The #LUFC Breakfast Debate (Monday 21st December)

Good Morning. It's Monday 21st December, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road.


Leeds destroyed at Old Trafford

Leeds were taught a lesson in clinical finishing yesterday afternoon as the red roses of Lancashire ran riot over the White roses of Yorkshire; leaving Leeds with the unwanted statistic of being the only club in the Premiership to concede 30 goals!

Having only won once at home all season, many Leeds fans were expectant of at least a point, and why not? They only managed to scrape a lucky 3-2 wins against the Blades and Brighton, not to mention a 1-0 win over West Brom.

Even after the embarrassing loss, Bielsa stood tall, refusing to abandon the way Leeds play.

"In the first half we had similar chances to the ones they had but we weren't able to score," "Our attacks came from combination play and their attacks came from the fact we were losing the ball in attacking positions, and they would transition from defence to attack. Our return was slower than their transition."

"We could have come back throughout the game," "There were always opportunities to come back into it.
"In the second half we played on an even keel until the 80th minute. After that they created chances easier than we could. We fought all game - that's an obligation."

Are Leeds in real danger if they do not invest in January?

Dan James enjoyed a rare outing for the Reds, having gone down to third choice at Old Trafford. How did his performance compare to our wingers?

Will their 'only one way to play' become more of a problem as the season progresses, and fatigue sets it?

I'm not saying that Leeds would not have got promoted last season, but I do believe the three month break benefited Leeds more than any other Championship team last season. It allowed one of the smallest squads in the league to have complete rest, and recharge their batteries for the final finale. Do you agree?

We have to remember that Bielsa has spent upwards of 130 million over the last coupe of seasons. Would you have expected a more accomplished starting XI?

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Post Match reaction

Ole Gunnar Solskjær

Marcelo Bielsa

 

Assuming we stay up, which players from the list below should we keep, release or sell or keep as squad players?

Illan Meslier

Kiko Casilla

Elia Caprile

Diego Llorente

Robin Koch

Liam Cooper

Pascal Struijk

Oliver Casey

Ezgjan Alioski

Leif Davis

Luke Ayling

Stuart Dallas

Gaetano Berardi

Kalvin Phillips

Conor Shaughnessy

Mateusz Klich

Adam Forshaw

Jamie Shackleton

Pablo Hernández

Jack Harrison

Raphinha

Hélder Costa

Ian Poveda

Tyler Roberts

Rodrigo

Patrick Bamford

Joe Gelhardt

Jay-Roy Grot

 

Morning all....

Leeds Live this morning is putting the first two goals conceded down to Klich and the first corner down to man to man marking

OGS said after the game we know Leeds like to man to man Mark so we targeted that area. JFH and Keane pointed out before a ball was kicked that Man U we’re going to sit back wait for us to hand over possession and hit us with speed in the gaps.

In the Championship it was a breathe of fresh air to have a coach who sets his stall out and stick by it. Let everyone else worry about us, let them change their game plan to try to beat us. In the Championship we were too good for most so try as they did more often than not it didn’t matter.

In the PL the surprise period is over, our performances against the likes of City and Liverpool have made coaches take note. Now the better quality teams with individual brilliance will simply do this to us every now and again and the lesser ones won’t.

I said before Bielsa will never take us higher than 6th as he is too stubborn, he is great at transforming the average player but give him someone ready made and it’s all about how you handle them.

As we’re mainly still a team of average players we still need Bielsa, maybe we’ll need him another two seasons, we have a lot of catching up to do.

 

Problem we have at the moment is ball retention. Too many players trying the killer pass. Sometimes you have to move the ball around to find the gap. Play it simple sometimes.

We have lost the ball cheaply more in the last 5 games or so than ever. That leaves us open to counter attacks.

The good news is that we are still creating good chances.

The players have some apologies to make after that scoreline though.

 

According to transfermkt, they value Patrick Bamford at 13.5m.

If another club were to offer that for his services would you accept?

 

Morning.

I'm not so sure it's the system that failed us yesterday or in other games (Leicester in particular) but more so individual errors. That's a recruitment issue. That will gradually get fixed over time so long as we stay up and keep the money rolling in.

 

He's probably worth more given his goals this season but yes I would allow Bamford to leave as long as we had a replacement ready. Chance conversion is an area we need to improve on and there has to be better out there for this level.

 

Good morning everyone

Is it just me or do you agree ? that this team reminds you of the Grayson era?.
Great to watch, scores goals but concedes a bucket full.
Don’t get me wrong, I would much prefer this than say an Allardyce team, however my dodgy ticker would disagree. Our results are reliant on our attackers turning up,and our wingers putting in quality crosses and firing on all cylinders, because if they don’t we get whooped.
Surely if Bielsa insists on this style of play, then we need a quality goal scorer ie a
Becchio/Beckford or dare I say it a Mc contract in the team to convert an even higher ratio of chances.
But if Bielsa is really going to succeed and take us to the next level, then he has to re structure the team (maybe from the back outwards), because the premier league is the toughest league on the planet, and a totally different kettle of fish to the championship or any other league.
Having said all that I feel as though this year is a learning curve for Bielsa and survival in our first season is top priority, and I think in one or two years, that team (with one or two exceptions) will be unrecognizable from the one we have at the moment.

