Match Day Thread Newcastle Utd v Leeds Utd Match Thread

No idea how they couldn't see it was a stonewall penalty.
Now, if it had been up the other end.

 

The way Bamford was shooting tonight he would have powder puffed it to their keeper anyway

 

Exactly

 

On the Alioski situation. I felt like I was one of the few who stuck up for him last season but it was obvious that LB and central midfield were the weak points. I think the club did the right thing in bringing in a LB. Firpo has a solid reputation especially from Betis. Whether it works out for him here or not, the club made the right decision in trying to improve the weak link. Let's not forget that Alioski decided to leave, there was a contract there for him.

 

And it's early days yet

 

Yep. He's had covid too.

Firstly I'd like to say that he has been way under expectations thus far.

However, there are some positives. He looks like he enjoys getting forward and busts a gut trying to get in the box when Rapha has it on the right. That's great. He picked (among some truly dreadful ones) a couple of really good passes which put players through so he doesn't mind a risky pass going forward which Bielsa loves.

I'm happy to give him a bit of time. Defending in the Premier League is way more intense and physical than la liga.

 

Think firpo is getting too much stick. Yes he hasn’t adjusted yet to the defensive positioning and responsibilities expected in this team… but he did some decent stuff going forward. It’s early days.

Hasn’t played much football in the last few years. New to the league, unique style of the team, … think we should give firpo a bit of time.

I don’t miss alioski - liked his passion loved his commitment, he did some good stuff going forward, but personally thought he was too slow for a fullback in this league and got roasted regularly. Handy squad player if he’d stayed but left back was an obvious area for improvement. Whether firpo is an improvement? Give him some time ffs.

 

VAR is absolute ****, let's just get rid and argue about the **** refs decisions later.
Let's scrap murderball this week and practice hitting shots on target and trying to break the net.
Where is Koch? Is he injured?

 

i demand a rematch

 

I didn't give him stick and, like I said, I hope he improves. The problem is that, if it was Bielsa who wanted him, he must've thought he was good enough to put in straight away and be effective. At the moment he's clearly not. Let's hope it's not too many games down the road before we see a player better than Alioski.

 

My concern is Raphinha, Rodrigo and Llorente all looked like they had something about them from day one. Koch took a couple of games to show glimpses but Firpo reminds me of De Bock, just nothing to get excited about.

He kept popping up in midfield and giving the ball away, he looks petrified a shot might hit him, his pace is average, honestly I don’t believe there can be a worse defender in the PL I’m quite shocked that he gets selected. If he was an U23 we’d be screaming he is nowhere near ready.

Dallas is going to be our LB this season you mark my words, Firpo will be benched the first opportunity Bielsa gets. Sorry if some feel it’s unfair stick, I’d give him time if there was a glimmer of hope but I didn’t see any. We were so lucky we were not ripped to shreds the amount of space he kept leaving

 

Words marked Risty. If Dallas ends up at left back let’s hope he plays better than he did at right back today.

 

Tbf to him,very few of the team are firing atm, difficult time for any new player to come in.
Perhaps only Phillips only showing any consistency, even Raph only showing glimpses off last seasons player.

 

Meslier - 8. Safe pair of hands. Pulled off two stunning saves

Dallas - 4. A shadow of last season

Ayling - 5. Slightly better than Dallas

Cooper - 4. Made a World class tackle in the second half, but mostly came out second best against the impressive Saint Max. Lacked any kind of Captaincy

Firpo - 2. Hands up, who underestimated Alioski?

Phillips - 8. Solid and dependable

Klich - 7. Had enough long range shots to put the keeper under more pressure. Busy in midfield, without influencing it too much

Rodrigo - 8. Influential, and was a leader on the pitch. The only player to make things happen. Great dummy for the goal.

Raphinha - 7. Fluke of a goal. Some nice touches

James - 6. Got dispossessed too easily

Bamford - 4. Marked out of the game

Subs.

Roberts - 6. Ok

Summerville - 6. Timid. Didn't want to make any mistakes so was ultra safe

Shackleton - 6. Needs more game time


Bielsa - 5. When you know what your opponent is going to do, its easy to outsmart them, a Millwall fan could. Our fan relies heavily on our wing backs. Unfortunately Ayling, Firpo and Dallas have been awful this season but Bielsa prefers to pick his favourites instead of the players in form.

 

Well the morning after I'm a bit worried today.
Our Fullbacks have been stopped not only can't they get forward they can't defend either. honestly last night was horrific at times at the back.
Dallas great utility player but he's thrown around this team like a ragdoll. his game style has to change all the time, He's thrown from the left side to right then another day has to do a job in the middle. He was poor last night but how can it be fair to rate someone thrown into a different job every game.
Firpo I want to be kind to him but he was awful last night. he hasn't fit into this system at all so far. Coops had a bad game but when you defending for two players it's hard work. Ball watches and gets caught out and always looked hassled on the ball.
Cooper and Ayling struggled all night with Maxy to a point I'm sure Ayling said Fook it take me off Im complete knackered.

Positives.
Did Meslier pull off a Gordon Banks last night I haven't looked back on the replays but he pulled what looked like a worldy in the first half down to his right.
I thought Rodrigo and Rapha played well first half and Phillips was solid but he has to cover so much in the middle seems he's doing a CB-DM-CM job and when he gets to far forward teams get in behind.
Thought we were the far better side in the 1st half and should of had the game won.
2nd half we were knackered and finished the game tired which is not in our DNA.
Players who need to take a good hard look at themselves today Cooper,Ayling,Firpo,Roberts. all abysmal. Dallas and James too but they have reasons and can be excused.
Roberts That's twice I've seen him now this season up close and again shocking. everything he done I was shaking my head s with a muffle to myself Wtf Tyler?. how he gets picked I don't know He adds nothing to a game how many more chances will he get?
I was in the toon end last night and as they walked out of that game some saying Leeds are not that good and you know what after that display I wouldn't disagree with them.
Something is missing the overlapping FB is gone. the intensity does not last 90mins like it used too. The defending has now went complete circle we can't defend in the air and now we can't on the floor.
Rapha looks like he's joining the growing injury list things are not going well at the moment.
We have to believe but we should be beating crap like that last night these are bottom 5 candidates in the making.

 

He's getting stick as well because he cost us a lot of money.

 

Shame we didn't win 5-0 like you were obviously expecting.

We are where we are and that's just how it is.

You say we were awful but yet should have won the game by HT.

Hope you enjoyed the match though.

 

TBF to Jr he may need a season under Bielsa before he improves. Our other signings from last season took a while to improve, but in the run in to last season they were playing really well.

 

Koch had a very iffy start but improved, shame we can't get him started again

 

Think we’ve got to stop banging on about Alioski. He turned his contract offer down and chose to leave. He’s history and as usual some turn ex-players into the best we’ve ever had once that they’ve left.