a newly promoted Leeds man for man, in an open game of football, which says alot

Seathrun66

Seathrun66 wrote: »

I agree with that but we came up with possibly the best promoted side I've seen for two decades...

The best Championship sides (on points), Sunderland, Newcastle and Reading, all went back down within a few short years.

Leeds have had a tough opening round of matches, Liverpool and City being the strongest clubs, Wolves and Leicester being perhaps the best run and managed of the rest, Villa were in great form. Palace, Newcastle, Everton and West Ham in coming weeks, gotta pick up points from those.

event

Wonder what team will we see today. Raphinha is back supposedly but wont start. I think we need to get Klich back to his position, missed it last week. So someone else in the 'Phillips' role. Zaha will be the worry today. He earns a lot of free kicks in dangerous positions and you cant tackle him at all in the box

event

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Meslier

----Ayling - Cooper - Koch - Alioski

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Strujik

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Costa - Dallas - - Klich - Harrison

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Bamford

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Now Palace play with 2 up front a lot. MB always likes one more centre half than striker so what this will change to very quickly is

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- Cooper Strujik Koch

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Ayling

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Alioski

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Costa - Dallas - - Klich - Harrison

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Bamford

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With Dallas bombing it about everywhere. Expect to see him all over the pitch today. Love this type of formation

Shlippery

Not greatest of starts.