 

Morning all,

So hands up who is having a knee jerk reaction, Im looking at you Ell having tried to read your original post, and who is taking yesterdays result in their stride?

Yesterday stings without a doubt. Does it sting because we lost? No, we all accept that will happen more this season. Does it sting because we played awfully, like the West Ham game? No. Despite a few below par performances there are a lot of positives. Does it sting because it was the Scum? Yes, that'll be it.

We lost to a top 4 squad worth half a billion pounds. We fielded a back four worth less than 5 million, three of which we were forced to play out of position. The fact that they were even on the same pitch is something to be proud of.


4-0 down and commentators talking about how Leeds still were a threat to turn it round. 6-2 down and commentators, both scum fans, praising Leeds for how we were playing and pushing.

Red pill/blue pill time.

Red pill we stick with Bielsa and carry on playing the best football most of us have seen in a generation and we continue on a win one lose one streak.
Blue pill we sack Bielsa and replace him with a Warnock/ Big Sam style manager who will grind out draws and one nil wins.


Anyone picking the blue pill needs to go support another team because your head is not on right.

 

On the Scum.

They clearly have good players, no doubt. Their fans are quite rightly taking the time to enjoy their moment but once it has settled down if it were me I would be asking the question why cant they do it every week? Why can they try so hard and play so well just because they are playing a rival but struggle to put in half the effort against City or a crucial champions league game?

To me it is a positive for us that they had to raise their game so much and will be betting my house on them losing their next game like Chelsea/West Ham.

 

We are not good enough to play the same way we did in the Championship - well said ristac.

We would need to be a Barca or Citeh, otherwise we are just going to get punished.

 

The more the pressure - more the mistakes....

 

Morning pal,

We are playing without a tactician!

The way we play has been sussed, so most Managers would say move to plan B.

Bielsa says we are not going to change.

Why is it that Bielsa has not won a single trophy in 22 years (promotion not counted).

 

Without the first 3 minutes you would have seen a different game and result. Klich and Phillips were players I expected to have a great games but they went missing and that killed us.

Ball retention has been mentioned and with good cause, but we also have to remember that Man Utd players are way better than our team. Yes some of ours are close but admit not one of ours would be bought by them. There is a gulf in class between our team and the top 6 teams end of. We are going to get a spanking this season, but we will also spank more than do it to us. 3 of their players cist more than all of ours so try chilling a bit.

 

Let's keep a reality check on things, 7 of those players that started were in a struggling Championship team when Bielsa arrived here, if Lorente and Koch were fit, it would have made a difference, Ayling back in his better position too.
The tactics ain't gonna change and yes against the likes of Chelsea and yesterday's game the better players know how to expose it but it's not against those teams we need to be winning, anything like with the City result is a bonus against the top teams, it's the next 2 games we need to be winning. Since Radz got here it's all been about a long term plan, we haven't the money to throw about, so it's all about small steps forward and each season it has seen us improve on the previous one. Some of you need to go back 3 years and remember you'd have given anything to be in the position we are in now. There is no other manager out there who would get anywhere near the performance Bielsa is getting out of this squad. Is everything perfect, of course not but a reality is in order for a section of our support.

 

Well said Gessa.

 

Just because the way we play has been sussed does not mean every team in the league will be able to stop it.


West Ham deserve praise for doing it. But look at other losses we have endured.
Leicester- Key players like Phillips & Rodrigo missing plus Llorente.
Palace- As above and some of the worse luck I have seen in years.
Scum yesterday- how different would the game have been if we had been able to field 30 million pounds worth of German and Spanish central defender instead of a make shift poundland defence?



Maybe yet we cant compete with the top teams, ignoring that we have already competed with Liverpool and City, but the main target this season was not to compete with them. It was to stay up and as long as we keep winning the games we should be winning that will happen.

The next two or three transfer windows are going to be crucial. This first half of the season is showing the very clever people who run the club which players are good enough and where we will need to strengthen to compete next season.

 

For me one player who has not made the step up from Championship to Prem is Klich. To me his passing is sloppy and he looks too lackadaisical on the ball. He does not have the ability to control the game like he has for the last two years.

He looked poor even in the Newcastle game. If you can go back and watch the last 3-4 games and tell me what he has offered us? Yes he scored against Newcastle but it was a retake after he had once again missed taking what was a most arrogant penalty.

 

Completely disagree, I think he’s been fantastic this season. Has a real energy about him and is an intelligent player. I do believe he has gone missing in probably 3-4 of the last games we’ve played but prior to that he’s been one of our best players of the season.

 

No because although I’d like someone better to start the games you’d never replace him for that amount. Last January we were trying to sign strikers with less PL goals than him and were being quoted £20m so that valuation is bollocks