Good Morning. It's Monday 26th October, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road Lethal Bamford blows Villa away Patrick Bamford become just the 5th away player to ever score a hattrick at Villa Park on Friday evening as the Whites destroyed Aston Villa. Chances were few between during the first half. Rodrigo and Bamford both had half chances whilst the Whites were fortunate that Luke Ayling was in the right place at the right time to clear a goal line effort from Grealish. Leeds finally took the lead ten minutes into the second half. Rodrigo's effort was parried by Martinez, and Bamford was the quickest to react to smash the ball home from five yards. Leeds number 9 doubled the lead 12 minutes later with a sublime strike from the edge of the box that any forward in the Premier League would have been proud of. His fairy tale evening was complete 16 minutes from time from a well worked corner. With his confidence sky high, Bamford was able to curl the ball past a helpless Martinez whilst being marked by four Villa defenders. Bamford is the ninth Leeds player to score a Premier League hat-trick and the first since Mark Viduka away at Charlton in April 2003. The sweet smell of success is even sweeter when its against Villa.... Post match reactions Marcelo Bielsa, speaking to Match of the Day: "It was an important game for us and a deserved triumph. We scored first and were a little bit lucky they didn't score some of the chances they had. We were playing well even before the goal and had played well enough to go ahead." "Very happy for Patrick because he scored some wonderful goals. Apart from that [he is] a noble player who sacrifices a lot for the team - generous also. I think his development is more to do with him and less to do with me." Dean Smith, speaking to Match of the Day: "Very frustrated, especially with the last 40 minutes. I thought the first half was very even. They scored the first goal and we got worse and they were very good. We probably got away with a 3-0 in the end with the chances they had. "Who knows what would have happened if we had scored? That is the first time we have been behind in a game and we didn't handle it very well." How high up the Premiership ladder could Leeds finish this season? After what can only be called a whirlwind return to the Premiership, with the Whites bartering most of which comes within their sights, is it too early to start thinking about a first half finish? Perhaps you're thinking higher? Where are Leeds weaknesses, and do they need addressing this season? please log in to view this image
Morning Outside the bottom 3 would be great for our finishing position but top half seems possible and then keep Bielsa for another season. We are 25% towards the points we need, but if we keep going at this rate of points per game then 63 points would be possible. Last season that would have got us 5th place. Dreaming.....?
Good lad Ell. Still think we'll be mid table. Somewhere between 7th and 14th. Whilst we are 'flying' along in 5th place we are only 3 points above scum in 15th and they have a game in hand. The big thing for me is that if Brighton beat West Brom today and Spurs beat Burnley then the gap between Brighton in 16th and the rest would be 5 points already(6 to 3rd bottom) Hopefully the bottom four of Fulham, West Brom, Burnley and Sheffield United will be left behind and the rest of us will be left scrapping for wherever we can get. I'll be happy if and when we get to a 'safe' 38 points or so.
Good morning. I think taking Struijk off possibly won us the match. Grealish and Watkins would’ve made sure he got sent off wether he deserved it or not. I know he looked unhappy to come off but it was only done because Bielsa knows he’s going to play an important role in the next few months. With all what’s going off Shackleton seems to be flying under the radar a bit. He didn’t look out of place in the Premier League at all.
Morning all... I think there are little key turning points all through a season. On Friday we were playing a team with a 100% record, they’d smashed 7 past Liverpool, we had two key players out and a loss would have meant back to back defeats. We destroyed Villa, forget what Smith thought about the first half, we dominated them in every area for the first 45 minutes. Yes they had a couple of good chances but we had 4-5 and we had an enforced change thanks to the cheating Grealish.. Mings should have been sent off too so Villa rode their luck and still were second best over the entire park. Our performance against Villa dispelled any doubts I might have had that we’re good enough now for a top 10 possibly 6 at a push. I’m still going to settle for less, the division seems a mess at the moment, several of the teams below us are oozing with quality and they’ll come good. Weakness - If Meslier gets injured and Kiko goes in goal. If Rodrigo or Bamford get injured and Roberts fills in.
I predicted us to finish in 5th position from day one, I may have underestimated us please log in to view this image I've watched the majority of the PL games & I have seen very little for us to fear This weekend's football was a total anti-climax after our enthralling performance at Villa Park
Morning all, So I think we can all agree we are not looking likely to be dragged into a relegation battle this season. Things would have to start going very badly wrong for that to happen and let's be honest that wouldn't be allowed to happen under Bielsa. I was asked several times in the summer how I thought we would do this season. My answer was always top half. This was based on what I had seen from the Premier league last season. I knew we were already better than at least 10 teams in the league. We then strengthened the squad and still based on what I've seen from the Premier league so far we are better than more than 10 teams at least.
