The #LUFC Breakfast Debate (Wednesday 19th January)

Afternoon all,

While I understand that some of you are still looking down the table at what others are doing i prefer to look up.

We have a nine point gap on the relegation spots. That means there has to be an eighteen point swing for us to be relegated.

We are getting better so too good for that to happen and no way are the ones down there good enough to make it happen, no matter who they sign.

I am looking at the teams above and thinking about closing the gap on the top ten again.

We should be looking at Brentford, Villa, Palace & Southampton. Teams who are being praised for their season so far while we are being talked about as having a bad one. We are two points behind them with a game in hand.

 

I'll stop panicking when staying up is a mathematical certainty. This is Leeds we're talking about - we never do things the easy way.

 

beat the sheikhs camel brigade on saturday and i am now of the feeling that we will definitely stay up after our 6 points grab, the teams below don't have the players/team spirit to go on a winning run and we look to have a bit of confidence flowing back into the boys....up,up and away

 

They’re not going to find a decent new striker unless they shop in Division 1. They’re mad selling Wood unless they’re cutting their cloth early

 

Aaronson transfer seems to be gathering momentum.

 

I think I've read that we're going back with a £22 million bid

 

Afternoon all

 

Pretty sure some will think that this clip should be posted on the Jokes or Political thread. Probably right, but I think most will enjoy this satire, so posting here for a larger footfall (if you know what I mean) .....

 

Afternoon Wolves, good to see you back!!!

 

Afternoon Bardsee White. Welcome!!!!

 

Not seen it but Sky seem to be reporting he'll be joining Leeds.

Do u live in Wolvo mate

 

Used to years ago. I was at Uni there but I live in Wakefield now

 

Good to be back mate

 

I heard 35 million

 

Supposedly Salzburg want around the £30 million mark but have realised that in the current financial climate that it's too much and are willing to settle at the £20 million mark

 

Seriously i don't think it's 20 million. Not been with them that long and that would double their money.what troubles me is they are run away league leaders but he only has three goals. I would be looking at someone else as we have players that don't score... Forshaw is one.

 

Breaking down Raphinha’s masterclass against West Ham

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Sunday belonged to Jack Harrison and at the end of a 3-2 win over West Ham, he had the match ball tucked under his arm. There have been games this season where nothing worked for Harrison but this was at the other end of the spectrum — an afternoon where everything he touched turned to gold.

He scored all three of Leeds United’s goals, products of anticipation and a finisher’s touch, but close behind Harrison in the headlines stakes was Raphinha, the architect of a creative masterclass.

Perhaps Raphinha was listening 48 hours earlier when head coach Marcelo Bielsa described him as “the best player in the team in all senses — physically, technically and with the interpretation he has”. The West Ham game demonstrated every bit of that.

This, in one 90-minute package, is why Leeds have no interest in listening to bids for Raphinha in the present transfer window. They have received no offers so far and when it was reported in his native Brazil on Christmas Eve that Bayern Munich would sign him before the end of the month, Leeds poured water on the story quickly.

There is unlikely to ever be a point when losing Raphinha is easy for them to stomach but a departure now would be the worst possible timing.

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Talks over a new contract began before Christmas and are understood to be making good progress. The club had envisaged finalising an enhanced deal with the 25-year-old Brazil international in the latter stages of this winter transfer window and remain hopeful of bringing negotiations to a positive conclusion before the month is out. They are conscious of Raphinha’s intrinsic value and have been receptive to the terms stipulated by the winger and his agent, Deco.

Raphinha, for his part, seems prepared to sign.

His performance at West Ham was so influential and imaginative that it was fair to ask afterwards if Raphinha has ever played better for Leeds since his move from French club Rennes at the end of the summer 2o20 transfer window. It pieced together assists, secondary assists, key passes, shots and impressive dead-ball striking. But for the post that repelled his free kick in the second half, Raphinha would have had a goal of his own, too.

David Moyes, West Ham’s manager, suggested his players were down on energy after a midweek game against Norwich City, when Leeds had no fixture. If that was so, then the South American, who had played only 45 minutes over the previous fortnight, was their worst nightmare.

West Ham are a well-structured side but they sit fourth in the Premier League despite conceding more goals (30 in 22 matches) than any other team in the top nine.

Leeds found on Sunday that pace and variation in their movement worked well for them, denying Moyes’ defence the luxury of having the game in front of them.

Raphinha was instrumental in forcing the east Londoners out of their comfort zone by moving off the ball, attacking players directly when he had it at his feet and making quick use of possession whenever West Ham slipped out of shape. He was rarely guilty of letting them off the hook.

