please log in to view this image Birmingham City v Leeds Utd Sunday 29th December 2019 15.00 | St Andrews Having collected just two points from an available nine, Leeds travel down to the Midlands to St Andrews hoping to extend the eight point gap between second and the chasing pack. The Whites will be without Hernandez and Forshaw, and whilst Shackleton and Roberts have both recovered from their respective injuries, but are not yet match fit. Jack Clarke has returnerd to his parent club Spurs. I'm sure he'll come back to haunt us towards the latter end of the season. The word coming from associates of Nketiah, is that North London beckons, and we may have seen the end to the 20yo hitman. 2nd place Leeds are 19 points, and 14 places higher than the Blues, and have a better goal difference by 31, yet St Andrews continuous to be bogey side to the Whites. Blues gaffer Pep Clotet, alongside coaching staff Darryl Flahavan and James Beattie all enjoyed success at Elland Road under the supervision of Garry Monk. How will they fare when they come up against Bielsa?
If we don’t win this game I fear that the rot will set in and we will start our slide down the table. So, for me this is a must win game I’m hoping for a 2-0 Leeds win
This IMO will be a tight game. Birmingham don't seem to score that many goals. So I'm not even going to try and predict the result. We could beat them 2 or 3 nil or we could get beaten by a scrappy goal or a dodgy ref decision.
Disagree. We've won many games where others would have given up. However, there is an issue & I don't think any of us have a clue what it is. Personally, I think that the players are allowed to express themselves, but only within Bielsa's game plan. So a lot of effort is put in to keeping within this framework when any other team would use a simple long ball / long throw or whatever to shake things up. But we're not allowed! I base this on a conversation I had with Douglas, which I've mentioned before on here. I was asking if we had anyone who could take a long throw. The short answer was that several could, but if we did, "we'd be fcuking Cardiff City". I got the distinct impression he didn't agree with the dictat, and his general demeanour & body language suggested to me at the time he was uncomfortable / out of favour. That was months ago, & I don't think he's played 2 games on the trot since then (yes, I know he's been injured, but not sure if he's been genuinely injured or 'injured', if you get my meaning. Different subject altogether.).
Oops, was going to post that first line, then decided not to. Forgot it would re-appear for my next comment. Must edit!
I like Douglas though he's never been able to show what he's capable of in a white shirt. I wonder if his face / attitude doesn't fit, as you imply? He's certainly one that Bielsa hasn't been able to improve, if anything he's gone backwards. I'm not having a poke at Bielsa here either by the way, as he's got the best out of a generally fairly uninspired squad - just curious as to why Douglas appears to be the odd man out.
Know exactly where you're coming from WJ and it's sort of what I was alluding to yesterday. We needed someone on the pitch to take the decision that for 10 mins we were going to turn Preston around and then press them in their own half. Old school tactics but it was as you pointed out in your report, absolutely needed. Not suggesting we needed to lump it long all the time but Preston needed unsettling, they had it all their own way and their confidence went through the roof as a consequence. Who is that strong leader, brave enough to perhaps suffer the wrath of Bielsa but confident enough in his own ability to make the call ? Unfortunately the answer is no one... they all shrunk into tiny little boys. Cooper, White and Phillips have been playing pretty little triangles to their hearts content all season, as soon as someone decided they would put a stop to that by simply blocking, rather then pressing we had no solution. If you noticed when Cooper (for example) had possession their stiker didn't go charging at him but held off a little and made him make a decision to either pass forward or back, the pass across his usual option was blocked. As Cooper's confidence ebbed away he could only trust himself to repeatedly knock the ball back to Casilla and return us to square one. Interesting stuff and I thoroughly enjoyed the game.
Oddly enough, we might have a future option who might - just might - fit the bill. He was on the bench yesterday & is not quite ready, and almost certainly not ready for what I'm about to suggest. But ... A number of weeks ago, we had an u23 game at ER. Now you'll be aware that I'm always comparing our youngsters to old legends, to give an idea of their style of play. But there is one name I have never used to compare, partly because I forbid myself, as no-one can be expected to live up to this legend. But during this match, I heard myself comparing Gotts to the forbidden legend. Several times. And I even said it out loud, & found the guy beside me agreeing, equally stunned that we could offer such an accolade. The legend in question was Billy. And Gotts displayed every characteristic. He had incredible heart, captaining the team & leading the team by example. Shouty & confrontational little sod too. Covered every blade, shot, headed, tackled like a lion, and to cap it all, was a dirty little b'stard when the time was right. Stunning performance, but as you'd expect from a youngster, not for the full 90. He was Billy for about 30 mins, & only excellent for the rest. I'm actually still stunned by that performance & haven't seen it since, if I'm honest. But I know it's in his locker now, but wonder if Bielsa is insisting it remains in his locker in favour of purer Bielsaball. Who knows. All I know is that since Billy retired, I've never, ever watched anyone come close to the full package, even for short spells. I don't wish to raise anyone's hopes, for as we know, any kid can be a couple of games away from 'the slide' (think Mowatt), and it was only parts of one game. but I can't help myself ....