Squad Options & Transfers for 20/21 Season

Wasn’t Bielsa against these last year? I’m assuming they’d have to be local ones

 

The players have been sent on holiday for 2 weeks then straight back into getting ready. No transfers will be done until Bielsa signs his new contract which could be today or next week?cannot see any pre season games happening this year as no crowds allowed in, so Guisley, Tadcaster, Farsley, Harrogate cannot get any cash revenues. Yes they could give our lads a game but would probably get better games against U23s and U18s. Maybe a game against Man City, Liverpool but......

transfer window opens next week and closes October 5th with an extra week thrown in for EFL clubs dealing with Prem clubs

 

Phil hay saying Leeds enquiring about Argentine Arsenal keeper Emiliano Martinez and also likes Romero which all means Meslier will be the understudy and Kiko will be gone

 

Frankly, I don't have a scooby about most of the alleged incomings. Can only make comments about 2 of them.

Eze. Quite a player & I can see why we'd be interested. Not sure what impact signing him would have on Roberts or Bogusz. Clearly Bielsa doesn't see Roberts as a striker, so he may well be off. Pity, I like him & he's just a young lad. Not really had a long run in the team, and now stuck between 2 positions. Big decision.

Larouci. Apparently a Liverpool wonderkid who's being released & is linked with us. I know nothing about him other than this. I'm wondering out loud if he's a LB only, or has some versatility. If he's a LB only, why would we sign another Douglas? Hoping the latter is true & we can flog Douglas. Bit of a shame, as Douglas is a good defensive LB, but it's that lack of versatility that lets him down in a Bielsa team. I'm sure he'll be great in a more conventional team.

Just a mention of Davis. I'm a great fan. Fastest player in the squad. Bielsa has played him at LB & as part of a back 3. Never played him as part of a back 2, as I recall, and indeed has played less this season than last. That suggests to me that there may be a problem with him in Bielsa's mind. Since the start of the season I've always seen him as being White's replacement in the longer term. Who knows now. He's also got more competition for the CB berth with Struijk, Casey & Cresswell lining up behind him (in that order imo). Are any of these 4 capable of starting in the PL in 6 weeks time? Tbh, being a fan of all 4, the jump to the PL may see them all marking time & effectively repeating this season's wait.

 

As pace is more of a commodity in the PL I definitely think Davis will get plenty of game time, also remember he was out injured for quite a while this season.

Does anyone know how quick Struijk, Casy and Cresswell are ?

It's very hard to tell watching on TV compared to being at the ground.

 

Bravo is shot, he’d be just a more expensive kiko for me.

 

Are they? They couldn’t oust Alioski, Douglas etc. In the championship. What are we basing it on that they can in the premier league?

 

Romero all over a few papers now stating he was peed off last week with OGS for not playing him in the cup game as is the norm and De Gea made crew ups to cost them the game so is talking about walking and wants to go back to Bielsa with his team mate Marcos Rojo who was sent out on loan but has played a dozen times for Argentina. London media saying Bielsa wants Arsenal Martinez which means we are chasing a No1 keeper

 

Prefer either of them to Bravo. Was a great keeper but time has caught up unfortunately.

 

Love for this to be true but this story just keeps running

“

“Leeds United could be set to challenge some of Europe’s biggest hitters for the chance to sign Argentina’s next biggest star.


The newly promoted side are said to interested in Velez star Thiago Almada.


Now 19-years old and linked with several opportunities to enter the European leagues; Almada could see an opportunity in the Premier League with El Loco as an enticing proposal, something he has eluded to himself.


“I would like Bielsa to direct me,” the 19-year-old told Superfutbol. “My friends sent me that something came out about Bielsa, but I am calm. If it happens or not we wait and see.”

 

Hi Doc, good to see you back.
I checked this lad out in the spanish speaking press, very highly rated and obviously is aware of Bielsa.
Comes from one of the hardest neighbourhoods in Buenos Aires, same place as Carlos Tevez.

Also seems Cavani is asking for 18m a year, 350 grand a week!
Not sure many clubs could afford that for a 33 year old, pity as I think he could do well.

Exciting times ahead.

 

With young players it requires patience on all sides...

From managers/coaches to allow then to develop and mature at different speeds, from the players themselves to appreciate even just a little game time is massively aiding their development and also from the fans to understand that not many make their debuts and have an immediate wow factor.

Obviously my opinion is just based upon the potential I see in them and might prove to be entirely wrong, but if only one makes the grade in the PL then we've done well from a youth development point of view, also don't forget even some of our cast offs are doing well at other championship clubs.

 

Funnily enough, if you think about it, almost all footballers these days are some other team's Academy graduates. It amuses me that some clubs must be tearing their hair out by releasing 'crap' youngsters who go on to be first class elsewhere.