Leeds’ first goal, in the 10th minute, exemplified the problems West Ham faced.

The attack began from a deep position, with Luke Ayling asking a question of Aaron Cresswell by driving a hard and relatively flat long ball in behind the home side’s left-back.

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Cresswell’s failure to get a foot on the dropping pass let Raphinha take it on and, in their attempts to scramble back, West Ham lost sight of other Leeds players.

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Raphinha’s lay-off set up a shot for Mateusz Klich and although Lukasz Fabianski was able to keep that one out, Adam Forshaw and Harrison had all the space they needed to sweep up the rebound at the back post.

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Leeds identified incisive running and ball control as two of Raphinha’s core strengths when they signed him from Rennes early last season but an extra weapon in his game is the quality of his dead-ball deliveries — corners in particular.

For a long time, Bielsa had rated Kalvin Phillips as the best striker of a dead ball at the club but attacking set pieces were not a huge strength in his earliest seasons as head coach and Raphinha has helped to improve that method of attack. Three of his nine assists last season came from set pieces.

The outswinging swerve on the Brazilian’s corner that preceded Leeds’ second goal on Sunday made it difficult to defend and invited on-running players to attack it. Ayling’s downward header (below) left West Ham in disarray and Harrison was clever in looking for a flick to the back post.

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Cresswell let him go and Harrison had the easy job of prodding the ball into an empty net. At the near post, Vladimir Coufal was playing him onside.

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Fabianski got another taste of Raphinha’s threat from set plays in the second half, as Leeds tried unsuccessfully to extend their 3-2 advantage.

At their best, Bielsa’s side resist the temptation to sit on narrow leads and one of the positive aspects about this match was their attempt to continue taking bites out of West Ham in its latter stages. That attitude led to chances like the one below — a free kick that, in theory, was from far enough out for Fabianski to adjust to the flight of the ball.

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However, Raphinha’s effort had so much power and whip that it clattered Fabianski’s left-hand post before he was able to take more than one step along his line.

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Fabianski, from start to finish on the day, was left to deal with situations he could do little about.

Harrison’s hat-trick was sealed just before the hour by a fine chip from 10 yards out after a turnover near halfway and a splitting pass from Raphinha mangled Moyes’ defence and left Harrison and Fabianski in a one-on-one.

From the moment Stuart Dallas stepped in to pinch the ball (see next images), West Ham were in trouble.

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Despite routinely taking up a role out wide, Raphinha has a talent for drifting and mixing up his position.

In this instance, his move to a central zone helped to create the chance for Harrison. Had Raphinha gone down the right, West Ham had bodies available to push out and cover him.

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By dropping into the middle instead, he opened up the area of the field that was then unprotected as Harrison sprinted into it. Raphinha’s pass was nicely weighted and Harrison met it with a sumptuous finish, dinked over Fabianski.

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The lead would have become 4-2 with 17 minutes left had the VAR not intervened to rule out a Klich effort. Raphinha was central to this move too, breaking forward as soon as Ayling won back possession with a strong tackle in the middle of the pitch.

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The Brazilian slowed up to draw in Issa Diop and then mugged the centre-back by cutting beyond him, giving Diop no chance to recover.

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Klich arrived unmarked around the penalty spot and Raphinha picked out the right pass from the byline, straight to his feet.

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The finish fell foul of a flick off the body of Rodrigo, who was on the goalline and offside, but the move itself was clinical.

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In certain matches this season, Raphinha has helped to carry Leeds through poorer performances or games that looked unlikely to deliver a result. He has, by any measure, been their outstanding player.

But on Sunday, Leeds played well from front to back, showing more energy than West Ham and allowing him all the freedom he needed without much pressure to create something from nothing. His tally of seven chances created is the most he has recorded to date in a Premier League match. His trajectory doesn’t seem to dip.

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It hardly fell last season either and sorting out a new contract has been on the minds of the board at Elland Road since the summer transfer window closed.

Victor Orta, Leeds’ director of football, held talks with Deco in the lead-up to this window and constructive negotiations have left Leeds confident of wrapping up an extension shortly to a deal that currently expires in summer 2024.

Raphinha’s value speaks for itself and no player at the club is more deserving of the going rate.

 

TransferMarket.com has his value at £10 million however even this a £12 million bid Salzburg would be doubling what they paid for him as he signed for £6 million. The thing is he wants to play in the Premier League.

 

At that price why not