Me too. There is nobody to fear. We've played 6 and sit in 5th but in those 6 games we have played the two best teams in the league over the last 2 years. I don't fear other teams but I fear my own team. Two seasons in and we have had two slumps in form. That will be our limiting factor. If we can avoid a slump we could be in for something special.
Morning Ristac, That would be a disaster, definitely a very big weakness. As good as our defenders are, they seem to fall apart when Coco’s in goal.
Good morning all From what i have seen of the PL so far, we are as good as anyone and better than most,with the best manager/coach in Bielsa, As for our weaknesses totally agree with ristac, it doesn't bear thinking about if Messlier gets injured, or roberts has to step up.It does surprise me that we did not get these weaknesses sorted in the transfer window, in particular the goalkeeping situation, but hey let's enjoy the moment. I said at the beginning of the season a top half finish is where we would be, but all that is now going out of the window, because under Bielsa anything is looking possible, Top four? you better believe it, it's more than possible with this manager & players.
Morning all. What a great weekend. Next three games will give us a great indication of our capabilities. Two wins out of the three and I’ll be thinking top four finish at least. I’ll bet that’s what Bielsa and team are aiming for now, at least
I'm with you Emu as don't want to get ahead of myself too early in the season. I can't stand knob jockeys like Gobby Agbonlawhore who do just that but we provided the ideal medicine to ram it down his throat. Our performances so far have been great so no reason why we can't dream but 6 games in is a bit too early to get carried away. If we continue to keep this up I'm sure we will do well. I just love the humility of Marcelo in the way he conducts himself compared to most other managers. Never gives it the big I am or makes excuses like some of them...love it.
The stats also show we had more of the game in the first half but watching the highlights you would never guess it as hardly showed any of our numerous attempts on goal.
Morning all This isn't a normal season so some strange results happening. I think because we had a broken season whereby after a long lay off we had a lot of games in a short period to finish last season off. We then had hardly any close season and on top of that we have had 2 International breaks so far with another coming in November. We’ve also had top clubs playing European matches and even Spuds playing every 3 days. At some stage the season will settle down, but when? At the moment we are averaging 1.6 points per game, which is brilliant for a promoted team. We would have 32 points after 20 games if this carried on. This would also be the lowest points per game average of Marcelo Bielsa in league football anywhere. Makes you think that? I would be happy finishing 16th with 40 points which would only be just over 1 point per game, but probably Bielsa wont like that?
I wonder if having a Plan B i.e. no Phillips is something Bielsa has in mind. The teams that give us problems high press (like Barnsley last season) and/or rapidly close Phillips down. Being able to play out from the flanks as well as Phillips really helps. Playing out from the back is risky when teams high press like we do.
Good MORning to Matt and co from a very wet Bardsey I agree with everyone who says we will finish in the top half and I thought it was a nice gesture sending 25k to feed the Leeds children and feel sure thta is Beilsa influence Players that have stood out so far to me Bamford the most improved striker Ayling best right back in the country Koch a steal at CB Roderigo imprtoving all the time Costa made for the PL along with Harrison Messlers a really good young keeper We dont have flops
I can’t remember the name of the guy commentating alongside JFH on Friday but at half time he said this is Wolves all over again for Leeds. I remember him saying the danger for Leeds is “can they match the first half and convert the chances?” He knows Villa can improve but can Leeds for the second 45. The studio team were unanimous that Leeds should have been ahead and had had all the play. If Smith wants to believe Villa matched us for 45 then it shows that he can’t see a game as it really is and shows what poor coach he is.
Martin Keown has compared Leeds United to a washing machine after their win over Aston Villa. While, at first, it seems a bizarre analogy, Keown's reasoning actually seems to make sense. Simples....we rinsed them good and proper!
What a lovely weekend, it all started on Friday at 8pm and just got better as it went on. I was amused at MoTD Saturday, they showed as much of Villa as they could and I thought they tried to make out we had 3 chances and scored 3 goals, wing nut Linekar is a fkg joke and a toss pot, well that became apparent when he left his first wife and there child who had Leukaemia for a dolly bird, but she has seen the light and fkd off, Micah Richards hasn’t got a clue but due to BLM they have to have them on the show. Patrice Evra and JFH had a slanging match and was nearly scrapping, now don’t get me wrong I don’t think there is any thing wrong with two BLM supporters fighting amongst themselves. Roll on next week and see what it brings.
Bielsa can plan to change the nuts and bolts of a game without changing the plan. He just aims to do it in a different way by maybe bypassing a certain player and going around or over him. Players can interchange and move at speed so if someone is man marked that player drags his marker away and someone else takes his position. Its dynamic and fast and agitates the opposition and agitation is how a washing machine works?