 

Seems Bogusz is signing a new contract & going out on loan. His words, not mine ...

https://the72.co.uk/182465/leeds-un...ning-with-young-player-then-sent-out-on-loan/

LEEDS UNITED TO MAKE THIRD SIGNING WITH YOUNG PLAYER THEN SENT OUT ON LOAN

• GRAHAM SMEATON
  
• 1 HOUR AGO

According to reporter Radoslaw Przybysz, in an interview on TVP Sport, Mateusz Bogusz is going to sign a new contract with Leeds United before heading out of Elland Road on loan. This news coming from Bogusz himself.
It’s been somewhat a frustrating year for the highly-rated Polish youngster who joined Leeds United with a bit of a fanfare. His time has been spent with the Under-23s, with whom he has impressed. He also featured seven times on the bench for the Whites before getting a run-out in the final game of the season.

The young Pole came on with 17 minutes remaining and showed a few glimpses of what he is capable of. That was his only experience for the Whites in the League, with a 90-minute appearance in the EFL Cup being his only senior team experience.

Bogusz spoke about many things in his conversation with reporter Przybysz, particularly giving an insight into the dedication that Marcelo Bielsa puts into the analysis and training aspects of the Whites play.

However, despite making his debut for the senior side, Bogusz implies that he hasn’t quite achieved the goals that he set himself. The 18-year-old central midfielder indicates this by saying his aim was “not only to debut, but to bring more to the team.”

One thing that Bogusz does confirm is that there is a new deal in the offing, plus an expectation that he will gain his experience away from the club. On this he says:

“I wanted to go on loan this season, but Bielsa didn’t let anyone go. Now I will be gone one hundred percent, we’ve already talked about it. First I will sign a new contract and then I will go on loan.“

The youngster is not sure of where he will go, or where this loan deal will take him but he is certain that he will be getting regular football away from Elland Road. He adds:

“I do not know yet. I have various offers, but I have to deal with the club because they said they won’t let me anywhere. I don’t know yet whether the Championship or to another country. I think that in days I will know where I will go.“

Wherever young midfielder Bogusz goes, he will be gaining a wealth of first-team experience that will only benefit him in the long run. It will also benefit Leeds United to have such a well thought of player out on loan and being battle-hardened with first-team football.

 

Roberts is a strange one for me. I’ve always liked the look of him, he’s highly regarded and many see him as the next big thing at Leeds.

In the last six months though he oozes a sense that he’s made it, he’s the complete article, while basically falling between two stools. He’s not an out and out striker and certainly isn’t capable of providing the creativity required to replace Pablo.

Still, at times, there’s a flash of quality. Bielsa likes him too, so what do I know.

 

Roberts is what I call a neat and tidy footballer. Technically very good, decent touch, rarely gives the ball away and reasonably intelligent on the field.

The lad just lacks that end product. He rarely bursts past people at pace. He doesn't score often enough. He doesn't create as much as Hernandez or Klich does.

It's a weird one. He doesn't do much wrong but he just doesn't seem to grab a game by the scruff of the neck like he should. He's not good enough to be a playmaker and isn't prolific enough to score bag full of goals.

I'd like to see how he does if he got a run in Bamfords position. He looked to make some great runs vs Fulham 2nd half when he was up top on his own. He linked up quite well.

 

In the Championship I don’t mind seeing his name on the team sheet, I don’t mind seeing it on the bench. I bet he has scored more 6/10 and 7/10 than any other player, equally rarely will you see a 5/10 or 8/10.

We know we need better than Bamford for the PL and we need a Pablo replacement so assuming those two are on the bench do we loan Roberts out for half a season and see if he improves?

 

think Roberts has done all he can do at Leeds and showed us he is a capable player up front or at No10, but hes not as good as Pablo or Bamford so a backward step when we need a step up. Hes young so has time to improve but hes now been here since 2017 and hardly played through injury.

heres a thought: i have watched a lot of 23 footy as players like Bamford were given a run out and same with Grot who was on another level in the 23s and scored goals. Same with Cibicki who scored a couple of screamers and Bamford was exceptional. Roberts was Roberts and didnt look any better than the other players in the 23s

 

Worth pointing out as well that some players are just more suited to certain leagues. Look at Cantwell at Norwich, only 18 starts, 6 sub appearances, and one goal for them in the Championship season. This season he's started 29 games, 7 sub appearances, and 6 goals, and is being linked with Spurs, Liverpool, et al.

Not saying the same will apply to all our youngsters, but in a more technical, less robust league, they may have more opportunity to shine.

On Roberts, very surprised people are talking about selling him/moving him on. He's far from the finished article but the kid has huge potential. His final ball is frustrating and he's not a direct Pablo replacement. Pablo doesn't play number 10 for us anymore, he plays deeper and orchestrates play from there. Roberts always wants to play further up the pitch and closer to Bamford, which often creates gaps in the midfield which means Klich has to do more work. It can make Roberts look worse than he actually is, but honestly he's just not suited to that position. If we play with a more conventional number 10, which we may well do post-Pablo, Roberts could well mature into that position. He's got a lot of improving to do but the ability is there. I'd quite like to see him play wide, coming inside off the left hand side would be interesting too. He's quick without being rapid, has a good touch and his movement when played up front is often excellent. Too soon to start in the Premier League, probably, but far too early to write him off.

 

Some good points regarding the youngsters I hadn’t considered as with jammy’s post.